The Euro-hub issue will be a deal-killer for CO in Wings, IMO. CO will lose its competitive edge in NYC if it doesn't offer non-stops. Every national flag carrier is already in JFK, and most major carriers are at EWR too. So much of the NYC-area O&D traffic will fly non-stop if it's available - especially the high-yield business fares. If you ask a business traveler to (a) not have a "first suite"/bed type product, and (b) change in Amsterdam for everyplace other than London & Paris, they will tell you "(c) you later".

I think that KL will have to back down. Every major hub in the USA needs nonstop to LGW/LHR and CDG. DTW needs a non-stop to Germany too - where does Daimler/Chrysler have its HQ?

Then, AMS can be the super-hub for DTW, MEM, MSP and probably CLE. Maybe they can work some compromise on IAH, that lets CO fly direct from IAH to the top 5-10 European destinations and routes everything else thru AMS with 3x or 4x daily service (maybe a 767 in the morning, and 2 777s and 1 767 in the evening). That way, "major" feeder cities (defined as cities that are served by EWR and either IAH or CLE) can either feed to EWR for the CO non-stop, or have more frequent service to a gateway to AMS, and lots of flights to AMS & beyond.