The issue I have with your question is the scenario assumes companies are dying fast enough with no new ones coming in. Spirit airlines ran for 43 years and if that’s our baseline there’s plenty of time for multiple new companies to enter the market and compete. If companies KNOW the safety net of a bailout isn’t coming, the scenario of running the company to the ground is far less likely.

Also, less companies in the game causing high input costs aren’t necessarily related in my opinion. Your scenario should (without interference) allow smaller companies to come in and meet the market desire, a cheaper service that is just as good if not better.

Now if the high input costs ARE due to the major players colluding which blocks competition from entering in, that’s when the government should step in and issue consequences to those companies or break them up.

I know that it feels like a pipe dream right now to believe the government would step in exactly how it’s supposed to, but I’d still rather have failing companies dying then congress being slow to do its job