Sad though the closure of the BRS base is (I don't fully understand it myself), one has to ask the question. How many of the E145 guys had resigned before the Flybe/BAConnect deal was finalized last week and did this have any bearing on the decision? Come to that, if the numbers are correct that upwards of 150 of the "Rashers" are heading elsewhere (with possibly more to follow), how are Flybe supposed to crew all those flights and man all the bases? I'm no financial genius but even I can see that something somewhere has to give and offering everyone a £10k pay rise and keeping every base open is just not an option.
Flybe have been operating out of BRS in various numbers for years and they've obviously decided that it's not viable "big time". I'm sure they'll keep a few routes up their sleeve for use later, but in order to make BRS pay, I'm sure they'd have to go head to head with easyJet and I suspect right now they'd loose that particular battle. Keeping BRS open for "later use" and absorbing the costs just isn't the way we operate, otherwise I'm sure we'd have a base there right now.
If there are good routes to be serviced out of BRS, then I'm sure Flybe will operate them but using W patterns from other bases. They've just announced a CWL-CDG route and we don't have a base in Cardiff so where the a/c that operates that route will be from remains to be seen.
Announcing the closure of BRS the day after deal was finally signed wasn't a particularly good move especially if the comments about them trying to assure the BRS personnel that they had a future are correct. However, call them bast£$%s if you will, but in the end this is business and sometimes painful decisions have to be made. If you want to see how people were really shafted remember what happened to Buzz when Ryanair got hold of them. It's a cut throat world out there and we're all only as secure as our last pay cheque. Flybe don't have a huge organization behind them to absorb losses for a long time before they pull the plug. Unless we get it right, quickly, we're history.
My condolences to all the BRS personnel; I'm sure you'll have jobs in no time.