Many of the quieter FT airline/destination forums I visit have some very helpful people I consider thought leaders. Their posts demonstrate that they are helpful, knowledgable problem solvers.

The busiest fora must be a very different animal - there is a lot of activity, urgency, stress and pressure on some posters.
I can see how many people on FT who are in the mod group can have their work cut out, to keep everything shipshape.
For these fora, the Lounge thread is really useful to non-regulars,
I've found the lounge forums can be a useful place to post a question where there has been no success using the FT search (which is not working very well).

Is the debate really about the leadership of (a) certain forum(s)? I hope not.

I cn see how some people could feel that the proposal is targeted against them personally and understand that this is something that should be resolved in a two-way process. I hope that isn't the case as we're all in the same boat and this shouldn't be a power struggle.