Rmcdonell (in regard to sharing IT Systems, Facilities, services, etc. ):
They all seem like logical items to me, why would they double up on any of these items when they can share and get it cheaper?
This is where the fun starts...........
What will now happen is that each little empire in EK and QF will vigourously defend its turf in endless wars until one or another side is defeated and absorbed, or management loses its taste for misery and consultants.
The idea that it is "logical" to do this type of forced marriage relies on the assumption that there are economies of scale that can be captured without loss of service quality to each partner. Both sides will strive mightily to challenge this idea. When management gets sick of the bickering they will call in the consultants who won't make much headway either.
Let me give you my experience: When the Melbourne underground rail loop was completed, the tunnel borer lease had six months to run and the machine was somewhere near under Parliament house.
Some bright bastard (with a sense of the comical) suggested it would be a good idea to drive a tunnel under Victoria street below the basements of the Eye and Ear and St Vincents hospitals "So that they could share services and save money".
When the tunnel was finished the fun started - war between the head Nun at St. Vincents and the CEO of the eye and ear hospital over what could be shared and who would give up what.....
Pharmacy, central sterile dressing supply departments (CSSD) both defended the turfs sufficiently and it was agreed that these couldn't be shared. The next target was the kitchens.......
Little Sunfish, the most junior corporate strategy consultant at Coopers and Lybrand was called in to adjudicate because at this stage the respective managers weren't on speaking terms. I learned from the eye and ear folk that their customers were so blind they needed special plates and cups which made sharing impossible. I learnt from the St Vincents folks that they were required to make dying request meals at all hours of the day and night as well as feeding half the homeless in Carlton. You can guess the rest.
This went on for months at great cost in Sunfish billable hours.
The tunnel under Victoria street still exists - Two floors of it. I last heard that both hospitals were using it to store surplus furniture.
Qantas and Emirates will attempt a similar marriage. It should be quite hilarious to be a fly on the wall, but not so much if you are a contestant.