Air Berlin with its back to the wall

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Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold was unimpressed when investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort recently reduced its target market price for the carrier to zero. The bank's action was unusual at best, particularly in today's highly uncertain environment. There can be little doubt though that the structure of the Air Berlin Group is unwieldy and ill-equipped to enter a period of sustained high costs and low yields. What it does in the next few weeks to restore equilibrium will define the future for an airline group that would seek to usurp Lufthansa's role in the massive German market.