sound asleep, control doesn't need to be 51%. Think newcorp & the Murdoch's - the family only control around 14% of the shares, yet they exert total control over the company.
For takeover control, a block needs 10% + 1 share (90% allows compulsory acquisition). Given that many employees already have shares, this number could be as low as $5000 to gain a blocking stake.
It could be a very interesting day. The pilots & engineers have not played their assigned roles in this pantomime. They were assigned the roll of the "airline wrecker", to down tools & cause immense & terminal damage to the longhaul brand, thus lowering the shareprice significantly. This would of course allow raiders to pick up the carcass for pennies on the dollars.
This is all about exploiting, and widening the gap between price & value. Why would a former CEO & CFO be interested in the operation? Because they understand this pricing/value differential.