Lame
It appears your thread has been hijacked so far by some very bitter people.
My response to your question is that I believe the Lew/Fox bid will proceed as planned, and a new operator with nice new aircraft will arise from the ashes. These men have the political, financial and business clout required, and mean to make a heap of dollars by expanding their current empires. Indeed I think they will focus on their nice new airbuses and seat toys to therefore capture the general traveling public and business flyers, as have Emirates, Singapore and Malaysian Airlines. That is, provided they keep a safe operating record.
The current flying operations of AN are just to keep the AOCs active and maintain a viable skeleton operation for the sale and subsequent strategic changes. So those who criticize it as not working very well have only a small viewpoint. Like sharemarkets and property, their value is shattered by poor business confidence so it is essential not to cease operations.
The Government support for entitlement should stand because Howard has said so, and Lew/Fox have moved on that premise.