Well, my pure speculation is that Stobart tried to encourage FlyBE to step in and develop routes from SEN but, despite substantial rumours a few years ago, FlyBE didn't do so. As a result Stobart decided to take matters into their own hands and take a slice of AA. My point is that FlyBE could have been placed in a strong position at SEN and would be pretty sure of running a profitable base, but failed to grasp the opportunity. Easyjet's SEN tickets are selling very well at the moment and with a close catchment of over half a million, plus ease of access from and to London by rail, should continue to do so. From SEN's point of view I'm sure EZY will be a better choice than FlyBE, but not so sure about Aer Arann unless Stobart are reconciled to them losing money for the first year of operations and then building up a carefully researched route network from spring 2012. AA need some new aircraft soon too, some of the ATRs are long in the tooth.......