Most of the freight shipped in this country is carried by rail or by truck. Much, perhaps most of the air freight shipped in this country is transported by Fed Ex, UPS, Emery, and other non-passenger outfits. As for travel, there are still other ways to get around if need be. Business travel has been declining for months, partly because the economy is slowing and perhaps because they're tired of being ripped off by the airlines. I look for teleconferencing to cut into business travel in a similar way that email has cut into snail-mail. Any business has to adapt to changing conditions or risk extinction.

The airline industry is important, but is it all that much more important than other parts of the economy? I don't see anyone rushing out to bail out the technology sector. That's a bigger portion of our economy than the airlines and has a huge impact on all other parts of the economy. Again, I see no problem with helping the airlines recover losses that were a direct result of the government ordered shutdown last week. However, if some airlines are too weak to exist on their own then perhaps they need to merge with other airlines or be prepared to go out of business. As much as I love airplanes, I don't see the airlines as being more "special" or deserving of protection than other industries.