Yep America West should have allowed Continental to buy you. Oh, wait they didn't want you. Neither did Northwest or Delta or American. United had a passing facination, but decided to focus on their success instead of running an airline day-care. Yep US thinks it could have become a powerhouse on it's own. 2 consecutive BK's, but like the hopping torso of Monty Python's knight , "It's just a flesh wound!" It would be funnier as fiction.
US was unique though in figuring out how to screw up a franchise that had the potential to all but print money. They dominated the highest yielding markets in the country, yet were unable to have the foresight to keep themselves out of BK.
Twice.
Now they take a similar opportunity to regain their strength as part of a successful airline with mangement that has arguably dealt WN their biggest black eye in their history, yet the US'rs prefer to look back at what they lost or could possibly lose rather than capitalize on what they have. And they will blame management for all the pain that comes from that strategy. Same tattered US playbook.
Yeah, I agree there are two very different philosophies, and only one leads to success.