Success Quote by Gerard Arpey

“Painful changes” is corporate code for cuts that someone else experiences as layoffs, fewer routes, and shrinking service. Arpey’s sentence is built to acknowledge that discomfort without accepting blame for it. The pain is real, he implies, but it’s also inevitable - a necessary adjustment in a volatile airline business where margins are thin and loyalty is expensive.

The real action sits in the conditional phrases. “We continue to believe in the St. Louis market” flatters a city that likely feels downgraded, turning a business retreat into a statement of faith. It’s reassurance packaged as respect: you matter, we’re still here. But the second half tightens the screws. “Hoping to add flights, in a careful way” signals restraint, not revival; “careful” is a preemptive defense against civic and political pressure to “bring back” what was lost. The promise is not growth, but optionality.

Then comes the neat handoff of accountability: expansion will happen only “as the economics of our business improve” and as “demands... become clear.” Translation: we’ll add flights when it’s profitable and when you prove you deserve them with sustained ticket purchases. It casts the airline as responsive rather than extractive while subtly warning that sentiment won’t change route maps - data will.

Contextually, it reads like post-restructuring messaging aimed at a hub city after service reductions: soothe the market, keep the brand intact, and buy time. The intent isn’t to announce a comeback; it’s to manage expectations while keeping St. Louis on the hook.