From: "Travel Pages" <travelpages@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 8:34 AM > There's solid evidence that Continental's below-cost pricing during their > bankrupticies distorted fares, forced other carriers to compete, again > below cost. > <snip> CO used the bankruptcy laws to gain an unfair advantage by selling -- regularly and deliberately -- below cost. You use investment bankers to finance that kind of corporate behavior, not shareholders. > > This has left a scar on the industry still felt today. The CO bankruptcy > totally destroyed any hope for a rational realignment following > deregulation, you know, what a free market is supposed to insure? > > A market isn't free when it is subsidized by a court decision at the > expense of other competitiors. <snip> Where did the money to keep Continental flying come from? Certainly not from the competitors, and I doubt from the Federal government. Bankruptcy often wipes out shareholder's equity, which is supposed to be at risk in a "market economy". But the funds to keep operating and grow have to come from sources open to all the airlines, don't they? Gerry http://www.pbase.com/gfoley9999/ http://foley.ultinet.net/~gerry/aerial/aerial.html http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/pollock/263/egypt/egypt.html