There is certainly a shortage of experienced pilots for the offshore companies due to several factors; the main one being a whole generation of experienced co-pilots left the industry in the late 1990s for fixed wing. This left a big hole that has been impossible to fill with suitably qualified ex-mil or civilian pilots.
There are plenty of applicants for any vacant co-pilot positions but the quality of applicants seems to be poor. They are failing interviews, psychometric testing, sim checks, and should they pass all those hurdles they are even failing company sponsored IRs and line checks, which is very disturbing. This has led the companies to be very wary of candidates who are not in possession of an IR.
What is the solution? To be honest I don't have an easy answer for the experience problem but I think that the companies may be forced/convinced that a sponsorship program for selected pilots may be the way forward as at the moment the only selection being done is by money - can the applicant afford to finance their own training.
This is not working as can be seen by the present failure rate. Somebody may be able to safely fly a R22 in day VFR but doesn't have the spare capacity to fly a complex twin down to offshore minimums, at night, to moving deck so some form of selection is needed right at the start of the training process to minimise the failure rate. Bond had a sponsored pilot intake in the late 1980s that all made the grade so a precedent has been set.
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