I understand, some thin routes will have to go
This is symptomatic of ryr's problem. The good routes are served, all that's left are thin routes. With new aircraft constantly arriving, they have to go somewhere. So they service thin routes or get parked up. Either way the growth of ryr is grinding to a halt. The share price reflects this. The former massive P/E ratio, based as it was on over optimistic growth projections, has fallen to reflect the new reality that ryr is not going to massively grow in the future.
The other option to thin routes is putting the aircraft at more established, and thus more expensive, airports. This further erodes the perceived competitive advantage. They tried this tactic at DUB, putting lots of aircraft in to run EI out of town and it failed miserably as EI ran up record profits and a higher load factor on shorthaul than ryr. Expect it to fail elsewhere also, the public can't be fooled forever.
There's no time for sentiment in business and mad mick is merely an employee. When employees don't produce, they have to go. New management required at the white house.