peb,
a few facts:
In November we all knew that Peter Sadler (the GM) had put forward a bid by his consortium of 3 (including himself, Bob Anderson and Oscar Sordo), we knew that this was the prefered bid and we knew that there was a better than even chance of the deal going through. Sure, some people thought that the deal would not go through - but it was by no means the universal opinion. In fact, the majority of us thought he WOULD succeed but we suspected that some of us would lose our jobs afterwards.
The gang of three are confident that they can make a successful go of it, that they are in a stable enough financial position to ride out the current slump and exploit the inevitable upturn. After all, why else would they have put their own money into the business?
The rumour was that Aeromadrid were only ever interested in asset stripping the company and it is my view that the current management are the company's best chance of surviving and expanding.
Remember, although sturdent numbers are low, the restructuring has reduced staff numbers, too, so costs are down.
I was one of those who was "restructured" out of the company, but bear them no ill will, wish them well and would be willing to consider rejoining them if things pick up.
As for Khalifa, well, who knows the real story? However, we had that business for a crucial period post September 11 and without it, who knows what would have happened?