It is a funny thing you know...when the family farms were dropping like flies, when trucking companies are dying like flies, when small businesses are going under in record numbers...I hear no outcry saying they need government intervention. The tragedy that struck the airlines as horrible as it is, is a cost of doing business. The financial loss to the airline industry will set them back but they will survive. The air traffic has been outstrippin the infrastructure in the United States for years. Any business that cannot survive a one week shutdown isn't being managed correctly in the first place. So much of the traffic hauled by airplanes could just as well go by surface transport if it still existed. Very unwise decisions were made by both business and government in the past that allowed our surface transport infrastructure to deteriorate to the point that in times of national emergency such as this, the nation becomes hamstrung. The short sighted Harvard School of Business concept of worrying about the next quarterly report and ignoring longterm strategic thinking in itself is going to create a national emergency one day. The old adage of live for today but plan for tomorrow holds here. Airline passengers have been near rebellion for years....late and delayed flights, missed connections, arrogant ticket pricing practices, excessively high seat pitch....and on and on. This slow down in air traffic will ultimately be a blessing if the airline management types can get their heads out of the sand long enough to see what is really going on.