Finally in this day and age it is simply ridiculous to imagine that either remaining bidder will bid too low and undermine themselves and if you think so you simply have no idea how the funding or senior management of the big commercial helicopter companies work these days.
Seven years’ ago this month, the MCA announced that CHC had won the Interim SAR-H contract with a mixed fleet solution of seven new delivery S-92 and AB139 platforms, operated from four UK bases with some 100 front and rear crew, engineers and support staff too, for a period of 5-years’ and all for just £100m.
That’s an awfully low bid, so I suspect CHC gambled that winning Interim SAR would place them as the front runner for the 25-year SAR-H contract, and it paid off (well almost) as they were the operator for the winning bidder, Soteria.
The original SAR-H PFI was to find the most 'Economically Advantageous’ bid was it not, and it was rumoured that Soteria was not the cheapest bidder. If correct, one has to assume that the IPT believed that they offered the most credible low risk solution, but not the cheapest.
UK SAR aside, it appears to have been a good year for CHC in the O&G sector, so a couple of strategic and commercial thoughts come to mind. However, I cannot help but wonder if the cloud that has been left hanging above CHC’s head these past 2-years’ played a part in some way. I mean, were they ever in with a realistic chance of coming out on top, or were they just strung along to keep another strong bidder from having a clear advantage prior to the final stages and thereby destroying any chance of a competition?
It will be interesting to see who eventually wins and with what solution.