A lot of it depends on how close they actually come in bargaining. If the only thing that Northwest was willing to give was what it first put on the table, I'd say the chance of a strike was pretty good.

I suspect that at least for a while people will like what United offers, feeling differentiated from the no-frills approach that almost every other airline is taking now. I think the problem is going to be managing it all. And if there are too many brands, it could confuse the customer.

It's pretty hard to say anything positive about it from a union perspective. I assume the leadership anticipates a strong negative vote.

You start to hemorrhage money when you're in Chapter 11. So I think there's a lot of reason for Northwest not to file. I think those would outweigh any rush to file before the October changes.

We're hoping that that money will make its way to the workers, ... To some extent that is out of our hands.

It's not failure, but low aim is crime.