Flying on empty - America's airlines.

Bankruptcy is becoming normal for America's airlines. OVER the past four years, America's airlines have lost $32 billion, hit by the effects of terrorist attacks, the collapse of the dotcom bubble, the war in Iraq, the SARS epidemic in Asia and fiercer competition from new low-cost carriers. This devastated landscape is now being visited by a sixth horseman of the apocalypse: oil prices. On September 14th Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, America's third and fourth-largest …

…further, making their residual networks less attractive because they offer fewer destinations. The only bright spot for American carriers is international routes, where yields are rising steadily. But as they add capacity across the Atlantic, the bosses of European airlines such as British Airways are getting angry. They regard America's Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a form of subsidised, unfair competition. It looks as though the woes of America could spill over on to the international market.