This is ridiculous. When things were starting to look up and quite positive for the company, the management come up with some bizzare idea yet again. Long haul really is NOT the be all and end all! Especially as the market continues to become more and more saturated, things can quickly start to become messy again. After all there is only so many destinations a Max can reach from the UK too.
Monarch should be happy at what they've got and what they have managed to turn around for now. They should be focusing on developing this further with the new aircraft and a streamlined fleet. Giving them the chance to open up new niche routes, mainly on short/mid-haul and focusing more on working closer with Monarch Holidays to make routes even more profitable.
At best they could have opened up the long haul market ex-BHX with the Max's and had no competition but Primera got in there first. The Monarch brand would have worked so much better ex-UK too.
As for a partnership, Flybe could be the best bet as a feeder airline. Offering direct onward connections from all but LTN of Monarch' UK airports. Inparticular this would have the potential to work well from BHX and MAN to destinations where BE don't usually venture in to and opening up new markets for their customers...
Hopefully the media reports are just poorly worded and don't show off the bigger picture in what is being "planned". However, Monarch need to be releasing some clearer details soon as yet again negative press and rumours will start to put people off. It's extremely unfair for the brilliant staff and respected brand.