Forbes ranks likelihood of liquidation for major airlines
Here's a newsflash: Airlines are burning through cash at a debilitating pace, debt is climbing, and revenue is not making up for high costs. Many say consolidation is inevitable. That may be, but the question is who is in a position to buy?
The answer is that virtually no domestic airline is currently capable of buying another airline--and won't be for a year or more. Most laid off thousands of employees after slashing flight schedules up to 23%. Unionized airline employees would most certainly be perplexed as to how their employer would find the money to make an acquisition, but can't afford to keep people employed ...
... Below we provide a snapshot of each of the nine major U.S. carriers, from largest to smallest. We've also ranked the likelihood of liquidation on a scale of 100%.
Highest: America West (90%) and US Air (80%)
Lowest: Southwest (0.5%) and Alaska (15%)
http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/011108/1108airlines_1.html