Never been much of a fan Joyce however this is the way I see it.
He was handed an absolute turd by old scrotum face (Dixon). Just like in politics, he could not slag off the fact that Scrotum Face was pretty much the only CEO of any Airline on the planet who did not invest in the 777. Old wrinkle ball bag only got the A380 because of the old my peni$ is bigger than yours syndrome?
Would purchasing 10 777 ER 200's + 20 777 300's been a better idea instead of the A380 while slowly but surely selling off 747's at the same time been a better idea?
Probably?
But a $hit plan was already in place when Joyce turned up. Grounding the Airline due pesky Unions was pretty bad form though and will be remembered for a long time me thinks?