Whilst I accept that any business must adapt and respond to the trading conditions it finds itself in, much of the time the degree to which you react is dictated by past knowledge and experience. The cyclical business nature of regional air travel has never experienced a downturn so deep, nor as long as the one we are currently experiencing so I think that flybe can be forgiven for not having taken an knee jerk reaction. I guess the underlying question any business needs to ask is at what point does the environment we are in now become the new norm?
I also think that what hasn't been highlighted as much here is that for the most part, when personal budgets are tight the one thing we seemingly don't give up is our week in the sun. The weekend city breaks and that extra visit to see friends and family and relatives get ditched in favour of preserving the summer holiday and this is perhaps why the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet are still recording strong figures. Perhaps Flybe have recognised this too as they have laid on more Med flights next year and added EXT and SOUBCN routes which may help them to take a bigger slice of the summer holiday pie.
I just hope its enough - but god help us on APD! When will the government listen - and don't get me started on the big airports who seemingly report every increasing operational profits.