I struggle to see how, if pilots leave as planned at the end of the year, RAFAT will rebuild as a nine ship and bring the rear section back to the show. Reds 4 and 6 have done 5 and 4 years respectively, with Red 5 also coming towards the end of his expected time on the team. That leaves Red 7 to move up to synchro lead with 3 pilots required to move to the back of the team and somehow recreated the Gypo break etc. Public maths, if people leave as planned, there would only be 2 pilots available to move back to the roles of Red 7,8 and 9. It is not a safe course of action unless people stay on for another year and help rebuild the team.
Assuming that things are as bad as they seem at Scampton, why would anybody wish to remain beyond their expected tour? This might be a natural time for the RAF to consign RAFAT to the history books. Their display this year is, at best, lame and I fear that too much damage has been done.