It will truly be a sad day when the Reds disappear, but it seems the luxury of a full-time display team is approaching unaffordability. If the £40m figure for providing new buildings at Waddo is true then it's obscene. So I suggest a few options:
1. Merge the Reds with 100 Sqn and give the Reds a "real job". Yes, the complexity and perhaps size of the display would need to be toned down to befit a "part-time" status but it would enable airframe hours to be husbanded. There's plenty of infra at Leeming so it would save another £40m gin-palace. Reds disappear when the Hawk goes OSD, 100 Sqn role (if required) contracted out.
2. Part time from the front line. Plenty of Typhoons lurking in the UK FIR, put a sqn 4-ship up. Compete it between the sqns every year to give them a taste of competition and a source of pride/rivalry. Winner displays for a year. Probably a simple show but 4 very noisy jets would be an impressive spectacle to see/hear. Twin-engine aircraft also provide a better safety margin for displays over built up areas and we do still want to export these ac for the next 10 years so there's a high chance of strong corporate sponsorship. Oh, hang on, might get in the way of the exercise plot......
3. Bin them now. The RAF provides role demos from front line types. The airshow world is not the same as the 80s/90s. Sad but true. The BBMF provide the core of RAF representation with the role demos (both FW and RW) to back up.
4. The RAF invests in a small fleet of Extra-type ac and recruit from across all of the pilot branch to man them (AT/RW guys with UAS/AEF time would be eligable - that way you'd get the "war story" angle and perhaps the odd DFC..). Cheap to buy and run - paint them in a striking RAF display scheme and move them abroad in a C17 if required. Might p*ss off the Blades though...
5. Carry on funding the Reds as is, splashing out on some swanky new Sqn buildings at Waddo and pretending that all is well in the RAF budget.
Joking aside, tough choices ahead methinks....