The entire trend at USAirways is self-destructive, and the SHARES meltdown is merely the latest incident in management's push to lower costs no matter what the long-term consequences.
The last time the industry saw anything like this was during the dark days of Continental Airlines. Under the leadership(?) of Frankie "Smooth Talk" Lorenzo, that carrier merged its way out of bankruptcy and alienated its customers and employees to the point that it was moments from financial destruction. Few around here remember just how bad it got at Continental, and how close they came to shutting the doors. It took one of the few visionaries of the industry, Gordon Bethune, to pull them from the brink of oblivion. And he accomplished this not by beating up on employees and inconveniencing customers, but just the opposite. The difference between CO situation then and the situation at US now is that US actually has some money in the bank to turn things around. Mr. Bethune had to do a lot of tap-dancing and schmoozing of creditors to get the breathing room he needed.
But at USAirways, Doogie and Company seem to be taking the opposite tack of what Bethune did to turn CO into one of the premier carriers of the world. For these reasons (the alientation of our customers and the employees,) USAirways will ultimately fail. That pot of cash in the bank will last a few years under normal circumstances, but if there is another terrorist incident or large disruption of oil supply (both likely scenarios), that pot of cash will evaporate in flash. And the credit markets will see Doogie's actions as squandering both money and customer good will, and our access to money to survive will be gone.
" "And as far as not having a ticket, the lady at Starbucks said you tried to pay her for the Macchiato with your USboarding pass!" Now really, how can that be OUR fault.....afterall "I make US Fly!" 
