This seems to be the airline management standard operating procedure.
How to really screw your employees, a guide for Management:
Step 1, Declare bankruptcy.
Step 2, wring voluntary concessions out of the employee groups using fear and intimidation. Get them to agree to a long-term deal saying the banks won't give us financing without it.
Step 3, use the pro-business, anti-labor courts to legal get the rest of the money left on the table.
Step 4, Sell the rest of the airline sacrificing whatever jobs. Upper management collects multi-million dollar bonuses, accept job with consulting firms. Employees left holding bag of broken promises.
Step 5, take a long vacation to plan your next venture in the airline business, as you know you will get recycled again. You as management however will get paid according to your experiences. The dogs who actually do the work will start at year 1 pay.
Got to love this industry.