Cutting some capacity in the winter months is regrettable but is probably well thought out based on current route performance (which only they are aware of), the normally loss making winter period, high fuel costs and the recent doubling of APD.
The APD issue has been most detrimental on short domestic services such as Scotland-Belfast where taxes make up a much greater portion of the overall fare.
easyJet and Ryanair are the two biggest, canniest, and most profitable locos around. If both have decided to cut services, cull routes, and park planes for the coming months there is a good chance they know something that the rest of us and many other airlines don't.
easyJet are safe at Belfast - they have good routes, good frequencies, and a good product. They have a critical mass at Belfast which makes it easy and cheap to operate there, add new routes etc.
PPRUNE has been full of talk for years about their demise and "how they'd better get their act together soon or else" and the airline has gone from strength to strength.
Next year, like the many that have gone before, will probably yield more new routes and the return of suspended flights on domestic services.