No 9/11: impact on US airlines

United, Northwestern, US, and Delta all went bankrupt in the 2000s. Northwestern, according to Wikipedia, was already experiencing problems due to competition from Southwest. One merger would likely trigger a wave of other mergers even if the airline industry stayed afloat as a whole, as other airlines would have a hard time competing against the new larger airline. This may have been what triggered American's bankruptcy in 2011 (after the market as a whole had recovered), as American had avoided mergers up until that point.
 

SsgtC

Banned
United, Northwestern, US, and Delta all went bankrupt in the 2000s. Northwestern, according to Wikipedia, was already experiencing problems due to competition from Southwest. One merger would likely trigger a wave of other mergers even if the airline industry stayed afloat as a whole, as other airlines would have a hard time competing against the new larger airline. This may have been what triggered American's bankruptcy in 2011 (after the market as a whole had recovered), as American had avoided mergers up until that point.
Not exactly true RE American. They were the first airline to merge, buying out TWA and creating, at the time, the largest airline in the world. Continental would still be around most likely, as would US Air. Northwest probably would have merged with someone, just not sure who. United maybe?
 
By September 2001 the American economy was over-inflated and due for an "adjustment." The terrorist attack merely pushed the airline industry over the edge. All those grounded flights lost income, while fixed costs remained high.
 
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