You can bet your bottom dollar that a couple of bright young things with freshly minted MBAs have developed models and war-gamed the various strategies. At its most simplistic, the governing variable will be “someone’s” best guess of how long this Covid19 debacle will go on for. This guess will define how management will play this game out.
You saw how quickly the mainland airlines dispensed with their expat staff. Experience, training and quality counted for nothing. Cost cutting was the sole driver.