V-Flyer

Well. That was unexpected.

Wasn't it?

AMR-US Airways Deal Opposed by U.S. in Antitrust Suit

Well, plenty said this might happen, but I think they were mostly overexcitable FlyerTalkers given to wishful thinking. This was the first merger where the folks pushing for it were pretty upfront about it being a means to drive profits and fares up (ie hose the customer). AA has already gone back to trying to poach frequent flyers from other airlines (pitches to this effect "leaked" less than an hour after then suit was announced), which suggests it wasn't totally unexpected at least on their part; in any event these things seldom come as a surprise to the businesses involved.