I had also heard of some problems with new crew joining being told that they were all redundant on Thursday.
This could get very interesting as far as the CAA (Economic rather than Safety group) is concerned.
Air Scotland is trading under an agreement with the CAA which means that it does not have to have an ATOL licence. [The licence is backed up by a bond which would be used to refund customers who have paid in advance for flights and to repatriate any customers overseas if the tour operator went bankrupt.] As part of Air Scotland's agreement with the CAA, it is acting as "a ticket provider for Electra Airlines SA", which means that the airline has provided a deed of undertaking to the CAA that it will refund customers' money if Air Scotland ceases.
Now, if Air Scotland has "sacked" Electra Airlines SA as its provider of aircraft and is using Air Holland instead, what has happened to all of the ticket money paid so far to Air Scotland, who under the terms of that agreement, were collecting it on behalf of Electra Airlines? Has Electra disappeared into the setting sun with the dosh? Will Air Holland be guaranteeing all of the customers who have booked before their involvement that their money is safe (if indeed they can) ?
I would watch out for some fireworks in the week ahead once the CAA ATOL department gets involved. If the company is set up along the lines of the Air Scotland/Electra arrangement, you can't simply sack your aircraft provider and go somewhere else. I suspect the ATOL department will be most interested in whose bank account Joe Public's cash is currently sitting.
And PS - worse still - Air Scotland's website is still selling tickets as a ticket provider for Electra Airlines as of now. If I went there and booked a ticket now, this could be construed as fraudulent behaviour if they knew full well that the agreement with Electra was terminated before I bought my ticket. The premise on which I would buy a ticket isn't the premise on which it is being sold - provably so. Oh dear. Largely irrelevant to me though - my Barclaycard number isn't going within a thousand yards of their website.