"..yet the second Christine took over Flybe has made a loss ever since?"
Flybe was pretty much fatally wounded by JF and the Embraer deal, and subsequent CEO's have been fighting to keep it alive. SH bought it some extra time by selling the LGW slots, and trading the fleet, but the time it took to get the E-jets off the books still left it a terminal case. COW had a very short window before the oxygen ran out, and starting a war with a monopoly Scottish airline (without a big enough war chest to ensure she won) may not have been the wisest use of that window. In her time in office the market cap of FlyBe has fallen by 75% - call that £70m of investors funds trashed. Also in the Chairman's time in office he has presided over the destruction of £195m of value! I'd like to think SL chose COW because she expounded a clear vision of how to cure FlyBe and give it hope.
Looking at it today, 2 years on, does anyone believe either of these folk have the proven ability to dig Flybe out of this mess, with that track record?
Is there any sign of a plan to save this very handy little airline, which deserves to survive for its loyal passengers and employees? I do hope so, but it seems to lurch from one bit of bad news to another, without anything good in between, and winter is fast approaching.