I've long avoided Northwest Airlines because I felt they had poor service and expensive fares, but grudgingly chose them on a recent trip because they were the only option available. Since their merger with Delta Air Lines things have picked up, and after a fantastic flight and a smooth landing I was ambivalent about the pleasant experience and the fact that I really had no choice.

Having cut a number of jobs and unprofitable routes, floundering Japan Airlines is also courting proposals, from all the way across the Pacific, to get back on its feet.

This is an inevitable move to save the company, but I wonder, with all this financial "teaming up," how long will it be before the skies are controlled by a small number of mammoth airlines and we no longer have a choice of who to fly with.