On all of our long haul flights we offer hot meals with a choice in both first class and coach, and all meals are served on china. For passengers traveling from one side of our Las Vegas hub to the other we offer unlimited free stopovers in Las Vegas with no penalty. Washington National Airport is a slot controlled airport that is dominated by the high cost U.S. major airlines who clearly take advantage of the traveling public and literally gouge them. BWI is not slot controlled, has ready access to new carriers, and as a result provides better choices and lower fares. I'd be interested in learning about the relationship between higher oil prices and airline fares.
Fuel prices are one of the most significant components of any airline's operating costs.
Efforts by airlines to pass along higher fuel costs have largely failed and while fares have increased since oil prices have escalated, the higher fares are covering only a small fraction of the higher fuel costs. Most of the fare increases have been aimed toward the business travelers, while the advance purchase highly discounted leisure fares have remained unchanged. I'm not familiar with National Airlines. All new airlines must complete a very rigorous certification process by the FAA and Department of Transportation. National Airlines successfully completed this process after several months of intense scrutiny by these federal agencies.