PHI has a problem. Well, a couple of problems.
1. For decades, PHI has set the salary standard in the U.S. Other operators unapologetically key their payscales to what PHI pays. As soon as PHI bumps up the pay, it goes up nationwide. Thus, it's difficult for PHI to attract pilots to come down to the GOM from a strictly dollars and cents standpoint.
2. While salaries are up thanks to the union (and don't even argue that point), retention is as bad as ever. There are a couple of reasons for this. Pilots come down to the GOM expecting a certain standard of living. They get there and discover that living in a swamp is, um, not fun. (Sure, you interview up in the shiny, clean offices in Lafayette. Then you get to the bases where the real work is done and go, "Holy crap!) A certain percentage of new-hires just find that lifestyle unappealing and will be gone in under a year. Another percentage will find the flying itself unchallenging and unappealing. GOM pilots are certainly not masters of their domain; they answer to many bosses, some of them shockingly uneducated. You just have to focus on flying the helicopter as best you can, because the actual operation of it is out of your hands. Oh, and get used to being called "Skip" (short for "Skipper").
So the living conditions suck, and the flying itself does damage to the self-image and self-esteem. The combination of the two produces the high turnover that has been going on forever and probably will not abate.
During the union contract negotiations back in 2000, I spoke informally to one of the management guys who'd been sitting across the table from us during a break in the session. We were not mortal enemies as you might imagine. We had all worked together for many years and had fairly warm relations outside of that particular business.
We agreed that the GOM starting salary would some day probably have to be well above that for other segments of the helicopter industry (like EMS), and it still might not be enough to attract and more importantly, keep pilots in the GOM. We also agreed that, given the huge egos of the EMS pilots, it would be a cold day in hell before that ever happened. Not to mention the fact that nationwide, other operators would just keep pace anyway.
We also talked about ways of improving the living conditions of GOMers. But honestly, there's just not a lot that can be done. The helicopters are where the work is, it's as simple as that. And where the work is is not pretty. Most of the time, it's literally at the end of the road, a road that may or may not dependably be above sea level. At many bases, there are no "luxuries" such as movie theatres, malls, or decent restaurants nearby. Hurricanes periodically come in and wash everything away, so spending big bucks on company housing is a tough sell to the CEO. Thus, it's cheap-ass mobile homes or apartments in which a bunch of guys share kitchen, living, and bathroom areas. Thank God the two-guys-to-a-bedroom is a thing of the past. That really was terrible.
Bottom line, this manager and I agreed that PHI would always have a problem attracting and keeping guys in the GOM.
GOM flying is a crude lifestyle that's not for everyone. It necessarily requires pickup truck driving types of guys, not Lexus driving types of guys. And you know what? Some of us don't want to be pickup truck driving types of guys, no offense. I came to PHI with seven years experience as a commercial pilot. I stuck it out for another 13 years before I'd had enough. I only expected/planned to stay 6 months. But I was single and the time off suited me at the time. The years went by quickly, let me tell you, and the fun had definitely gone out of it somewhere along the way. I'd have left sooner, but in 1995 I signed-on for the union drive and it took five long years to get it done.
In 2000, I predicted the current crunch. Back then, fully half of PHI's 550 pilots were over age 50, and only a literal handful were over 60. None were over 62. It did not take a rocket scientist to see that there was going to be a problem. Unsurprisingly, PHI management did not see it, evidently. Or if they did, they took no pro-active steps to do anything about it. Believe me when I tell you this: It's not solely about the money.
PHI may never be able to stop the turnover, no matter how much money is thrown at the pilots. With that turnover will come the need for a never-ending supply of qualified pilots. Where will they come from? There is an easy, viable solution that I have suggested before. PHI must start an in-house commercial flight school. Low-time instructors will come to work there, get a seniority number, learn the ways of the company, then easily graduate to the GOM with little additional training when they have enough time. Hire the best students to replace the instructors who move up. Simple and effective.