even robert crandall, former chairman and ceo of american airlines, who led the first attempt to merge b.a. and a.a. has now seen the light. he said in the london daily telegraph, a news article recently, and listen to these words because we fought this man for years when he was trying to get this merger through last time. he said, "any objective observer would have to look very hard to find a way in which alliances have benefited consumers." what a change of stance from the days when he was actually chairman of american airlines in 1996 when he said "the b.a./a.a. lines will benefit travelers on both sides of the atlantic." bob crandall knows in reality that b.a./a.a. is a step too far. his former airline has long agreed alliances are not a blessing particularly when the air france delta lynn linkup cut off connecting traffic at paris. yet american airlines is now trying to argue alliances are great for consumers. well, that's the sort of flip-flop which would give the most popular politician a bad name. what may look like a llife-saver for an airline will be a millionstone around the