The big guys may win in the end, but let's keep things in perspective. First, it's insanely difficult to launch an airline of any kind--witness the 100-plus startups that have come and gone in the U.S. alone since the airlines were deregulated in 1978. Second, the all-business-class model has its own built-in flaws, including far higher costs than your average Southwest wannabe. But MAXjet set out to do something quite different. Unlike the two other U.S.-U.K. lines it was often lumped with, the all-first-class Eos and Silverjet, MAXjet offered more of a budget business class. At its peak, the carrier was flying five 102-passenger 767-200s to London from New York, Washington, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, offering leather seats, gourmet food, and fares of about 50 percent off business-class prices on major rivals like American Airlines and British Airways. As with all new airlines, MAXjet had a gimmick: Stansted Airport. It's farther from London than Heathrow or Gatwick, but at least it had space at a more affordable price.

The problem is that MAXjet ran into typical startup territory: It used older planes that often had maintenance problems, and it faced a much more powerful enemy, in this case, American Airlines, which began flying from JFK to Stansted a few months ago. A 50 percent rise in fuel prices in the past year alone didn't help.

This doesn't mean business fliers should hesitate before booking on a smaller airline. While its exit may have seemed sudden, MAXjet had already booked and prepaid for 500 tickets on Eos to accommodate ticket holders--who are arguably getting an upgrade--and Silverjet, Continental, and US Airways all jumped in to carry MAXjet fliers for a small fee. After all, business travelers, no matter what their budgets, account for a disproportionate share of airline profits. All of which explains why this niche is, if anything, likely to get more crowded.