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Article: Airline industry is poised for shakeout; The bankruptcies of Delta and Northwest are the latest signs of the steep challenges facing major carriers.(USA)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- September 16, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Alexandra Marks Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
NEW YORK -- With Northwest and Delta airlines both in bankruptcy court this week, four of the nation's "Big 7" airlines are now in Chapter 11, which raises the question: Why don't they just raise their prices more, as other industries struggling with high fuel prices have done?
The answer is a complex mix of tight competition, not only with low-cost carriers, but with buses, trains, and automobiles as well.
There's also the already-battered state of the traditional carriers' balance sheets. They didn't have the cash to hedge cheap fuel, the way flush low-cost carriers like ...