Yeah, it sounds unlikely, but with exceptions like 10 gates minimum for the system to kick in, you'll get that stuff. So really, you should only rent the gates if you're willing to lose money on them, or have the planes to use up the slots. You could also have decided to create the focus city later on, after you had enough planes to create routes from the city.
And trust me, 950000 is nothing. I've lost over 1 million in one day thanks to returned gates, it happens all the time. Difference being that it doesn't make much of a difference with my budget :wink: