Can any one give me a insight as to what life is like working for the three main offshore operators in the UK. For example, which of the three is the best to work for, typical roster's, holidays, co-pilots and captins pay, benifits, shift hours, and any other infomation would be a great help.
Well there's only one operator currently expanding!
True, but they are expanding because they are the cheapest (and oil companies like "cheap"). Consequently their pay is the lowest of the 3 (though still not bad). Ex-military people like it there because they feel at home! nuff said?
Much as we pilots all hate "the management" on principal (only joking JC/RB/BC!), Bristow is the company I would most want to work for at the moment. Not disintegrating like CHC and not trying to emulate Ryanair like Bond. Pity we are not recruiting at the moment (maybe next year?)
HC
Last edited by HeliComparator : 8th November 2009 at 22:22.
You want an insight? Are you already qualified? If not, save your money and become a vet or something.
crap rosters. pay going backwards. no final salary anymore. commercial depts seemingly unable to win contracts, probably due to the fact another operator is undercutting with stupid rates. They do pay less though.
The sad fact is Bond could offer a starting salary of half that for a low time FO and would still receive bucket loads of applications. There are even people who would do it for "Work Experience" I bet
Pretty mad these days when a "Professional Qualification" such as CPL doesn't get you even close to a job ... whats that about? No wonder there are so many desperate kids out there willing to work for nothing after paying out a fortune!!
Could you imagine going to a doctors surgery to see a doc who was working for free ... lol. Well sir, you haven't fixed 300 broken legs and where's your Keyhole surgery rating? Can't work in a hospital until you've worked on at least 100 pulmonary embolisms as SIC (Surgeon In Command) and have a consultants rating too.
It's all a bit twisted!!
p.s Sorry for the hijack, but I think it prob highlights the reason terms and conditions are stalled and everyone is still on the same wage they were on in 90 something!
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I like your viewpoint Sweet potatos but, realistically, a doctor's qualification isn't the same. It take at least five years to train as a doctor whereas, training full time, a CPL could take a year, although it costs more.
However, the doctor's training programme will go through stages of mentoring which doesn't happen in this industry.
Recent Bond F.O. job in Cork, starting salary £32,000. Hardly the best payer
Only a little less than CHC FO starter pay i think! But if you want to work in Aberdeen you have to take in account the price of housing etc which many new FO's have found out later. And if your a young chap/chapess then enjoy your flying before you think about the North Sea; easier said than done if you are trying to land your first job but its a big bad world out there. It can be very demanding at times but also very boring!
But if you are prepared to take a low wage just to land a job, then 6 - 12 months later you might live to regret it when you are still trying to pay off your huge training loans.
I would rate Bristows as the best employer thou! Wish i had gone there myself.
However, the doctor's training programme will go through stages of mentoring which doesn't happen in this industry.
Very true, it's a shame nothing equivalent exists in Europe. I guess the closest is Bristow Academy, where you hand over £60,000 for a CPL/FAA stuff and hope they hire you as an instructor, then you hand over another £30,000 for an IR and hope they hire you in the North Sea (some very expensive "hoping"!)
I think it is also the case that there are tons more people these days looking for a job with low-ish hours and maybe an IR, but very little 'real' flying experience (some would argue going around the pattern as an FI at the Bristow Academy teaches you nothing apart from how to build hours, but that's another thread).
With the house-price boom and easy credit availability (up until 2008), and baby-booming parents with available cash, there's just many more people who can afford to drop £90,000 on training. 20 years ago most helicopter pilots were either sponsored, or ex-mil.
I think the USA "system" certainly has it's attractions. ie. You become an instructor, teaching PPLs, then after 1-2 years doing that, move onto photo/traffic single engine work, or Vegas tours, or GOM, build turbine time, then move onto twins. Not really "structured", but there is a loose 'progression' there.
Unfortunately the European heli market is so tiny and the costs are so high (when compared to average salaries), this means its a high outlay and high risk, if you want to train and get a job.
Maybe if you could teach on a PPL (like the old days) and if there were more operators doing single engine photo/survey/traffic/news work in the Europe, and if insurance companies had less stringent requirements...etc... there might be more opportunites for pilots entering the industry. But that's a lot of "ifs" and it doesn't look like anything will change.
A CPLH is a fine achievement but is really just a licence to learn the job. Doing a hundred and something hours in a robbie does not qualify anyone for a really well paid job.
The fact is that it takes years to get to point where you are going to be a really valuable asset to any serious helicopter operator and it can be a long, hard, expensive and frustrating road to get to a point where you can earn a decent living.
If you are starting out you better be prepared for a long haul and be really focused on why you want to do it. You may feel like this on many occasions.....
It can be a great career but after a few years it is just a job and as such will have good and bad aspects, crap days and great days, good times and bad.
Unfortunately, flying helicopters can be a lot of fun and as such there will always be a large supply of wannabees who will give it a punt for a short time until the novelty wears off.
The trick is to stick with it and gravitate to what suits your lifestyle and makes you happy.
Yeah!! Win 200M on Lottery, buy CHC, spend rest of life torturing the management by:
changing their work patterns,
hacking bits off their salary,
raping their pension,
tut tut every time they need training,
fill their car park with biff spaces, then stick stickers on their cars when they park in them,
Oh and finally......................MAKE THE F****S REDUNDANT in reverse seniority order (whatever that means).
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