Sooty,
It was a sponsorship scheme.
Two stewards with strong aviation backgrounds got jobs where they could go modular/ maintain currency/ pass and maintain ratings on full pay even while in the classroom. Not bad. In addition their CV's now stand out from the crowd as my lot paid for them to do advanced defensive driving courses and other types of training I can't detail from gentlemen in Herefordshire.
One out there now, fully qualified and flying the line. The other well on his way to qualifying after a sprog induced hiatus. When he's sorted that brings the number to 12 that PPRuNe has directly put on the flight deck.
Additionally mods get a chance to pop in an ad on occasion as a quid pro quo for all the work they put in and each and every one of them is offered the choice to use PPRune to support an aviation linked charity if they wish. The Oz mods go for Angel Flight, history forum supports the Shuttleworth Trust, private flying forum boosts the Imperial War Museum at Duxford and so on.
Whether it's with vast amounts of their time, helping out by PM, promoting a charity or getting people qualified or typed and working, the people who work on PPRuNe enjoy putting a lot back in because aviation's given us so much.
You'll note there's never been a word of follow up about that ad and the double sponsorship anywhere on the site until today. We don't shout about it. We don't turn it around into non stop sleazy
PR guff.
Rob