Ultimately, WMU made a poor business judgement in 1998 when they started their CAA/JAA courses. Once they had secured Aer Lingus and BA, they closed their doors to self sponsored students almost immediately, stating that to be a student, one had to have a airline sponsor.
You'll notice that OATS, BAe and Cabair never follow this policy, as when the industry goes belly-up, its the Self S's that keeps these places viable.