[brewcrew]

I think you misunderstood me. In its current state, the airline industry will implode without being propped up by the government.

I don't necessarily see anything wrong with allowing the whole industry to go belly up. What emerges from the rubble will hopefully be leaner, meaner and used to the hardship of moving cattle from point A to point B. And nobody will be willing to take on the kind of debt required to run an airline without figuring out a way to make money at it (hint: charge people what it really costs to move their sorry @$$e$).

I was not trying to argue for a government bail-out. I'm with you on this one, brother.

[dfwgator]

The bottom line is that especially after 9/11, businesses realized that there wasn't nearly as much need for business travel, especially with the advance of internet technology to link business partners together. This is a sea change that apparently the airlines haven't figured out how to deal with yet.