Notwithstanding the personal loyalties that come with the fiefdom that the current CEO has built up around him, the blame for the mess needs to be laid directly at the feet of the chairperson.
There are differing reports about Thomas, but I still think he was the best bet the airline had. The US airline executive experiment has failed dismally in the past, particularly with the ex United band of incompentants, with the US airline environment being significantly different to the Australian one, and the US industrial and pilot environment being significantly different.
The ex Hawaiian Airlines guy is British but has spent a lot of time in the US, but tellingly it would seem has spent sod all in Australia.
How hard is it to find a ceo that is willing to treat people properly - find one of those and there is a half decent chance that the airline will succeed.