WW is used to 'not seeing' what he doesn't want to see. He is a fierce head of BA and prefers weak competition to strong competition. VS is a worthy brand. People know it and strangely enough, many people here seem to equate it with some level of luxury and innovation (more than it deserves, bar the nice Clubhouse). I would think that it would be in DL-AF interest to keep the brand Virgin if they can and I suspect that sellers are not in a position to ask for as much for it as they may have some time ago as they are now clearly keen to sell. I think that creating a new airline (United Kingdom airline or whatever) would be less efficient in my view as you would need to rebuild brand recognition from start. I do very much wonder what network they would keep too and also whether some lines could be transfered to the new airline which probably has lower operating costs than, say, AF or KL on LHR-CDG or LHR-AMS. I also wonder how this would tie with the new slots/routes VS has gained as part of the remedial to IAG's acquisition of BD and end on competition on some routes (mostly domestic network).