British airline industry- so many failures?

[tdracer]

Originally Posted by NumptyAussie

you may be right, but I only know what I have read (i know Wiki can be manipulated) but I do welcome correction.

"Pan Am was forced to file for bankruptcy protection on January 8, 1991. Delta Air Lines purchased the remaining profitable assets...."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_..._World_Airways

"Under Icahn's direction, many of its most profitable assets were sold to competitors, much to the detriment of TWA.[35] Icahn was eventually ousted in 1993, though not before the airline was forced to file for bankruptcy on January 31, 1992.[36]"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_World_Airlines

You need to remember that - at least in the US - there are different types of bankruptcy. Chapter 8 means the business model is no longer viable and you're out of business - chapter 11 means you're business is still viable, but you need some 'help' with the debt burden to remain viable - under chapter 11 the business will maintain more or less normal operations. Both PanAm and TWA went the chapter 11 route and were then taken over - they never ceased operations.
The story is slightly complicated in the case of Pan Am because when they were taken over, Delta didn't want their east coast shuttle service - it continued on for a while under the Pan Am moniker but eventually collapsed under it's own weight and went the Chapter 8 route.