I think the real problem with the Puma family is that it was hated before any of these accidents
I would challenge that remark. Having had 35 years on Pumas of various guises I have never had a passenger, of which I have met socially, innumerable times, who has put forward that opinion. Inconvenient, yes, with low headroom and claustrophobia with a compact cabin that is consistent with its military pedigree but at the time there was nothing to compare except the S61 and the S58T. The S61 was too slow and the 58T was a joke.
I was too close to dying off so I was not considered for the 225 and in retrospect, being a professional pilot and having read Helicomparator's enthusing about the Flight Management System I am glad I wasn't.
My personal opinion which I have stated before was that the Puma family was stretched too far. A helicopter that entered service at 6,000kgs and expanded to 11,000kgs whilst keeping the aerodynamics at a similar size was a bridge too far, no matter how much more power or blades you added on.
The Chinook is a splendid helicopter. It ticks all the boxes as far as efficiency, speed and ease of handling. As a passenger aircraft it suffers from the problem of getting two rotor systems to stop arguing with each other. Floating floors, you name it, it doesn't work. I was told that on the inaugural trip to the Brent the cabin attendant planned to provide tea and biscuits en route. The tea was served but when they opened the locker to get the biscuits there was just a carpet of writhing crumbs.
Mass transit of Civilian passengers in helicopters didn't happen until they started drilling for oil offshore, up to then it was always military. The present litigation atmosphere did not exist so if a helicopter speared in with a load of grunts on board it was just one of those things. The transition to airline standards of safety have been hampered by the paucity of offshore operators and the accountants in the oil industry so it has lagged behind what could be regarded as satisfactory.
There is no demand for point to point travel with the general public so all the dreams of vertical take off airliners that have been put up in the past have come to nothing. It will continue to be so in the helicopter industry so we are lumbered with what we have now. There will not be any magical transition to a new era in the foreseeable future.
You are just going to have to clatter away hoping that that the designers and producers have got there figures right and whatever is holding you up stays in one piece.