Their flight widget is the second thing in the search results (right under the ads) and above any actual results. That alone - says they're prioritizing the money-making options.
The place under the ads and above the search results is just where they put stuff like the calculator, sports stats, and other easter eggs. Yes they make money off the Flights widget, but that doesn't automatically mean it's bad for the user. My point was that the Flights widget is great and more useful than the actual search results when you query for "flights to lax" just like the calculator widget is more useful than the search results when you query "sin(50)*1234". They are prioritizing useful widgets, and this one happens to make lots of money.
