I'm not a regular user of pprune but felt compelled to comment.
Firstly, it is disheartening to see that some members of our industry seem to delight in the misfortune of others. If CHC and Bristow are doing well then the industry as whole does well. More pilots in work is better for everyone for all sorts of reasons such as operational development, technical advancements etc, not just salary!
Over the years Bristow has contributed to the development of our industry in a massive way. Can they continue to make investments in areas that require a long term view such as a design office, cadet pilot program, robust MCC/CRM training program, FO progression etc when the competition may not?
Bristow and CHC have to adapt to a changing market and compete with the more aggressive leaner operators. In addition to that many contracts in developing aviation nations require a local operator or at least to have local content. Again, this used to be more accessible work for the big players. This type of career has never been very secure but in times gone by when Bristow and CHC had a spread of global contracts it meant you might have the opportunity to work as an 'ex-pat' until such times that the prospects back home improved. If an operators pilots feel more secure, have developed a rich and varied level of experience and are acutely familiar with the operating principles of their long term employers then I believe this brings a very real but hard to quantify safety benefit. This philosophy will now be lost in amongst the rest of the changes and ultimately I think we are heading towards all being independent contractors. This would bring some short term gain for the operators but what about a long term vision?
Now, I hate to give him/her the satisfaction but ......... Becoming a Training Captain is not very easy at all and is becoming ever less so. So if you want to add all sorts of imaginary salary figures together to arrive at a headline grabbing 150k I cannot stop you. However, let me say that IF the check and training chaps earn that sort of money they deserve EVERY penny and more. They have a massive work load, are generally away from home in a simulator/hotel and have to implement change in what it is an environment incredibly resistant to change. In addition they have to maintain their own high professional operational standards despite being detached from the line. Not forgetting they generally do a huge amount of travel in the cheapest seats available with a laptop stuck to their knees. In the NS I seem to remember about 5 - 6 Trainers for between 40-50 guys, in Oz about 2 - 3 for 30 guys. What I am saying is, very few of us are trainers ergo not many of us earn 150k. Simple enough?