When Uncle Ed asked Boss Hogg about a merger with Piedmont, Boss Hogg told him to basically take a hike.
Not to be deterred, Uncle Ed did an end run and went right to the major stockholder (Norfolk Southern) and made the same proposal.
Norfolk Southern took the bait and Boss Hogg became quickly irrelevant.
It does sound very familiar to what's going on.
Although Delta management is still technically in exclusive position to come up with a way out of Chapter 11 that will make the creditors happy, Parker just made Grinstein's task near impossible. And everybody, especially wall Street, knows it (everybody except a particular bloviator on another thread who LOVES his blinders.)