Hear you loud and clear Lowdown, and absolutely correct!
My comments re: Captive workforce were more or less rhetorical and aimed at the mindset of REX management. They would love to have the scenerio I just described, but because of their complete dislocation from reality, they'll be left pondering their navels when it fails to eventuate!
Airlink, and the communities they served so well are just further casualties of REX management's drive to maintain group profits in the face of a shrinking business.