They could consolidate, trim any excess/overlap, and gain economy of scale to spread out costs further. They could then rework their growth plans as one instead of as competitors. Certainly the growth would be a bit less as one than each would plan to grow on their own. The fact that the airline would be a much bigger market presence would reenergize many employees and keep them from bailing to legacies. The cost of the actual merger would be far less than other airline mergers - apart from nearly identical fleets, there is a very similar culture, business model, marketing, and customer base. I really don’t know if it will ever happen, but I don’t know why anyone would conclude that it is a far-fetched possibility, especially if market conditions are challenging for any number of reasons.