Having read the whole thread, I see that some took a swipe at Branson attacking the deal. (I am not, nor have ever been an employee/shareholder of VS) If Branson did NOT attack the deal - he would not be doing his job. During the last BA/AA attempt, I recall WW saying that, if their jobs were reversed, he would be doing the same as Branson.
Many here seem to consider the KLM/AF deal a success and I have nothing to go on but what they say. I suggest that the difference is this: KLM/AF had time, unions and money on their side. If they have gone six years and are still not integrated - they have not saved as much money as they could have. So they can still squeeze more, but are unlikely to.
BA/IB have no time, or money and the unions will be against them. Unless they integrate FAST, they won't save the money and they will fall into the pit together. Since both companies are very long in the tooth, I would not be surprised to see this happen. Then the only question is: Will OWA come to their rescue and really start the consolidation or will KLM/AF try to rescue them and break all the alliances?
Of course, if they do collapse inward on themselves, most of the folks who are orchestrating this - will be retired and taking their pensions. Since someone mentioned the Daimler/Chrysler merger that had to be unpicked - I wonder if the ones who put it together had to pay back their bonus' and return the gold medals? That car merger never made cultural sense and I was not in the least surprised when it failed. This air merger will be overtaken by other world and financial events, so that it's success or failure will be hidden, from most!