I'm surprised this is a new thread...usually we just bump previous years' April 1st threads.

If an airline truly went Ch7, the airport slots could get sold off piecemeal - the buyer wouldn't need to necessarily acquire the entire airline or the FFP.

I think the distinction is this: the big FFP's have value because you have entire captive audiences who would have little to no choice but to use your product going forward. (EDIT: Well, they'd technically have choices, but you'd want to keep the loyalty program intact to keep them in their current habits assuming you're also buying some of their old routes.) The smaller FFP's that don't have that kind of critical mass or captive audience (especially in a couple of major hub cities) might not be worth much of anything.

In other words, if YX, F9, or B6 went belly-up, I wouldn't count on those miles being instantly bought by another carrier. You might get lucky and receive some sort of perk, promotion, or temporary status from whomever bought their most desirable landing slots.