I shook hands with the man himself back in 1987 at Intracoastal base in LA while working for PHI. For obvious reasons he is sort of a legend in the helicopter industry, having been one of the early pioneers.
Within the first 3 months of being employed by PHI in July 1987 I must have heard the following quote at least 3 times: "If you you don't like it, quit". Well, I stayed for 17 months, then I took the advise to heart and quit.
The fall of 1987 the Airline Pilots Association of the US pushed ahead in an official campaign to organize the pilots of AirLog and PHI. At least 50% of the pilots needed to respond to a request to initiate negotiations.
I was horrified at listening to some of the pilots, some of which felt they were well off. Some had $2.000.- @ month in retirement benefits following long term service in the army. When they added the salary from PHI on top they felt they were doing ok.
I also remember more than one dozen letters sent to me from the management of PHI during this time period. Management stated clearly that PHI could not operate if a pilot union was established. The company would be liquidated if a pilot union was established. As I recall it was even insinuated that the airline pilots associtation was connected to the mafia.
It was a sad day for the pilots of the GOM when the union drive failed back then. Fortunately, the tide has turned. Today both AirLog and PHI have established a solid and constructive pilot union foundation, supported by the membership in the Office and Professional Employees International Union - OPEIU.
I know it took a lot of hard work to get organized for both pilot groups. Threats of potential negative consequences of getting organized were rampant. Fear, frustration, uncertainty seemed to have been the order of the day. When all was said and done, the pilots prevailed and the pilot unions were recognized, first in AirLog and a few years later in PHI.