Although at the time the aquisition of ASW was billed as Eastern airways expanding the fleet & into new routes etc this has not been the case.
Reading between the lines Eastern aquired or was paid to take ASW to wind it down and liquidate it by the back door. To tidy up things, as SHH were either not interested or not capable of doing it themselves.
Many of easterns routes are thin, but highly profitable which suits the smaller aircraft and higher fare structure that they use.
The biggest problem they have now is loss of crews, a steady stream are leaving, and many more in hold pools or likely to leave. People are wary of taking command as they dont want to be re-bonded. There is a mini recruitment boom starting for experienced crew and Eastern will not be able replace them quick enough once it gathers pace. The management are simply to arrogant to understand this.