Originally Posted by
SWBKCB
Isn't the lucrative oil support work via Bristow's - isn't that why Bristows bought them in the first place?
Well sort of.
Bristow thought at the time that the route into contracts for the expanding northern sector was to offer an integrated service for their clients (this had worked very well for the IAC) and buying EA was a protection (ironically) against fixed wing operators going bust such as Flightline. I’ve no evidence for this statement but I’ve heard many times that the parent company drove the acquisition.
What I suppose wasn’t for-seen at the time was the perfect storm around the corner of these type of contracts disappearing, the downturn in the oil industry and years of pain for many regional airlines particularly with an ageing fleet. Anyone who has observed the recent Columbia Helicopters debacle will question the parent companies ability to perform due diligence!!
My personal view like others is that BRS should have taken control right from the start with their own people to get it to what they wanted it to be. Instead it was allowed to meander down various different roads never seeming to be that joined up. Not an issue when the money taps are on tho.
There is a lot of negativity over in Rotorheads about BRS but that mainly stems from the recent horrendous track record of the Houston parent company. I can only say it as I see it on a daily basis but BRS in the north sea have a decent rep for service delivery. I’m not sure there is a consensus that has been improved by the acquisition of EA. In fact quite the opposite.
Yes, BRS contract EA to Scatsta work, but at the moment BP have a stand alone agreement on Sumburgh as it feeds Babcock flights (I assume that’s changing) and I can’t imagine for one moment BRS looking elsewhere if it needed fixed wing support so several years of guaranteed revenue there.
BRS are under immense pressure to get rid of anything not making money and the money taps have been well and truly switched off. A stand alone EA with no ties to BRS would also be free (it may always have been) to pick up other work with the other operators.
Of course it’s all just hypothetical speculation and I await being shot down in flames but I am convinced a stand alone EA would do better on its own if it sticks to what’s it’s good at with people who (despite what anyone thinks of them) managed to run a profitable airline through some pretty hard times.