Byline: JOHN PLETZ
United Airlines' best hope for the future flew out the window last week when Continental Airlines Inc. walked away from merger talks.
Now the choices facing United CEO Glenn Tilton boil down to hashing out a less-desirable merger with US Airways Group Inc. or going it alone in an increasingly stormy airline business.
If fuel prices stay at record highs and the weak economy cuts demand for air travel, "a number of legacy carriers will see their cash positions erode to the point they're bankruptcy candidates in 2009,'' says Jim Feltman, senior managing director at Chicago's Mesirow Financial Consulting LLC and a restructuring expert who ...