"It's not analagous ... snipped ... Michael's rebuttal "


Yes it analagous.


Michael said that airlines should have to adapt to changing market conditions like any other private business. I wrote that terrorist attacks could hardly be characterized as changing market conditions. I'm thinking of changing market conditions in the traditional sense.


"Free market economies usually find a way to fulfill vital needs."


Again we don't have a purely free market economy. We have a mixed economy (mix of free markets and planning). The government has a role in the economy to provide for services and facilities that the private enterprise can't provide for themselves. I think it's important to realize that government does play a key role in keeping our economy functioning.