It seems to me that the Flybe network has several parts:
- Franchise flying (e.g. Eastern/Loganair)
- International flights (AMS/CDG to various UK points, SOU to various French points, etc.)
- Competed domestic city pairs (Flybe and BACF both fly LCY to EDI, Flybe flies BHX to Belfast City but easyJet flies BHX to Belfast International, etc.)
- "Domestic connectivity" routes fliown by Flybe aircraft where Flybe is the only operator, for example EXT-MAN, CWL-EDI, etc.)
Surely if we want to talk about a supposed "need to save" the connectivity that Flybe provides, it's only the routes in the last of these categories which are relevant? If Flybe disappears, Eastern and Loganair will need to rethink their marketing and distribution, but they are already taking the commercial risk on their routes. Flybe flies perhaps 6/day BHX-AMS, but KLM flies 4/day - that's definitely not an optimum use of scarce AMS slots. If Flybe stops flying LCY to EDI, BACF will make up any slack (as will other London-Edinburgh payers). So what proportion of Flybe routes fall into the last category, i.e. the ones which you could argue genuinely play a role in domestic UK connectivity and which are operated by Flybe metal?