Southwest Airlines emphasizes how it cares about its employees yet it chose to ignore the legacy of AirTran in designing Southwest's new "Heart" livery. It wouldn't have taken much to include AirTran, and it would have meant a lot.
InterContinental-owned Holiday Inn isn't ever likely to start an airline of its own, but it is great to see the possibilities of a hospitality brand in the largest sense of that phrase.
With the vote so close, this exercise didn't do much for employee unity in the mergers, although it's unclear if the vote broke down along party i.e. airline lines.
The new American Airlines may have a lot more work in store for women-owned and other businesses because it would seem almost a natural step for US Airways to want its legacy to be part of the new design. Then the work would have to start all over.