I MAY be showing my age, but I still foster the quaint notion that the first obligation of a public quoted company is towards its shareholders - ahead of providing a (continued) service to the public.

Did the board of Flybe – who, no doubt, will be afforded very comfortable soft landings after presiding over one of the longest slow-motion aviation disasters in history – actually consider ceasing operations and putting the fleet of 70 or so aircraft up for sale? The paltry £2.2 million buyout bounty is barely equivalent to the cost of one airliner.

We constantly hear how difficult it is for new enterprises to find investors to get off the ground.

The Flybe debacle will not make finding new funding any easier.

Terry Hickman

Southapton