Businesses that have high fixed costs have to pay particular attention to the whit- ifs behind decisions because making the wrong choices can be disastrous. Examples of well-known companies that have high fixed costs are American airlines and general motors. When companies have high fixed costs, they need significant revenues just to break even. In the airline industry, for example, companies’ fixed costs are so high the profits most airlines make come from the last two to five passengers who board each flight consequently, when revenues at American airlines dropped, it was forced to declare bankruptcy. In this chapter, you will see how cost-volume-profit CVP analysis helps managers minimize such risks.