Willie Walsh was saying several years ago that he only expected Lufthansa, KLM-AF and BA-IB to stay in existence long-term, plus a few of the bigger lo-co's. Seems like this is coming to pass: the economics of flag carriers operating out of small (population) countries has always been suspect.
Circa 1987, all SAS staff received a booklet from CEO Jan Carlson restating the core values of the airline and warning them of these very outcomes, namely a few mega-carrier amalgamations, and a drastic increase in competition. And the possible consequent demise of SAS.
The only way to avoid this was for the airline to buy into a carrier more centrally located in the continent to try and achieve hubbing benefits, and cut costs, neither of which have happened.
Last edited by Midland 331; 15th Nov 2012 at 06:49.