Crew planning per helicopter

[Dangagan]

How many pilots are used to plan for the long term crewing an offshore multi-crew helicopter

[902Jon]

Lots of variables. Depends on the contract.
Number of helicopters for contract, is 24hr coverage required or just daytime, 7 days per week etc

[Geoffersincornwall]

The Theory
In this scenario the contract calls for one helicopter to be available for between 20 and 24 hours per day (depending on your regulator) two shifts per day and the service is 7 days a week 365 days a year. The operation is 2-crew. The number of pilot/shifts required each year is 365 x 2 x 2 = 1460.

The number of shifts a pilot can deliver depends on your work and rest time regs but if you need 2 days off every 8 days and an average of 8 in every 28 then the sum looks like this:

365 days minus 13 x 8 (there are 13 28-day periods in a year) - 104 = 261.

Then deduct leave - say 28 days (Europe) =233

Allow for 7 days sickness, 7 days of training/testing = 219.

So each pilot can deliver 219 shifts in a year.

The number of pilots required is the total number of shifts divided by the number of shifts each pilot can deliver

1460/219 = 6.7 ie. 7 guys/gals

The practice Actually creating a roster that has some flexibility and can operate with minimal 'crisis' days you will need to factor in a little more slack. That can come from a management pilot who also flies the line or maybe a trainer who does likewise.

Hope this helps

G
:ok: