Well to steer the discussion back to the optimistic stage:

I had a phone call from a an old friend in the Pacific Rim, deeply affected by the JAL BK. I empathized with him over what is and will be an extremely painful time on his co-workers and their way of life.

The reason for his calling was to give his take on what this will look like in the short-medium-long term. He is ok financially and so I trusted his perspective as being a little more objective than could be expected.

To sum it up, good things MAY be on the way for us (DAL, n & s). I would even venture to guess that it is more likely than not....but of course all deals could be scuttled at the last minute. Without getting into the details he laid out, I could point out that:

A. financing is finally shaking loose out there, especially for those perceived to be best in class
B. JAL will be smaller....publicly stated
C. DAL's team has said and made all the right moves, and frankly has the subtlety needed in that part of the world
D. They also have the subtlety and contacts to make anti-trust much more of a non-issue on this side of the big pond and have been working that for much longer than I would have thought..
E. big jets, medium jets....just about everything except lil' jets are in the term sheets being tossed about for our side...

My hope is that just like the long ride to Disney in the summer, when my kids are griping about everything from the seat belts to the gummy bears under their butts....it all falls away when the BIG GATES come into sight with potentials they never imagined....

I'm hopeful for us while more than a little sad for my bud...this is a zero sum industry in the end.

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