[Townhall] American Airlines is not the bad guy in this story; the cuts are in response to a regional pilot shortage affecting the entire industry, which could last for a long time.
But as the very phrase "get rid of the losers" implies, many influential people in elite institutions just shrug off or ignore the economic and emotional effects that this kind of thing has on a small-to-medium-sized city. It is much like when they shrugged when manufacturing, opportunity and stability left such cities between 30 and 50 years ago.
When an airport stops serving your city, it denies the region's industries (and travelers) the use of the aviation network, the common denominator that determines successful business and tourism across the country and the globe.
And it creates yet another small death to places that are trying to recover from a series of other small deaths they have endured over the years due to automation and destructive trade deals and the loss of Fortune 500 companies keeping their headquarters in their hometown; there were seven located here in Toledo until the late '70s.