What I mean is that BA and every other company on the planet has recruited, expanded and written their business models to compete in a market that was a bubble, and as such was entirely false
The flaw in your analysis is your assumption that BA could expand in an almost unrestricted fashion like other airlines. BA, unlike those airlines, is slot constrained at LHR and it's year on year growth was forecast at something like 2% prior to this recession. Thats hardly bubble expansion by any measure. Equally, BA are barely running any surplus in pilot numbers and the only reason they are likely to see one soon is because the EU are shifting the rules and allowing them to keep the slots without flying them.