SASless, you're letting your old prejudices show through again. All those guys who left went not because they didn't like Bristow, but because Bristow trained them, promoted them into training and managerial jobs and they then moved to oil companies like Shell, Exxon and Chevron which no helicopter operator could possibly compete with in terms of salary and pension.
You talk about Bristow not investing money back into the operation, but why do you think it has more S76 C++s than any other operation in the Bristow empire, or 2 new S92s? As for being a cash cow, that's the same for any company - they're there to make money in a difficult environment where security amongst other factors leads to high overheads. What is true is that they certainly haven't invested in anything in housing in Lagos, where the BRC is still absolute rubbish and managed worse than it ever was. The new management company which was due to have taken over last month didn't and the facilities are still lousy - rather like the second-rate new housing on the GRA.
If you think the new operators for Shell aren't there thinking it's a cash cow, think again. Rather like Arik - where did the money come from in the first place? Where do inshore oil tankers fit in to all of this? Remember their MD was part of the old school of PAAN.