Private Fortunes.

This article report that the Top-Performing Companies study for 2005 was expanded to include 29 non-publicly traded U.S.-based airlines. The ranking included privately owned or wholly owned affiliates of larger publicly traded U.S. carriers doing business under separate operating certificates. Overall results clearly separated the U.S. airline industry's strong business segment from its weak counterpart. To determine the rankings among publicly traded aerospace/defense companies, the "Aviation Week" project team analyzed four principal measures including operating performance, strategy and financial health. INSET: Measure for Measure.