and just because UA's costs are lower does not equate to lower fares anyway. UA may earn more or lose less but you won't see them sending out rebate checks for all the tickets purchased on those routes that now have lower costs. You will now get a bunch of minimum wage workers with constant batches of new people that need to get trained as the others move on to higher paying jobs. Especially with AA/AE in bankruptcy now, wages and benefits will be further cut and there will be little incentive for those workers to go out of their way to help a competing carrier.