I think MH's financial woes were well in place before those two occurrences. As such I think they are the tip of the iceberg IMHO.
Never had a bad flight with MH on SYD/LHR or KUL/LHR for the 5 of us in the few years leading up to the lost flights.
Staff always polite, food more than edible and flights on time (or early) with IFE working perfectly.
Q or LH on the other hand...
But back OnT - MH always appeared to do double duty on parents/families with young children to ensure the best outcome for the family & cabin as a whole. Enviously looked on at some of the give-aways they provided and thought back to the LONG, LONG first SYD/LHR/SYD with our 3 on Q where the IFE did not work on 3 of the 4 legs and the cabin crew were not interested (nothing we can do, didn't load any kid's packs - you get the picture - and yes it was pre-iPod touch, vn 1 even!).
Lightening did not strike twice and started the sampling of EBQ out of Australia for the next 6 or 7 years.
Standout was JAL, two stewardesses took a huge liking to our youngest and when they heard him asking how long we were going to be at Tokyo (on the way back, going over we had an over-night stay where we learned first hand that Japan DOES have snakes and right near the airport).
One asked what flight we were connecting on (about a 2 hour layover) and said she'd be back. Very curious - what's she up to?
She came back with two unopened cartons of their snacks (nuts, mixed nuts, chips, pretzels, biscuits and more) and said "Take these so your children won't be bored while you wait."
She then helped pack them into each of their carry-on bags with the remainder shoved into mine (YES!).
So, travelling with young children (behaving well) can be a very positive experience.