First and foremost, I would have gone to congress and asked for a Formal Declaration of War and a definitive description of the enemy instead of prosecuting the "police action" by exec fiat as it is being run.
As for the airlines, I would have made it very plain that the grant and loan was to forestall ANY layoffs of personnel
I agree about the declaration of war poet , but it's not possible when the enemy is ever changing , fluid and on the move all of the time . 911 is a new paradigm , and every special interest group seems to want a piece for there own .