With the current surplus capacity available across the EU - there aren't many routes that wouldn't be cherry-picked - remember Stobart / Eastern / Loganair / Blue Islands / Aurigny all operate 19-72 seat aircraft. I would be cautious saying that they are too important to fail - whilst I don't want anyone to lose their jobs if they were purely a domestic carrier flying only PSO routes it would be a different story... The £100+m APD bill can be kicked into the long grass for as long as you like - it still needs paying back - its a tax due and taxes don't get forgotten!