I believe Mook is wrong...DL's move gives NW/CO a huge competitive advantage to win over unhappy former DL FFers, by offering them exactly what they want with fair elite earning options and upgrades. UA, with the advantages of being in bankrupcy court to cut costs, can loosen their program to the same effect (cutting the $100 fee might be their first cannon shot, as they try to win market share back).

Many opinions ("in the know" as well), have it that the CO/NW/DL alliance will not be approved (nor should it), and it will leave things nicely as the competitive free-for-all that we have now, as it should be.

If NW/CO redo their programs like DL, the effect of that, combined with extreme difficulty in redeeming award travel, would nullify any value those programs have at all, and would result in a mass migration to AA (and possibly UA).