Daz211, these are the situations you seem to have given Aer Lingus:
Ryanair take over: Michael O'Leary has said that he would keep Ryanair and Aer Lingus as two separate and competing airlines if they were to takeover. What he hasn't said is for how long or if he would even keep this promise, he could easily turn around and say that one brand and one airline would be better in the current market conditions, therefore Aer Lingus disappears into the grips of Ryanair and is confined to the history books.
Aer Lingus fail: Aer Lingus end up like Zoom and XL despite the fact revenue is up 10.2% in the first half of the year, passenger growth of 10.5%, plenty of funds available, an aggressive cost cutting plan so they can actually make money from that 10.2% growth in revenue and cash reserves of €802.6 Million but Aer Lingus still can't turn itself around and confined to the history books.
Here's another possible outcome,
Aer Lingus return to profitability on their own: After some industry relation trouble (lets face it, it's going to happen), the cost cutting plan is implemented, savings of €100 Million coupled with the recent €40 Million in savings is achieved, cost per seat drops from €80 to around €60, passenger numbers continue to rise, revenue follows the current trend and increases and Aer Lingus become profitable again by 2010 if not earlier.