This is an organization in a political and financial tailspin.

Mr. Wytkind said: "The Bush White House has set the nation's airlines into a potential financial tailspin, and from what we can tell, they're not willing to do anything about that.

It didn't matter that United, which had lost $605 million in the first half of 2001, was in a financial tailspin: when airline unions are due for a raise, they get one.

That railroad, the largest commuter line in the country, carrying 260,000 passengers a day on several branches, had been in a financial tailspin for years.

Carematrix also went into a financial tailspin and eventually defaulted on its lease with the village.

Barker's first "Abarat" book is being released at a time when Disney sorely needs another hit franchise; the company has been in a torturous financial tailspin.

This means that the boarding headcount overall is higher than it was in September 2008, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank triggered that multi-national financial tailspin.

Mr. O'Brien said that inexperienced flight crews were less of a problem now since fewer pilots were being hired because of the domestic airline industry's financial tailspin.

A few read a photocopied statement in the window telling of the financial tailspin of a store beloved by fans of jazz and classical music.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, but Snepp ultimately lost, sending him into a financial and emotional tailspin from which he is only now recovering.