There is no chance that Zooloflyer or anyone else will persuade sufficient numbers of wannabes not to pay for SSTRs to make a significant difference to the market. It just flies in the face of human nature! Wherever you leave an opportunity, someone will take it - you are in competition for these jobs, and wherever an advantage is to be gained someone will exploit that opportunity. The demand for SSTRs is very large, that's why there are so many operators offering courses. This is not going to go away! The only thing that will change it is a shortage of inexperienced pilots, and that's not going to happen either.
The MCL does not presage a return to sponsorships. It may be more expensive than the current system (which it will run alongside), but that cost will be passed on to the candidate in some form. It is likely that more schemes will copy the CTC model to achieve this.
Scroggs