Krusty, they have the cash but are they ready to part with the war chest for the sake of turboprops ? I'm not so sure. It is a big gamble. If China's economy takes a dive then in 18 -24 months time there may be no need for these aircraft on the west coast. Redeployment to the east coast to service FIFO due to LNG projects is possible, but it is a huge risk right now. If they want to borrow the cash from somewhere who is going to support such a huge risk and back them during a time when the economy IS NOT even on the road to recovery ?
Anything is possible when you look at the past decade in AUS, but I don't think DJ is going to purchase and set up a bugsmasher operation in the near future.
Mind you, Clive Palmer could probably back them financially and in return ask for a percentage of the profits and become a part-time board member. If the whole thing went tits up at least Clive would only have a small dent in his wallet as he could afford the loss. However Il Deuce would have some explaining to do.....