I think a lot of people are overlooking the basics. AA is still digging its way out of its debt hole from the preCOVID fleet renewal. Total debt is currently $38 Billion (https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-t...gs-transcript/) vs United total debt of $27 Billion for United (https://ir.united.com/static-files/e...d-86c244320239)and $16.3 billion for DL (https://ir.delta.com/news/news-detai...s/default.aspx).

Servicing an extra $10 or 20 BILLION dollars in debt is ABSOLUTELY gonna take a bite out of your profit, even if all other factors were the same. It’s as much as a billion dollars reduction in annual profit.