Investment in Blackpool airport by lessors has been found wanting. I wonder what goes through a passenger’s mind when they’re walking on threadbare carpet to board a helicopter?

I think a threadbare carpet is the very least of the average passengers concerns these days. Probably just grateful for a job.

......and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the UK O&G sector is an embarrassment. With each bout of industry backslapping 'we' continue to believe the hype that the sector is at the forefront of aviation safety and professionalism. What complete tosh - "you're lucky to have a job"

I take it that you have a job at the moment? That must be a comfort for you and your family. I know many who have lost their jobs this year and would be happy to walk upon threadbare carpet. No one I know (apart from some management yes men) believe that the UK O&G sector is at the forefront of anything. It is a dying industry.

At least we agree that the 'race to the bottom' started some time ago - can you put your finger when the downward spiral started? What level of proactive safety awareness and professionalism did the O&G sector reach in the first place? I've been made redundant without receiving redundancy and TUPED without being TUPED. I've also been told that I was 'lucky to have a job' by someone without a professional license and completely ignorant of the responsibility attached to the role.
The point being - you knew the point and what picture a threadbare carpet paints. You might be right in thinking that passengers these days don't care about levels of maintenance or attention to detail and will climb aboard any jalopy....but I think you do them a dis-service. Sometimes I am embarrassed to be associated with the UK O&G industry and such an outlook; other times not so much. Let's get real, the industry has been allowed to treat the commercial aviation providers with contempt and the providers have allowed it. There have been the odd exceptions but their safety standards and T&Cs didn't last long.

I have been made redundant a number of times as a pilot in O&G. After a while you sort of accept it as part of the job. The pay for my generation was always acceptable and I always had a buffer until I found work elsewhere - often outside of UK. But I was always amused at how the Aberdeen and other UK-based crews thought of themselves as superior to the plebs in other parts of the world. Possibly because most of them had never worked anywhere else. Simply having a Part A that doubles in size every few years does not mean that the operation is getting better.

Couldn’t not agree more