This week's Flight, quite unusually, chooses to list carriers they see as doomed by EU Commission actually implementing the Competition Rules passed by Ministers. They choose to list the proud owners of Lingus and TAP as desperate to unload, both seen as of interest only to IAG. They choose to cite Air Malta and Adria as on life support.
In 1988 even before we could be our own travel agency online, a Prof. at Cranfield U. forecast 4 global carriers plus a bunch of bugsmashers. He coined the name Royal Ameripore A/L. Today they are Star, OneWorld and Skyteam -each of which is one carrier when we construct multiple sectors on the site.
There is no point in railing against LoCo "bad reputation". They operate bus, not limo. If they receive taxpayers' munificence it is by ports' invitation - such as in subsidised charges. If firm A can offer you a service without grasping your taxes, then you would be foolish to patronise firm B who your taxes make fat and dumb. The same Flight piece notes Air France's inability to understand that.