Years ago when PanAm was in bankruptcy, they proposed to buy NWA. The combined airlines had only 8 overlapping routes. PanAm was the largest carrier across the Atlantic and Carribean. NWA was huge in the Pacific. Everybody laughed and we all know it didn't happened. What I found most interesting at the time was the fact that PanAm (in bankruptcy!) was required to pay millions of $$ just for the commitment of funding from the big money guys. How can a bankrupt airline (PanAM then, USAirways now) possibly justify such a huge expense for just the promise of funding????