I really hope these investors have a new business model
up their sleeve because the flybe model did not work for the last 15 years of their existence. What would be a travesty would be another airline based on the same broken business model, adding unprofitable capacity to the market and thereby trashing the yields of the remaining regional carriers. I would be delighted to see a sustainable organisation emerge and re-employ those many who relied on regional aviation for their livelihoods - but it needs to be that: sustainable and not relying on cash infusions every 24 months from private investors.
Personally, if I had a hundred million burning a hole in my pocket that I absolutely needed to invest in a regional U.K. operator, I would be probably be looking for equity in one of the established regional carriers that actually have a record of balancing their books. At the very least I would be looking to poach some commercial talent from one of these organisations for my new venture.