Rushed Approach -
No Monarch cannot easily transform into an ULCC.
And no they are clearly not already successfully competing with easyJet, hence the massive downsizing and restructuring.
And no easyJet does not have the same 200 aircraft it had 3 years ago.
Rather than buy the whole thing out, warts and all, I suspect easyJet will cherry pick the best slots/routes that become available in a controlled manner. They will use the very cheap A320 on order, and a ready supply of flexi cadets both of which can be tailored to specific numbers.
I cannot see an advantage to taking on all those expensive crew and ageing aircraft all at once - it's just a giant headache. What would easyJet do with all your management, ops, hr etc? Go through an expensive redundancy programme?
Amidst worries of overcapacity in the market, it is a good thing for easyJet to see it reduced so they can increase yields rather than retaining that extra capacity for the sake of it. Especially as Monarch shares most it's routes with easyJet.
Talk is of Wizz Uk!