The state of the airline industry in the US has never been a stable one. If you were to plot a line that represented a level of staus quo so to speak, then in the USA the trend historically, and especially since deregulation, would be a sine wave like oscillation that was either roaring up through the staus quo flat line in some record growth period or crashing down through that line in the subsequent decline. The US airline industry has really never seen long continuous periods of stability. The factors that make that happen are the system of furlolugh, which can occur with no or little notice or penalty to the airline, and the rediculous chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Having been furloughed myself once I would not wish it on anyone. I knew pilots that had been on furlough for five or six years and after getting called back were out on the street again in a year or so. You wouldn't wish it on anyone but in my opinion the US can stand, in fact just about needs to lose another major carrier in order to stabilise the industry somewhat in the longer term. There is simply to many seats and to little yield that market.