broke, being laid off isn't any fun for anybody.. been there, done that for reasons that I've mentioned ad nauseum. They key here is the survivability of the entire company.
You seem to think that management is in some back room sitting on a pile of cash wringing their hands together like Scrooge. They don't want to lay off anybody at any time of year. They didn't pick Christmas as the "optimum" time of year for layoffs. It just worked out that way. Christmas happens at the end of the year, and the calender doesn't stop for anybody. Bills need to be paid and the need to look out into the future is always there.
The key here is to how to make the company survive the downturn in the economy, because everybody loses if it doesn't. As miserable as it is for the pilots that were laid off, all the other employees are taking the hit also. If the company survives all of this (many companies are closing their doors) it will be because somebody made choices others didn't want to make. The key in this economy is how fast those changes can be made.