If they had wanted to merge, the two companies wouldn't have needed to do this song and dance routine.

Remember, CAL already sat down and looked at UAL's books last year when a merger was contemplated. After seeing the mess over there, CAL went running and said not only NO but H**L NO! There was just too much to fix. An alliance? Yeah, we can do that!

If this had NOT been approved, there would have been a stronger likelihood of a merger in order to keep up to speed with the likes of Delthwest. The next step is to see if the revenue targets meet the desires of both companies. If not then I would expect, dinner, drinks and cigar meetings between the top execs about a merger again.