Airtran is pulling out of Piedmont Triad International even though they’re running at about 80% load factors. Airtran also pulled their Washington Reagan-National to West Palm Beach flights almost immediately after their introduction (inconveniencing me!).

It’s worth remembering that in spite of the conventional wisdom that the low cost carriers can do no wrong, not every business decision works out for them.

But at least pulling out of a market is a sign that they care about profitability and are willing to make tough and even embarassing decisions in furtherance of their bottom line, a lesson that the major carriers need desperately to learn.