I watched a documentary many years ago on why K-Mart failed. The corporate leaders decided back in the 90s to buy the mall chain of stores called Borders and other business ventures. Walmart was constantly investing in their cash registers especially the part of credit cards and the software to process the transactions.
K-mart didn't put the money into the computerized cash registers with the upgraded software and connection wiring. The result was shoppers waiting 10+ minutes for a credit/debit card to go through towards the end of the K-mart era.
Shoppers knew where to go for easy and quick transactions. Wally world.
That's an oversimplification of the story but there were other factors that led to the demise of the Blue light Special.
Since the start of the Covid pandemic, the travel industry has been severely hampered with loss of paying passengers compared to prior to the pandemic. How many pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, agents, and other employees have been furloughed, loss their jobs and quit due to lack of hours?
The United station next door to mine in Columbia, MO has only one aircraft a day with service to Chicago. The kick at 0700 and the RON at 1630. Some days, no aircraft arrives from Chicago.
United has a billion dollars to spend on a startup. What is going through the minds of all the former United personnel without jobs?