I am a great fan of Bristow Academy. Patrick made a bold move to Florida and the school flourished, the time was right and the market was ready for a one-stop large civilian school. Patrick did a great job and Bristow reaped the benefits for quite a few years.
Those days were over a couple of years ago. If there are no jobs to go to, who is going to spend all that money on training for them??
I think it is quite unfair to put the blame on "The Management". I have no doubt they made whatever changes were made in the best interests of the shareholders....thats the way life is. The Management were not responsible for the downturn in helicopter ops worldwide.
It was a phase, and that phase is over..... it was great while it lasted, and it spawned many many helicopter pilots in good jobs today.
Tam Macklin
ps. I am not management from Bristow Academy, never have been. These are just my thoughts on the situation.