If US had liquidated, the other airlines would have quickly bought up the coveted slots and real estate. The pilots would have most certainly been hired by the other carriers. Yes, it would have been inconvenient. AWA would not have been far behind, only exactly what were the coveted slots and real estate that would have been offered by AWA? I doubt UA or AA or WN would have wanted to touch the cactus. So who would have been the biggest losers? I think it is safe to assume the airplanes would have been taken much like what seems to be happening at Frontier and by now AWA would be just another losing airline experiment lost to history. US always had more to offer. So don't be so cocky, you kids have a lot to learn about the history of US. There have been All American/allegheny/US planes flying in the sky daily since 1937. So America West had/has nothing by way of history or assets to offer. Just my 2 cents to the uninformed youngsters on the playground monkey bars.