Sad day for US Airways employee's. I have 7 close friends that are aircraft technicans and pilots. They have been threatened by this for a long time. Just more of Steven Wolf's airline mis-managment. Republic, United, now US Airways, he is just about now as bad as Frank Lorenzo. :-fumeTexas Pacific are some investment bankers here in Dallas that is loaning them $500 million. This is the group that also help America West and Continental turn things around.

http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d50255b4990a9e4.jpgJay....:-waveNWA Line Maintenance KDFW NW KLM WORLDWIDE RELIABILITY

** you all heard of Air FLorida? well one of my dad's BEST friends created that airline..http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d51a5440e3ce469.jpg"come fly our friendly skies" (by friendly, we MEAN FRIENDLY ;)

They told us at Colgan that it is busness as usual :)

it is really sad to hear that an airline who i am as close to as i am with delta has gone bankrupt, especially for the people of pittsburg too, pit is a big hub for usair, i hope they dont go under like the others before them

"Losses like this have been around the airline industry since Sept 11th"Although Sept. 11th didn't help, the airline industry was headed for hard times well before Sept. 11th. Let's not make the terrorists think they single handedly hurt the airline industry--nothing could be further from the truth. Even prior to September 11th, airlines were hit with a recession, combined with rising fuel costs. Since travel is a fair part of my profession, I can tell you a number of instances, well ahead of 9/11, where I tabled a trip in order to save costs. We were a bit more liberal with our travel budget prior to the recession. The one 9/11 related issue that did cause a problem was the closing of Reagan airport. This will be debated for a long time, especially if USAirways does fold. I'm not qualified to offer an opinion as to whether Reagan's prolonged closure was justified, but in my own company's case, we began to use Southwest and BWI rather than Reagan, which was our airport of choice for projects in and around D.C."How does a decline in interest in commerical flight affect FS itself...will interest be affected?"In light of the potential for lost jobs whenever an airline folds, I feel it a bit selfish to worry about FS and flight simulation. My hopes and thoughts are with USAirway's employees. "What carrier might be the next to go?"USAirways ain't gone yet....

John makes good points, yes there were indicators that showed the airline industry would be headed for a downturn before 9/11, but what is particularly troubling this time around is the kind of losses the industry is taking, if the losses keep up then eventually more and more airlines will go under, Midway and USAir( even though USAir is still operating) could be symptoms of a greater problem to come, downturns mean less jons for pilots and less demand for flight schools and etc...sure there will be an upturn eventually, but who will be left to enjoy it?

I don't know if we compare in age, but I have to say that in my lifetime I've seen numerous cycles in the airline industry. I have to feel aviation will come out stronger, as airlines retool their business models. When I first started my business travels back in the 80's, many markets served today simply weren't. Often, I'd be assigned to a project, with a 3-4 hour drive in blinding snow after a 4 hour flight. Today, more markets are served than ever, and perhaps the airline industry grew in such a way that it couldn't support these markets amidst the combined crisis of a recession and 9/11. But times improve--they always do. Recessions and economic downturns are a study in Psychology. Why did the recession start when it did? Why have business managers in this "recovery" shied away from spending as they did in the boom times of the late 90's? The answer has to do with a healing psyche....and it will recover, as it always has. The fundamentals are still sound--if anything, 9/11 proved Western culture can take quite a shock, and still function and grow (and learn). Sooner or later, our economy will be hit with a "prozac" that causes the tide to change--it may be as simple as the discovery of Bin Laden stuffed in a tomb, or as complex as a successful rollout of a fuel cell vehicle. Whatever it is, don't worry--I've seen worse, and I expect better.

>who will be left to enjoy it ?Most of us I suppose. And those few well managed and well positioned airlines to benefit from the upturn. Again, as some correctly stated, if there is demand for air traffic there will be some airlines to fulfill this demand. Demand-supply balance is the key. Michael J.

Yep. The employees of US Airways, and their long time customers said "thank God!" that the merger didn't go through, too. :)

Frank Lorenzo NEVER "saved" an airline - he only killed them....

A quote from a layed off mechanic on the United Mechanics Website,"I guess the subject of concessions at US Airways is moot now that they have filed Chapter 11. You know whoever the bankruptcy judge is will not be on labor's side. Recall EAL and all the heartache they went through with corrupt, corporate friendly judges in a Republican Administration. I'd like to believe different, but history has shown us that what corporate America wants, corporate America gets in court. (Usually)"

Airlines are just to dayamn BIG, flying too many expensive planes, payinf or too much gas for too many flights a day. There are too many big airlines and too few small airlines. Why have United fly eight hundred frikkin flights into low-traffic places like Omaha or something (just an example), and waste all that money when like fifteen passengers get on a 737 that fits 100+. I agree, airlines will go down and come back up, but can we say the word restructure????ZACH