At one point he had about 2.5 million miles in his frequent-flier accounts, he said.

The consequences might not be so bad for consumers, except for those travelers with tickets or frequent-flier accounts on the airlines that fail.

Passengers flying one airline in the alliance can designate the miles flown to the frequent-flier account of another airline.

The first step: track down my frequent-flier account.

"The only bad news is for those of you with frequent-flier accounts," the President told a breakfast of business leaders.

According to Northwest, Ms. Zimmel had two frequent-flier accounts.

The airlines have made their sites one-stop sources not only for buying tickets, but also for checking in for flights and and managing frequent-flier accounts.

"Ellen had a frequent-flier account at United."

That increased the number of points American Express would transfer to her frequent-flier accounts.

Mr. Alexander does not maintain a frequent-flier account at any airline, a spokesman said today.