Rewarded for their loyalty? I guess that is what the Boeing salesmen said as they shook hands on the deal. They were really thinking, thank God I got rid of a few of these lemons.
As you stated the Airbus was likely done here from the start, and as another poster said the 2nd MAX crash sealed it. It will happen faster now because we can get the worst plane in the Boeing fleet at fire sale prices and on an accelerated delivery schedule as forward thinking airlines around the world cancel orders. Just out of curiosity, why are we all better for it? Without beating the long dead Boeing vs Airbus horse yet again, what makes it better for us, as pilots to have only one fleet? I see it as an obvious cost saver for the company to be single fleet, but I don't see how it helps the pilot group to reduce options.