Scott,
Best intentions meant, but i would take one giant step back and take a very very good read of all the CTC threads and redecide. Your optimism is very worrying to say the least! No offence but someone who thinks that the 30 laid off are 50-60 years of age is suffering from severe wannabe optimism syndrome (WOS).
Seriously, I dont mean to be rude, and I dont know you, but I advise you to get all the facts and then make a decision based on truth, not optimism. I have been in the exact same situation as you recently and have done some major research on the industry. I dont want anything more than to fly, but I decided not to proceed. If you want reasons then PM me, ill be happy to help.