Not everyone at Eagle will be gunning for a move to a main centre, so my guess is that a lot of those affected will be absorbed into Cook/Nelson over the next 2yrs should they wish.
air nsn are closing the regional pilot bases too i understand. all pilots will end up in a main centre by the sound of it. may be a few air nsn guys resign/retire out of it.
the cynic in me wonders if luxon is angling for some regional subsidies? let the political fallout and public backlash/media hype come up with the subsidy idea themselves, be a lot more palatable than if the airline held out its hand in the first place. unlikely with the current govt perhaps.