Here are more of the promised "consumer benefits" from the merger of AirTran and Southwest Airlines. AirTran is canceling service to Bloomington, Ill., Charleston, W.Va., Knoxville, Tenn., Miami and Washington Dulles.

Of those, reports USA Today, only Dulles is also served by Southwest. So the combo carrier is abandoning four markets, three of them not exactly enjoying an overabundance of air service. For Baltimore, if you want to fly to Miami via the Southwest/AirTran combo, you now have to take the Southwest flight to Fort Lauderdale. The AirTran flight to MIA will be eliminated.

Says AirTran:

AirTran Airways says it can no longer support service to these particular markets in light of the realities of the challenging economic environment and sustained high fuel prices. The airline has a keen focus on aligning its service with Customer demand and making capacity available for future opportunities without growing the current fleet.

Says USA Today:

Still, the latest count means a total of nine AirTran airports now will not see Southwest-branded flights as part of the merger. The others – all previously announced – are Asheville, N.C.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Dallas/Fort Worth; Moline/Quad Cities, Ill.; and Newport News, Va.