interesting...while I am not really going to respond to the mesa stuff because I know nothing about it there is something I want to address. The airline/aviation industry looks bleak right now because of recession, rising oil prices, and inferior work conditions. I realize I'm an outsider and am not extremely well-versed in Airline economics and policy but there are factors that some of you might not be looking at. I've tried to explain before how complex the oil and gas business is and how it is inevitable that the price will come down. There are other sources of oil in our own country that have not been exploited and when the government decides to stop griping at the US oil companies about it and open up these sources of oil we will see high prices. Innovation will also play a role(i.e. Gas to Liquid fuel, coal liquefication, etc.) The market will find the next source of energy it always has propelled us forward. However, the airline industry will, in a few years, have a mass exodus of pilots due to retirement(baby boomers). This will open up jobs for pilots and I believe return market and QOL conditions to previous levels. If this downturn in the economy is allowed to fully play itself out then we will pull out of the recession and things will get better. That is how markets work and they will ALWAYS go up and down. If you live in a free social and economic society this is how things are.