U actually has a lot less cash than that - ~$800M and is basically being kept aloft by GE Capital. Anyway, CO's $1.5B in cash is not sustainable at thier current loss rate - and they can't allow it to go much lower. All you can do is raise prices or lower costs, and we know CO can't raise prices if other airlines don't match - and they usually don't.

The real wild card isn't labor - it's fuel. Oil apears to be steady at 25% higher than last year. CO , AA and NW would all be in the black were it not for the price of gas, so all they can do is cut costs - the costs they can control. Gas they can't - salaries they can.