No one seems to be saying that UA (or any of its competitors) are on death's door. There's speculation about what is going to happen in the upcoming months... let's face it, the rest of the year could be a tough time for all of the airlines. And it's not like the speculation that one of the majors won't make it through the year is out-of-step with what people in the industry are saying.

That's the goal of every business, to stop losing money. Or maybe even to make a profit! But it's really hard in tough times, especially when your business is flying planes.

I don't understand the ins and outs of UA's aircraft lease deals and ability to cut employment costs---would love to hear from someone who does---but I have got to guess that just getting the burn down to an acceptable level (let alone zero) could be really tough if air travel demand at Christmas is just 20% of what it was last year. I guess one might argue that that's where the sensationalism is---surely demand needs to rebound significantly sometime this year!? But I think there's a non-zero chance things will still be bad enough with COVID-19 that few people will want to fly, even 6-7 months from now. So much uncertainty.

Given this, speculating about the viability of UA going forward doesn't seem crazy.