A sad day for everyone at the airline but hopefully the start of something that will see them come out of examinership as a stronger and more financially sound organisation. I've flown with them a number of times and they're a good airline providing a valuable service.
I'd be interested to see who's on the "interested" parties list. I'd imagine Mr. French from Flybe will be casting his eye over the company. Aer Arann route structure could mesh quite nicely with Flybe's routes. Perhaps Aer Linugs will look to invest something as well to safe guard the Aer Lingus Regional brand. It could also be used as a route for EI to achieve cost savings in its own organisation. The caveat however is that Mr. Muller is unlikely to want to add to his job list. Finally, any one have any thoughts on whether Conor McCarthy would get back into the operations side of things? His experience from Aer Lingus Commuter, his financial backing and seeming ability to pull together a diverse group of investors could be an interesting proposition however, he'd likely look for an investment from a "big brother" airline e.g. Aer Lingus etc..
All of the above said, don't be surprised to see the ATR 72 order cancelled or deferred yet again along with the possibilty of NAC getting a few of its aircraft back earlier than planned.
Either way, I wish them all the best and hope for a short examinership with as many jobs retained as possible.
P2C