Domestic Airlines are not having the best of it either. On the Ansett Australia Site ( http://www.ansett.com.au ) you can look at, and - and make offers on some of the Airline Equipment used by the now - former airline.

Sabena - gone, Aloha and Hawaiin merging, and countless others in difficulty - the face of the skies is changing.

some familiar symbols of the past - merged or kaput !!

To be fair - many Airlines were struggling before the terrorist attacks of September 11. In the United States the top 8 Carriers combined lost USD400 million between them in the 3 months prior to the attacks - however the aftermath of that day has meant that less people are flying. Increased costs - including fuel and security have all combined to make running an Airline profitably very very hard.

An example is Airport passenger screening. In the USA in 2000 the cost per month to screen passengers was USD50 million. In post-attack America it has risen to USD211 million a month. One of the suggestions to increase security was to fortify cockpit doors. Worldwide this has a cost of over USD600 million dollars.

Airlines are also facing other threats.

The husband of a victim of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre is suing American Airlines and an airport security firm.

Thomas Smithwick is claiming USD50 million (£35m).

His wrongful death suit alleges that the airline and Globe Aviation Services failed to screen passengers boarding Flight 11 at Boston's Logan International Airport.

Hijackers flew the airplane into the trade centre's north tower, where the plaintiff's wife, Bonnie Shihadeh Smithwick, worked on the 93rd floor for Fred Alger Management.

Mrs Smithwick survived the initial impact and used her mobile phone to call her husband.

The lawsuit says she was trapped in the building, "causing her pre-death trauma and ultimately resulting in her death".

American Airlines spokesman Todd Burke and Globe Aviation spokeswoman Lynn Glovka have declined to comment.

According to lawyers for the Smithwick family, the suit is the first brought on behalf of a World Trade Centre worker against an airline.

Several suits have been filed by families of the passengers of the jets used in the attacks; other victims' families have sued Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, al-Qaida.

And while we are talking about the Airlines here - spare a thought for the Chinese Man who arrived recently at San Francisco Airport.

He was detained after batteries and wires were spotted in his shoes. His shoes were taken away and blown up by police - even after it was determined they were not dangerous. Apparantly they were designed to heat up and keep the wearer's feet warm.

Let's hope that he had warm socks !!

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