manfromuncle,
You are not off topic. When major operators take their training dollars completely off the continent there has to be a major problem with the system. For the toils and sacrifices of everyone struggling to do a helicopter license on their own in Europe, they are now considered a saps and a suckers. After all, the majors would as soon hire your neighbour off the street that has never seen a helicopter and put him into an offshore IFR helicopter. All you guys that spent 200k to get a CAA/JAA CPL/IR on your own and are still looking for work feeling any better?
My sympathy to the flying schools in Europe. They're probably getting boarded up if they can afford the boards.
The US and Canadian training industry is vibrant and expanding - with a lot of foreign students from countries where regulations and "economics" have become major obstacles to their training.
malabo