Originally Posted by
Mark Six
Yes I'd also be interested to hear which company. CHC and Bristow have both been making forced and voluntary redundancies this year and
AFAIK haven't hired any new offshore pilots in the last year or two. There are still plenty of unemployed and highly qualified ex-Bristow pilots waiting to fill offshore vacancies. A few have gone to Esso/HNZ but they were already type rated.
I believe a few ex Bristow guys went to Babcock a while ago, (approximately 6 months ago?) and received S92 type ratings.
Babcock are also running AW139s out of Barrow island.....
Bristow Australia are, very unfortunately, letting experienced long time pilots go. It’s very bad in that camp right now.
CHC Australia have made no forced redundancies, and denied a large number of voluntary redundancy applications. Several pilots have resigned recently (no redundancy). Another positive sign that the industry is picking up.
Oil i$ up. More work is projected.. The current pilot work force is aging. No one is “coming up”. Some of the smarter, younger guys, who should be the “future” are changing to Fixed Wing. It’s basically the perfect storm for an Experienced Off Shore Pilot shortage.