The airlines out there who are selling tickets for 1 pence and suffering the losses on whatever cash reserves they may have are playing a VERY dangerous game indeed. Profits are falling through the floor and absolutely no one has any idea just how deep and how long lasting this recession is going be. That money will only last so long, and if the fundamentals of the business are not sound and the demand is extremely price sensitive, irrespective of product, then there can only be trouble on the horizon. Of course, certain airlines have made most of their money through having purchased large numbers of aircraft cheaply. They, however, are the self same airlines who are now finding the bottom has dropped out of the leasing market, and in a time when they wish to reduce capacity and consolidate, they are still getting new aircraft delivered. Despite this, and once ambitious expansion plans, recruitment in the UK has all but ground to a stuttering halt.
You sound like a pessimistic gobbo to me..... Cheer up! Seriously, things mightn't be as good as they have been for another while to come but the airline industry ain't just gona grind to a halt. It's every sector feeling the pinch and if you know anything about economics these recessions are recurrent and we will come out the other side either by circumstance or by the help of governments. You make it sound like doomsday. Jaysus Christ!