I think long haul, low cost is the wave of the future; Zoom is already on t/a routes, Jetstar has started in Oz and soon, Fly Air Asia Express (FAX) - and offshoot of Air Asia - will be operating from KUL to Europe.
I think this, along with the loss of its position at LHR, is freaking BA (and VS) out; however, it is absurd that one company - let alone a country - should be in a position whereby it can hold this whole process up for everyone else; we are likely to have 26 countries agreeing and 1 country (read airline) vetoing. Things move on; BA needs to understand that. All of this stuff about picking up in the US and flying on somewhere else is really just dressing; even if it were allowed, I simply cannot see any EU airline wanting to do this, especially when they have alliances; why buy a dog and bark yourself?
It all comes down to moving forward with a process which will involve HUGE economic benefits. My sincere hope is that the US govt makes it very clear to the UK that if it messes this up, Bermuda 2 will fall. The tricky part of the situation is that the prospect of Open Skies being on ice for 2+ years is hardly a disincentive to BA/VS/DFTR; the only thing that is going to concentrate minds is a "negative incentive".
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle1466123.ece