This would be incredibly short-sighted.

A decade ago, before airlines figured out how to make money (helped by low oil prices), I recall there being some calls to spin off the loyalty business because it was the only thing that was consistently profitable. That is, the flying planes part of the business was dragging down the loyalty part, and separated they would be worth more than together. Presumably, one of the reasons for separating them is that when the flying-plans part is in charge, they don't concentrate on getting the most of the loyalty program. For example, they have an incentive to devalue miles, as they are seen as a liability if you've got to stuff the mile-owners in a tube and take them somewhere. A spun-off loyalty program would do everything to protect the value of their product, which means protecting against devaluations. And if they do a good job selling and marketing a good product, the airline sells more miles to them and everyone wins. Sadly, this divesting did not happen.