COW was dire but ultimate responsibility must surely lie with the Chairman who interviewed, chose, and appointed her. I have reason to believe that capable candidates weren't even invited for interview.
Welcome to 2020 and it’s only going to get worse. Men more than anything just want an easy life, so don’t expect the tide to change anytime soon. In today’s woke society having a female in charge is the ultimate fashion statement. It’s all COW herself ever talked about, which ironically led to hundreds of women losing their jobs. Of course these people never get the backlash their contrived actions deserve. It all sounds a familiar story, someone comes in and get results, but rubs everyone up the wrong way. They then get replaced by someone who’s probably only asset is working a room and the inevitable happens.
It is often forgotten that BE had pretty much no competition on most of their routes, and for all the bashing the q400 gets, it is probably the most economical regional plane out there. The only way this ends in bankruptcy is catastrophic bad management.