The worms are already well away from the can and 'W.........' all over the place, including m-lights and night flights.
It all rather begs the question why anyone would bother with an AOC (answer most pleasure flight operations do not bother anymore),as the cost alone precludes any sort of business return.
Flying clubs seized on the 'trial lesson' route and it has given them a new lease of life in some cases however they are now been affected by the 'cost share business'.
Of course its a business; as along the line someone is creaming off a good % seemingly without putting themselves at any risk of prosecution.
The whole business of AOC 'public transport regulations' is supposed to be safety based; with a huge investment in time and effort just to produce an 'ops manual' before you even get around to try and find 'examiners' and pilots that an operation needs. What you ended up with was an unaffordable 'safe' operation where pilots were licenced on type and tested and examined by a CAA ops inspector. You may think this is all over the top for a 20 min flight in a C172 down the beach and back, but those were the rules (and still are). I always remember reminding pilots that they were in a very responsible position in a single, and that they were also responsible to ensure that in the event of a emergency they could LAND the machine in a suitable place without hurting anyone. This meant that the choice of route and height had to be taken into account as it was no excuse to say (there was nowhere to land). As Leg App alludes its when the COURTS get involved that the real test comes, as the blame culture will follow the trail back to the money even if it bankrupts you or your house gets taken, and the CAA themselves are not going to fall on their swords to protect you.