Bumpy outlook for airlines

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, June, 2009 | by Linda Loyd Inquirer Staff Writer

With two of the nation's big carmakers having filed for bankruptcy reorganization, can airlines be next?

No - not yet.

A pack of major U.S. airlines went through Chapter 11 bankruptcies after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

And that puts them in better shape, for now, to weather the economic downturn, experts say.

Earlier in this decade, Delta, United, Northwest, Hawaiian and US Airways Group all went through bankruptcy protection - twice for US Airways, in 2002 and 2004.

Top carriers used the court process to reduce debt, slash labor costs, and dump traditional pension plans.

Aloha and American Trans Air airlines sought bankruptcy restructuring, and ultimately went out of business.

American and Continental airlines averted bankruptcy but won...