CX has enough cash to last another 18 months at current rates.
Management expects the company to survive and others to fail (Air Asia and HK Airlines are obviously on the edge of collapse). They then hope to make serious $ again.
With no landing fees at VMMC and no traffic to slow up the circuit it is currently relatively cheap to base train. By completing base training on those already in the system they get a full type rating, whereas putting them on hold might require retraining which will cost more.
The company is shafting the Aussi base as pay back for their push back during the recent EBA.