MFWF,
No wrath from me, just fits of laughter over the naivete. FTOs are businesses, just like airlines. When there are fewer customers, they simply scale back their operations, tighten their belts, pass off the increase to the remaining customers and ride it out, just like the airlines do. The smarter ones will have seen it coming and will already have scalable business plans that keep them in the black.
Go ahead and sign a training contract with one offering a reduced price because demand slowed down. Do pay up front in cash as well, small unmarked bills in a briefcase are preferred. Don't worry, there is no chance at all that they will go insolvent after giving up the profit margins and dipping their quills in red ink. The owners will simply reach into their personal bank accounts and float them along until oil prices come down and all will be cheery and bright.
Let me know when you find one doing this because I have a few million spare pounds to invest. I am looking for a company that is losing money on 100 students per year and wants to increase it to losing money on 300 per year!