This thread is lame.
Nobody "gets" anything.
Two strong airlines ("strong" in a relative sense) are combining. The sum of 1 + 1 will be greater than 2.
If that was not a fact BOTH MEC's would be fighting it tong-and-hook.
Without the impetus of a merger, there would be no LOA 19. Likewise, the NWA group would be looking at a Winter of tough sledding...and no improvements. Both airlines would be furloughing this year.
"Stand-alone" talk is the patter of chumps who need their egos salved. The future is the merger. Period. If you aren't focused on making it work, you're screwing yourself.
If your inner troll has control of your keyboard right now...rage on. The rest of us will shake our heads, and have second thoughts about Darwin being 100% right.