Now that you mention it hateUAL, CO is NOT making a profit right now, and its long-term prospects are, despite the hype, dubious at best given the company's massive debt load accrued during the Lorenzo and Bethune years. Not to mention of course that most of CO's labor contracts are coming up for renegotiation later this year, which will result in a huge increase in labor costs. If CO had to operate with the labor costs of UA, AA, DL, US, or even NW, it would have lost money like everyone else.

FWIW, it is my personal opinion that NW will again rise to #1 by, say, the end of the decade, as is improves on its customer service and relatively good financials.

And all this, mind you, comes from a die-hard CO fan....