mistoo,
I'm sure there are many people here who are closer to this than I am, but I'll tell you what I've heard anyway. According to my North Sea pilot friend, those now in charge don't look that far ahead; they should, but they don't. So that when I asked in early November, it seemed very likely that I was in with a chance even being the wrong side of 40 and without an IR, by December I would have needed an IR and nothing sounded certain anyway, and now they're not recruiting at all. Meanwhile rumours abound of people being accepted with or without anything and everything. And people who phone up on the right day and manage to jump the queue. And people who...you name it, persistence or luck may or may not get you anywhere.
Everyone agrees that when the airlines pick up the dual qualified guys will go straight back. But when will that be? who knows. So what do you do? I've no idea; nothing is certain in this world, and probably that applies to flying helicopters for a living more than practically anything else. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">