Right I have counted to ten!
Given the circumstances it was probably prudent to take drastic action last week but given the nature of the problem several things should by now have happened and have not.
Those making the decisions should have instigated a comprehensive flight test program in collaboration with the engine and airframe manufacturers. Had they done so we would now have some solid data on which to base the decisions being made. However, none of this has happened or at least only to a very limited degree and it has fallen to a few airlines to put aircraft up, at their own expense, to see what effects the ash cloud actually has, apparently only to have their findings largely ignored.
Military fighter engines are very different animals to civilian engines and may be more susceptible to such damage. The point is we need data and we need to start getting it now as this volcano is not going away anytime soon it would appear and even if the weather pattern moves the cloud away we a very likely to be back in this position within a few weeks.
Doing nothing and closing airspace as a precaution is not not an option, we face an economic catastrophe and not just in the airline world. If this ash cloud is dangerous fair enough but we need data and we need it now. What we don't need is a devastated economy based on assumptions and poor or no science!