I can understand the reluctance of AF staff and pilots to get involved in the messy restructuring of AZ operations. I can also measure the reactions of KL representatives, who were judged to be in violation of the KL/AZ agreement and who were ordered by an arbitration court to pay EUR 250 million to AZ in 2002.
Nevertheless, IMHO, AF needs to have a strong Southern European hub; there are different trade-offs to having this hub in Spain or in Italy. JCS has proven over the years that he is a skillfull operator and an effective leader with a strategic vision. Losing both the opportunities for taking over IB and AZ would be, in my personal opinion, a setback on the road to making AF a major global player, based on several continents, at the time it is trying to bolster a DL/NW alliance and looking at a major Asian partner.