He does seriously believe the staff are behind him - and he has the engagement surveys to prove it.
And he HAS surrounded himself with 'yes-men/women'. And you know they are 'yes' because they haven't resigned en masse which is by rights what they should have done by now. Because they haven't they have proved themselves equally as incompetent as their clueless leader and board.
NONE OF THEM HAVE THE FAINTEST IDEA ABOUT AIRLINE OPERATIONS OUTSIDE THE 'EASY' BITS LIKE LOUNGES AND FANCY SEATS.
They simply do not understand the decades of work that got the place to the stage where it COULD have fancy lounges. The fancy lounges are the LAST thing an airline can worry about. To do otherwise is simply ego stroking incompetence.