People have been saying that for years on end as well.

But you're right, I suppose they could always go the way of AIG.

On the other hand, even if they do go "away" there is still serious competiton in the US, so it's a simple and trivial matter to simply hop on board the next FFP program. After all, if UA goes under, where will their serious FFers go? Most likely to the program that offers them the best deal to match their status. Perhaps they might even go as far as KLM did a few years ago and even match points balances.