Is a Southwest Airline bankruptcy around the corner?

Airline bankruptcies are a tale as old as time.  Southwest has lost a  historical cost advantage it once enjoyed, as its labor costs per seat have risen by 32% while competitors have used bankruptcy to beat expenses down.  Today, southwest’s labor costs exceed its competition by 10-20%.  Unless they can collectively find a way to get passengers to pay more, labor is looking at a haircut, by cooperation or force.  We discussed this and more on Tuesday’s  Power & Money with David Asman.