S76
What you say is quite true, but it's not confined to the North Sea. Almost anywhere in the international oil patch where countries allow more than one operator the oil companies force them to compete against each other to obtain the lowest price. That's just plain market economics isn't it?
Most companies these days cut down on spares holdings to save money and it's sods law that the customer is always screaming on the phone just when your last helicopter went t..s up.
If you think job security is bad in the UK you should see what it's like in the rest of the world. Not a lot different I suspect. So I don't see why North Sea pilots should be any more stressed than anyone else - and at least they've had these high salaries being talked about to help them save up some money to cushion the hard times.
Sorry, I'm not unsympathetic to those poor guys being laid off, but I don't see that the North Sea is any different to anywhere else. Just as a matter of interest, are Bristow pilots on overseas contracts on the same deal as those in the UK? Are they also being restive?