Gary - No need to convince me of the beauty of DV, as I used to like in Inyokern for several years. If I told you how many times I've climbed Telescope, Wildrose, Corkscrew, Malpais Mesa and other locations it would sound like I'm bragging. It's a wonderful place to explore from the late fall thru early spring. And, I flown scores of times from LAS, ONT, and LAX. In evaluating a trip, I look at the total travel time - portal to portal - which includes travel to airport, flights/layovers, and travel to destination - and weigh that against the cost and convenience of certain connections. And yes - I'm familiar with the shortcuts you mention. There are other ways as well, but that's another thread.
The OP indicates he has a limited amount of time to climb Whitney, so keep the focus on that objective - climbing Whitney. The Eastern Sierra has wonderful places to visit, including historical ones like Manzanar, Bodie and countless mining camps, as well as more hiking/climbing than most can do in a lifetime - but right now the objective is Whitney.
My preference for airlines is clearly SouthWest, and they now service Boston, although I've not flown from there. SouthWest used to have at least one non-stop from MHT to LAS, sometimes two, but stopped that about a year ago, so there's a minimum of one layover, usually Midway or Denver. So, when someone with a limited amount of time, who's not familiar with the Eastern Sierra and lives in Boston - my recommendation is fly SouthWest in a smaller airport, like Ontario. As a plus, there's an In and Out Burger right near the closest onramp heading north...
As for the green tunnel - have never hiked down your way, and frankly probably never will. I prefer the forests of northern New England.
