In message

, at 15:54:49 on Wed, 3 Sep 2014, Recliner
remarked:
Doesn't this simply show that "Virgin" airlines is just Delta (was
Singapore Airlines) with a subsidiary that happens to pay a lot for an
iconic branding. Just like Virgin Media is NTL paying slightly less for the same.

Not quite the same

I'm quite sure it's much more "the same" than the picture you paint (that
picture being what they want us to believe).

The key point is that an EU airline has to be majority owned and seen to be
controlled by EU entities. There's no such rule for cable TV or mobile
phone companies, and Virgin Media is a US-owned and controlled company. So
even if Branson was happy to sell most of his 51% of VS to Delta (which he
might well be), he couldn't. He could, of course, sell it to Air
France-KLM, and maybe that will happen.

The percentage shareholding is not inextricably linked to who makes
decisions about which routes to operate on a day to day basis.
--
Roland Perry