[elmuchoprez]

This is purely anecdotal as I don't have real numbers to back it up, but it seems to me like every airline has been on the edge of going out of business for as long as I can remember. I don't think it's greed so much as there is virtually no margin in airlines to begin with.

[mindslight]

http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/unions-and-airlines

Makes sense to me, and seems to fit the gamut of airlines. The theory also explains why airlines have hostile customer service - there's just no upside to management working to improve things.

[tzs]

There have indeed been a lot of airlines on, or over, the edge.

"Over the last 30 years, more than 150 airlines have sought bankruptcy protection or disappeared, but more keep springing up as investors continue to put hope over experience, said Denis O’Connor, managing director with AlixPartners, a restructuring firm."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/business/17air.html?pagewa...