As the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression wore on and airline passenger and cargo traffic percentages plunged by double-digit percentages, ASC members faced a daunting year in 2009. While the drop in revenue traffic encouraged air passenger and cargo carriers to outsource more tasks historically performed in-house as a cost cutting measure, overcapacity, customer bankruptcies, and falling service rates and yields pressured the airline services industry. As these trends gained momentum, the airline services industry itself underwent further consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, as well as closures and capacity reductions. At the same time, the industry experienced a veritable halt to investments in infrastructure improvements. Moreover, government regulation of the airlines and airline services companies in a post-9/11 world often has been burdensome, ill-advised, costly or of limited value.