Northwest can survive if they have to go into bankruptcy, ... These labor unions have to take it upside the head. Their next job will be at the Wal-Mart.
If the situation runs smoothly for the next three or four days, there may be no incentive for the company to end the strike. If it doesn't run smoothly, they might be back at the table at some point.
Southwest has to expand aggressively over the next two to three years because they've got to spread out their costs in order to keep their fares down. They have high labor costs and in order to protect their costs they have to put out more product.