The feds didn't approve the United loan guarantees because the company's high labor costs and overhead means it probably wouldn't successfully reorganize under Chapter 11, so the taxpayers would get stuck paying off the loans. Personally, I think that's a good thing for us taxpayers. Denying the guarantees forced the company to get serious about cutting costs or face extinction like Pan Am.

As a result, the United pilots union voted to accept some big pay cuts. For an employee owned company, they sure accepted stuff that was unsustainable. For example, FAA regulations limit airline pilots to 80 flying hours per month. The typical United pilot was only flying 50 hours a month but still getting paid their full salary, and it was a very substancial salary at that. You simply can't stay in business doing that for long.

As for military wounded, the Air Force operates C-9 Nightingale (coverted DC-9 airliners) planes for that purpose. Since you have to carry more stuff into a war zone than out of it, they can also use other military transports like the C-130, the C-17 and C-141B to carry wounded. In wartime, they might send the most seriously wounded troops on the military transports and send others on airliners.