I think a bit of balance is required here. Too many people trying to pin FlyBe's present difficulties on Branson personally as if he is some machiavellian monster plotting its downfall.
Branson is a shareholder in a company that has a minority shareholding in a consortium that has recently bought FlyBe. Blame for its problems can be planted on the senior management of FlyBe over the past few years not the bearded one. As pointed out Virgin is more of a brand franchise than an operational business.