Originally Posted by
rickair7777
I have a feeling you're right. While I think the HAL acquisition was a good business call (risky but necessary to bulk up to avoid getting squeezed out in the long run) it's also partly a vanity project for the AS top dogs. They didn't put them selves in charge of (partly) global airline just to hand the keys over to somebody else (they're young).
Adding B6 to our mix would certainly improve our critical mass, and long-term ability to swim in the deep end with the big four, but our leaders would probably consider it a "nice to have", not an existential survival need. So they could probably take it or leave it, at least as things stand now.
During the NK/JB court hearings it was stated that JB was considering F9, NK, AS, and one unnamed carrier for merger partners. The rumors goes that AS and JB leadership couldnt agree on who would ultimately be in charge, where corp HQ would be, surviving brand, etc. Nobody wanted to give up the reigns... I think now JB has been humbled a bit and has an activist sitting on the BOD to keep them in line. Maybe we will see the AS/JB in a few years when things settle down