Bankruptcies are not all the same. We have to remember that economic swings happen. Post 9/11 was one. 2007-2008 was another. Good management is able to weather storms better.

The point of my post wasn't simply to piss and moan about the latest Delta assault on frequent flyers. All the pissing and moaning won't accomplish much. They've been preparing as they have in the past to respond with insincere canned bloviation "because they can." The lack of competition makes it so. The general public isn't going to care much about how they're screwing us. BUT channeling our angst to looking at the broader picture and the real culprit of no meaningful antitrust enforcement may be a different story. I spent many years handling consumer protection cases and can say from that experience that "nothing gets their attention more than the three words 'summons and complaint.'"

The carriers need to be broken up and realigned. Jet Blue actually would be a fit for Alaska to give it an eastern presence. There has been off-and-on talk of reviving Midwest Express and Alaska would be in a good position to get into that. The Milwaukee hub would have affordable capacity and avoids ORD. Spirit and Frontier should remain as they are. They need to improve their product and regulators need to make them be more transparent about the cost of their tickets. Their fees need to be transparent. As it stands, the airlines intentionally reduced capacity in order to jack up fares and crowd planes and then they blame consumers. They broke promises and need to be held accountable. The latest Delta shenanigans -- except for the bait-and-switch credit card stuff -- won't matter much except perhaps to serve to channel the angst into pushing for the reform that's really needed: antitrust enforcement.