Originally Posted by
irishguy28
Therefore, I am not sure what, specifically, you are referring to by saying "Ryanair was not in good shape".
I wrote they aren't in good shape.
Obv, I don't see them anywhere near bankruptcy. But they have a lot on their plate right now. Pilots and crews which are unhappy with working conditions and salaries; FR is strongly affected by the uncertainties (and possibly massive changes) required due to Brexit; they have an all 737 fleet with lots of MAX aircraft on order, thus they suffer considerably under the grounding.
They're also in bad shape in the sense that their profits are shrinking.
So I think they will not purchase an airline as big as DE which represents like 50% of Thomas Cook's aviation branch outright. I find it more likely DE's competitors let DE go into liquidation. Then, some of these competitors could selectively purchase/lease planes and take on some crews.
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EDIT: I guess I forgot about TUI. I could imagine TUI buying some of Thomas Cook's airlines outright.