North Sea pilots have changed... listen to them!
As you read these lines feeling really disappointed for the poor offers Bristow and Scotia have given to their pilots, you know that we, the North Sea helicopter pilots, have changed.
We have changed and left behind the days when we accepted a win-lose situation: oil companies and helicopter operators making a huge profit while we got the sack and deterioration in our family life style. Now we are leading the story to a win-win end, where oil companies will have the efficient service they want, helicopter companies will make their profit, whilst we will feel recognised for the service we provide, and for the experience we have built up through years, decades of our lives given to this industry.
We have changed and now we are a united front prepared to take any action to make the industry aware of our position.
We have changed and now we demand long-term prospects in our career in the North Sea. We are a professional group willing to have the job done efficiently, safely and at the right price.
We have changed and now we are not just commanders of ageing helicopters, we are again commanders of our careers and our lives.
It will be just a matter of weeks for us to be flying again feeling that we have been heard and we have been recognised for the role we play in the ‘industry that moves the world’, for our role in the industry that ‘works the skies’.
When that happens, you will thank only one person in particular: yourself. Because it will be your attitude in the days to follow, your decisions in the days to follow, the key to open the door for this new era in the North Sea.
When that happens you will know that you and your family have got back job stability, not just for this year, but also for the years to come. This will be a well-deserved award for the skilful and brave people who dare to face hardly-to-believe aviation scenarios in a daily basis with their flashing blades over the North Sea.
Now the big question is: What are YOU prepared to do to make sure that oil companies, BHL and Scotia are aware that YOU HAVE CHANGED?