...i don't agree however that baby came to the market late, they have been around 10 years next month.
bmibaby was formed shortly after bmi management (I use the term loosely) had declared that EMA passenger figures could no longer support the few Fokkers based there and that smaller Embraers would replace them.
Shortly after that announcement, Go/Easyjet moved in and EMA went ballistic.
bmi realised they'd missed a trick and they should have realised they'd missed it for years. Their policy of downsizing to Embraers suddenly became a rush to upsize to 737's.
The attempt failed, because it was too timid, badly managed (of course) and
too late. If you want to beat the Easyjets and Ryanairs of this world, you need to be at least as big and better managed. The only way to be as big, unless some Arab billionaire is on your side, is to enter the market small and build the business up as rapidly as it will tolerate. You won't build the business up if the competion have already achieved greater than a critical mass - you'll be gobbled up instead.
...or you'll do what baby have done and constantly be on the run from any competition. Fugitives on the run always come a cropper in the end. The impending sale (if baby is 'lucky') is the beginning of the inevitable end.