Shortly before KLM decided to merge with Air France, they were in a somewhat awkward position. BA were being pig-headed over a possible merger, linking up with Lufthansa would have raised competition concerns, there was bad blood with Alitalia, Swiss was weak and KLM realised there would be room for just 3 global alliances rather than 4. Furthermore, KLM while fairly well run no longer had the critical mass to compete as a global network carrier against the larger European players