The airline industry is infamously dismal, where many once illustrious names such as Pan Am, Eastern, and TWA have gone to die. But it seems that the business of building airplanes is even more dismal. Right now, the market is only able to sustain two long distance passenger aircraft companies: Boeing and Airbus. And both of them get a large share of their revenue from defense contracts. The fact is that the aircraft industry is one whose prosperity fluctuates with world tensions. Companies such as Northrop and Lockheed have tried, and failed, to enter the passenger aircraft business, and chose instead to stick with military aircraft. If World War I didn't happen, it means no World War II and no Cold War and therefore much lower defense spending. So how does this change the aircraft industry?