With all the doom and gloom about the possible or
probable merger here is something on the brighter
side. Maybe a larger, combined airline, whatever
the name might be, has an opening here :

"Decades-old protectionist barriers on air travel between the U.S. and Australia came tumbling down Friday with the conclusion of a landmark open-skies agreement."

http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/15/aus...partner=alerts