Such a "marriage" makes sense on several levels.
If the Irish government truly wants out of the job creation business then it takes the political hit for whoever consumates it, not Aer Lingus' new owner.
BA gets the chance to protect its "back door", so to speak. It would also provide the option to use part of Lingus as it's lower fare unit.
No doubt MOL would be very agitated with this possibility. It might cause some of his friends in Dublin to reconsider their decision to sell EI.
As I see it DUB is the ideal connecting airport for some transatlantic traffic once the Shannon touch and go is removed.
As long as LHR is prevented from adding another runway (or three, which isn't going to happen) it makes sense to consider a reliever plan. Connecting some US-EU traffic through DUB instead of LHR would provide some extra capacity for BA at LHR to be used elsewhere.
If BA throws its hat into the ring Willie will have to find some more cash for the bidding war.
I hope IALPA and BALPA can work together on this.
Cheers, DD
FWIW, It wasn't the unions that made the decision to merge AA and TWA, it was the former CEO, Carty. Rather, the unions SAVED AA from bankruptcy.