Domiciles can close or shrink and what may be attractive one year looks like crap a few years later. Ask the boyz in Frisco about that. PHX, STL and very likely BOS could be whacked and ORD could shrink more or become a Group I ghetto. I'd base my decisions on long-term career prospects based on quantifiable aspects of strength. Delta will be THE future benchmark legacy with astute and sharp management and superior employee relations. A true player, whereas we're headed to be a fragmented ragtag global also-ran with little more then new uniforms and paint job. Being 15% higher up the pole at the Walmart of legacies in 10 years isn't necessarily the best option.

Parker and Kirby aren't building anything here, just reconstituting the past and in the long run, as it stands now I think that will be a poor investment.