My view !!
1/ bmi mainline is split from the rest of the 'bmi group' and Sir Michaels control - this is then merged under the name 'Virgin' (not British, not UK and not Atlantic)
2/ bmi baby and regional is kept by Sir Michael and run with lot's of money he makes from the sale of bmi mainline - baby should be massive in a year or so, he has the north and middle England as his playground !! Keep your airline playthings and retire happily in ten years or so
3/ Virgin takes control of the entire mainline bmi network and forges it together under the Star Alliance umbrella as a serious comptetitor to BA
Virgin will now have a major presence in Europe feeding traffic to London and Manchester for existing Virgin longhaul.
The A330's will stay for medium-long haul ops such as DXB that both airlines have been looking at for some time.
Staff wise there should be little loss on the front line, however I would say once ops, crewing, sales,marketing,training etc have been merged after 12months or so, small losses are possible. The major expansion that would come about in the 12-18month period post takeover will hopefully see most keeping jobs tho.
4/ BA will fight this move tooth and nail !! It will be great for the UK aviation market and for employees of both airlines I think - but for BA in the weak state it is now - could be tough times ahead and they know it !
In short, a big battle ahead to push it through, but lots of exciting possibilities ahead - good luck Dickie......come and get it!