PNG FOIs
Problem is that they have only got a couple left and some of them are in their 70's. What they need in there is some younger blood with a good knowledge of how the industry in PNG operates, this could be hard given the job movement in PNG for experienced pilots at the moment. Coupled with this, I don't think they do much flying these days either as their King Air hasn't flown for about 10 years. I recon if they jacked up the salary a bit and pegged it to the AUD or the USD they might be able to attract some high quality applicants, which they (And the industry) really needs too move away from the self regulation method that has existed in PNG for years.
Maisk Rotum, I think you might be right about the air of desperation, especially given the fact that CASA PNG are now audited by ICAO and the like on a regular basis, not to mention the fact that most of the larger operators in PNG have doubled their fleet sizes over the past 3 years, and other new operators are trying to get AOCs and import aircraft etc. More aircraft and AOCs mean more surveillance.