This thread is always going to be emotive and partisan. On the one hand you’ve got ex Flybe crew who are desperate to get flying again and Flybe 2 will give at least some of them the chance to do that.
On the other hand you’ve people who don’t want to lose their jobs having struggled through the last 12 months of this pandemic, if Flybe reappear and go for the opposition.
The big unknown is the business plan. To use the builders analogy, if the repaired house adds value to the whole street, great. If it’s fixed by damaging the neighbours foundations and nicking their slates then not so.
Regardless of the slots argument, Flybe 2 could end up doing a lot of damage to the regional market.
Historically Flybe have made a big thing about regional connectivity, but history doesn’t always bear this out. Airsouthwest is right, Eastern disposed of the carcass of his namesake airline, but Flybe blew a couple of million quid selling ultra cheap tickets to Gatwick to put them off the route which subsidised most of the other routes out of the Southwest. Net result Newquay was a ghost town for a long time and the Cash Cow route ended up a PSO.
Being backed by a Hedge Fund doesn’t do much to inspire confidence that the Regions will continue to be well served if there’s a quick buck to be made.