ABSTRACT
In the few weeks that followed the terrorist attacks of 11September 2001 in the United States, several airlines collapsed or had to be bailed out by their governments. They included Sabena, Swissair and Canada 3000, all of which closed down, while Air New Zealand, the Polish airline LOT and a number of others were saved by capital injections from their governments. By the end of 2001 the airline industry was in turmoil. Other airlines were on the verge of collapse. But the underlying crisis predated 11 September. These airlines were well on the way to collapse before the terrorist attacks. The latter turned crisis into disaster.
