In the 6 years preceding 9/11, during what is undoubtedly a boom period for the economy, the industry earned a mere 3.5% net profit compared to an average of 11.5% for the S&P 500. In the wake of the events of September 11th, the industry's problems are brought to the forefront. Both, business and leisure travelers have avoided air travel or moved to low-cost flights. Airlines have been particularly hard hit by the fall in business travel, on which they rely for roughly two-thirds of their revenues. …
