Steady on, guys! I did only say "a little hope"! I think that once the aircraft are stored, that's not really an issue any more - although you'd want to take the costs into account before deciding to store the aircraft rather than use them less intensively. If, after the aircraft have been stored, you need the lift, then you need the lift even if you have already committed to the costs of putting the aircraft into storage.

But a factor that might well be in play at that time is when the aircraft are next due for big maintenance work. It's interesting that LA, LB and LC are probably not the highest time aircraft in the fleet. The CAA records them as having 80356, 79497 and 79497 hours respectively as at 31 December 2007. But the high time aircraft in the fleet at that date were LD (82202), LH (82073), LI (82217) and LL (83060). So I wonder what the criteria were for selecting these three airframes for first retirement. Purely age?

I'm no more optimistic than anyone else. But if there were, unexpectedly, a fast recovery in the world economy generally or in the travel industry specifically, there must be at least an outside possibility that these aircraft might come back into service.