Originally Posted by
Transpacificflyer
KLM did not have the economy of scale to go it alone. As much as I prefer KLM to AF, KLM had reached a point where it's future was limited. Don't lose sight of the big picture: Delta owns 10% and China Eastern owns 10% of AF/KLM. That's a big footprint. If KLM wants access to the growth markets, it needs to stick with AF which has leverage with the investments of the other two airlines.
“Not being allied to AF” does not automatically mean “going alone”. I doubt someone argues that KLM would be better off alone. But there are other options than AF, in theory at least. (Note I don’t argue whether an alliance with a different airline would be better for KLM. Most of us here are poor on necessary facts and management expertise to have a well-founded view. “KL is penalised by AF because of their losses and strikes”, while maybe not entirely wrong, is too simplistic).