Get tired of winning and restructure/go bankrupt. Joint ventures/outsourcing does suck, but it seems like it is coming to AA too with the north east alliance. United is the only place as far as I can tell that isn't doing that. If the travel market stays strong and AA gets its debt controlled in the good times I think it will be fine and a great place to work. It could certainly happen, I just think people should consider the the possibility. Of the 3 choices for regionals I considered, 2 no longer exist. I got very lucky. The airline industry seems to favor a conservative growth strategy at every level. The best job security is of course to just fly boxes.

Too big to fail, implies leverage in DC and massive influence over the economy mostly only banks have. If only one airline actually needs to declare bankruptcy it will be allowed to happen. It will miss growth opportunities and the contracts will certainly not be industry leading afterwards.