Atmosphere
I agree. Adopting Virgin branding is not the same as completing an out and out merger. Maybe this will happen if the dispute with stelios over the easy brand gets ugly (although as he is the majority shareholder, it would be surprising if it came to this).
With regards to Virgin Atlantic, surely if they are forced to merge with another airline it would be a skyteam member given Singapore Airlines stake in the company.
I think it is also worth noting the similarities between the situations at virgin and easy. Virgin might be SRB's baby but it is not his airline, a reality being felt all too painfully by Stelios at the moment.