When an airline carries 60 percent of a nation's domestic skies, its financial distress becomes a matter of public consequence rather than private misfortune. Malaysia's government has quietly begun asking what comes after AirAsia — approaching rival carriers about absorbing routes and passengers should Southeast Asia's largest low-cost carrier cease to fly. The conversations reflect both the scale of AirAsia's mounting losses, driven by surging fuel costs and a weakening ringgit, and a government no longer certain the airline can rescue itself. It is the kind of contingency planning that sign