From experience J2 are indeed the most astute people I've come across in the industry. As a whole, it has proven time and time again that airlines are incredibly resilient, even more so during this crisis. Whether it be an ash crowd, severe weather, terrorism, natural disasters and a pandemic. Unfortunately that never seems to come at the betterment of the employee who continue to take haircut after haircut.
Its going to be a long process to return to some sort of financial normality - I actually think the difficulties for many carriers will come down the track when financial support ends, (oil prices are already back up to pre-pandemic levels) and passengers actually need to be flown. I like others have flights booked that were made 20 months ago. Obviously not the full amount of money is released by credit card companies until the flight takes place but what is available has probably already been spent many times over to retain an even keel.
As for the general public, airlines will be blamed because it fits the narrative of the right wing media... the government have to come out smelling of roses regardless.