Why is United in bankruptcy and Southwest profitable?

Tom Peters' blog has a great story about a recent experience on United Airlines: A grandmother was supposed to fly to Denver to meet her 13 year-old grandaughter and fly on to Washington D.C. for a vacation together. When the grandmother's flight to Denver was cancelled and arrangements were made to meet up w/ the grandaughter in Washington, the mom asked United to provide services for the unaccompanied girl free of charge. United's response: "We can't waive any fees because we are in bankruptcy"!

Most everyone knows how Southwest was the only airline not to lay off any workers immediately following 9/11, with exectutives and others cutting their pay. And the story above also illustrates a great point: How do we behave as an organization in times of fear, frustration, desperation? The answer to this question can mean the difference between ultimate success or failure.