Jason Brown
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A PHI official on Friday said the company has begun permanently replacing those pilots who walked out in support of a union strike against the company Wednesday.
Richard Rovinelli, chief administrative officer at PHI, said Friday the company has received a great deal of applications from interested pilots following the strike, which he said has had minimal effect on the company's daily operations.
But with an overall pilot shortage throughout the Gulf coast region, it is unclear exactly where the pilots are coming from. Some companies require more than 1,000 flight hours to operate a helicopter on the Gulf coast.
"Obviously you don't replace that many pilots overnight," Rovinelli said, adding that the new higher pay scale and economic benefits package put in place before the union's strike has helped to lure more pilots into the area.
Union President Steve Ragin said the company has told each union member in support of the strike that they would be permanently replaced. Ragin referred to it as a scare tactic used to intimidate employees.
He said he and other striking employees have been informed that their employment has been terminated and that the company would be sending their last check. They have also asked that they turn in all of their equipment.
"Which I will probably do despite the fact that I expect to be back at work at some point in the future with Petroleum Helicopters," Ragin said.
It is unclear exactly how many of PHI's 550-plus pilots are striking and how many could potentially be replaced by the company as both the union and company have given different figures regarding the work-stoppage.
The company said that only 25 percent of the pilots in both the oil and gas sector and its EMS division supported the work stoppage. The union placed the figure much higher.
On Friday, PHI issued a statement that the union "has made numerous false public statements regarding PHI's flight activity."
PHI said its oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico have completed approximately 80 percent of its normal flight volumes and its air medical segment is operating at about 90 percent.
"Our customers have been very supportive to us," Rovinelli said.