FR get a lot more than just the £10 from the seat sale - and their financial model is likely to continue to work well during this deep recession. Of course they will not be immune and may have to get clever with some of the a/c but they have been very clever before.
If MoL's appearance really has changed that much in three months then it is unlikely to be stress about the EI situation as that takes longer to show through. Also, MoL has come through many stressful times in recent years. Time will tell if the paper is muck raking.