Originally Posted by
irishguy28
However, given what AFKL is rumoured in the Dutch press to have had up their sleeve for KLM in this "closer alignment" scenario, for KL, their interests are most definitely tied up in maintaining their degree of autonomy!
It is only "most definitely tied up" if you accept that "rumours in the Dutch press" is a synonym for objective, gospel truth. Of course, the Dutch press would say that. What do you think their sources are for those "rumours"? Would you really expect KL management to say anything else? They are not going to say: "we want to remain autonomous because we want to keep our own little fiefdom". Of course, they will say that this is what KL interests require and, when speaking to ministers, what the Dutch national interest requires.
This is not to say that they might not have some good reasons to be suspicious of the intentions of AF people but the kind of conspiracy theory that sees Ben Smith as hellbent on destroying KL for the benefit of AF strikes me as not a particularly healthy or convincing perspective. Some shoulders could do with some dusting to eliminate oversized chips.