In 2 cases I have specific knowledge, but fear not, I'm not spraying it around in public.
9/11 is not a reasonable comparison unless you meant 9/11/1929. Its not falling demand for air travel that will sink some of the FTOs. There is a big difference between a recession (whatever the cause) and the credit crunch. Its not that there aren't enough people who would proceed regardless of the employment outlook, its that no credit, or credit only on terms hardly anyone can meet = grounded wannabes. Ultimately it will work out to the benefit of the existing pilot community (and anyone who can self-fund) in 2-3-4 years time, but do not expect the credit spigot to be opened wide again in the same timeframe - the banks have 'fessed up to only a fraction of their real losses so far - governments know this but arent going to force them to abandon their level 2/level 3 accounting BS any time soon, and yes, I have very specific first hand knowledge of that.