DC3 Dave
I haven't seen any posts here suggesting that "Covid19 should have been spotted in advance". I did say that "a more balanced portfolio of operations would have proven more shock resistant" and I stand by that.
The facts of the Stobart annual reports over recent years show that increasing passengers numbers were being generated at the expense of profitability and, as your reasonable hypothesis regarding easyJet suggests, that would prove a difficult spiral from which to escape. The idea of establishing routes under Stobart Air/Flybe branding to the point where other operators might take them on as stand alone, profitable routes had merit and worked to some degree and certainly raised SEN's profile within the industry. It was probably a mistake to have the Stobart Jet Centre operating as an independent FBO rather than under an internationally known brand but Stobart did like to keep everything in-house. The loss of ATC Lasham and Inflite robbed them of MRO activity and they rebranded the former's hangar as Stobart Jet Centre accommodation.
The SEN management cannot be blamed for not anticipating the sudden, dramatically freeing up of capacity at the other LON airports due to Covid - of course not - but that reality does expose SEN to an uncomfortable few years ahead.
As you say, the sale of SEN with the shine still on very nearly came about but as Harold MacMillan said when asked about the most difficult problems he had faced as Prime Minister: "Events, dear boy, events".