I guess, but I'm still not seeing how the magic works out in the long run. Doesn't the combined DL/9E profit get reported as the same number at the end of the day? They could "pay" 9E a million dollars per flight, thus causing DL a huge loss, but that huge fake 9E "profit" would come right back to the DL bottom line and at the end of the day what would be reported would be the actual net profit or loss, right? Likewise they could pay 9E one dollar per flight thus having them gush red ink while showing a fake "profit" to DL, but again, at the end of the day nothing would change.

The one advantage I could see from this, I guess, would be if 9E was spun off to ignorant investors with a slight of hand that hid the pump and dump from them long enough to leverage their exuberance for the IPO but then went on to bleed the now separate entity while providing favorable terms for DL through the new code arrangement. But that doesn't look very likely at least right now.

DL could do things like this all the time within fleets as well as the refinery and a few other places like DGS etc. But what's the point if you're not going to spin something off?

DL can't send 9E to BK as long as its a WO can they? That and a very short term gain from a pump and dump are the only two reasons I could actually see them doing what you're suggesting to that extent. Even then the likely result would be rapidly re-assuming unsustainable attrition as they'd have to cut to the bone to "pinch a nickle" everywhere they could to survive day to day. That wouldn't do DL any favors. So I still don't see what's in it for them moving their own money from one pocket to another when the net result gets reported the same way anyway.