Compared to some big companies in other industries, it strikes me that the United Airlines saga could someday become an outstanding example portraying "a company's struggle for survival in adversity". Where everyone involved: employees, unions, management, shareholders, bankers, government (and why not loyal passengers?) made varying sacrifices with the honest objective to keep the company intact as far as possible and the jets flying?!
That'll be small consolation for those who will have to rely on the
PBGC for their retirement
income though. 
At least United have not been doing anything illegal, just using measures already available to any corporation in difficulties. Both United Express and Ted appear to be serious efforts at trying to meet the competition at their own level, with a view of delaying the eventual hardship on the parents of all airlines with "legacy costs". But as a matter of interest, which "United Airlines" company actually holds the rights United took over from TWA and PanAm under Bermuda II?
And if you'd like to take a few minutes off to read about the measures
some big companies in
other industries
might have taken recently in order to reduce their own "legacy costs", I offer
Rhodiagate. It has all the ingredients of an Arthur Hailey novel, allegedly involving a conspiracy of:
- several EU governments in order to create a world-dominating pharmaceuticals giant,
- the
off-loading of the "legacy liabilities" of at least one of the parties, whose operations included very "dirty" chemical plants operating in the developing / 3rd world with huge liabilities which were covered up and the new entity "spun-off",
- some of the biggest names in high-finance being "strung along",
- a Frenchman, member of the supervisory board at the time, who goes on to become the Finance Minister for his country,
- the "unexpected" death of a well-known financier whose family invested over $80 million in the spin-off, shortly after launching legal proceedings...
I might have said too much...
