Not sure about the point being made here, but I assume it's that the pilots of Operator A should have never agreed to take the $2 pay cut which started the ball rolling--ending in disaster.

Of course, you assume that Operator D will never be formed to undercut all three. This is a free market. It happenes all the time, and our industry isn't immune.

Some examples: IBM got run out of the PC market when Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. came in and undercut their price. Dell & Gateway now face pressure from Acer, eMachines, et al. Honda and Toyota undercut GM/Ford/Chrysler in the 70s with a better product at a lower price. The UAW held tough on their pay and benefits, driving up costs. Eventually, the big 3 couldn't compete. Now Hundai and Kia and doing the same thing to Toyota and Honda. Sears was once the worlds largest retailer--by far. It was devistated by competition Walmart/KMart/Home Depot/Lowes/etc. Geico and Progressive are giving Allstate a hard time.

You get the idea. Compaies exist to make money for the owners. As hard as it is to swallow, they do not exist to provide pay and benefits to employees. That is, arguably, the best way to make money for the owners, but it is only a means to the ultimate end. There is a fine line between protecting your job/pay/benefits and comitting "sucicide" by making your company uncompetitive--ultimately going out of business.