Well I was hesitant to bother posting but might as well I guess to clarify some things.
First of all, Maverick is the ONLY operator in the canyon that does NOT hire pilots fresh out of the R22. They have the highest requirements of the pilots including 300 turbine hours. I know that this is not a lot of turbine time but it generally means that the pilots showing up there had a turbine job before and have a lot more hours. They also pay their pilots the best which means that the pilots stay with them longer. There are a bunch of pilots there that have 5000++ hours that just enjoy the job, being home every night, flying nice machines (exclusively EC130's and the oldest one is 3 years old), and being respected by a company that treats them well. I know I have no complaints.
Secondly, Maverick has THE BEST safety record of any operator in the canyon. Never had an accident.
Yes, the "higher ups" DO review the video's of pilot flights randomly to make sure that everyone is doing things right, flying safe and following the routes and rules.
So no offense to HOVERJOCKI, I'd recommend flying with Sundance 1st hands down if we were booked any day, another great company IMO. Burl seems to do a good job with his pilot selection from what I see and hear.
If anyone has questions about Maverick, feel free to PM me as well.
BTW, if a FW is the way you want to see the canyon, that's doable but like B Sousa said, you won't be landing at the bottom... you won't even descent below the rim. And yes, Maverick Air (FW division) does fly tours to the canyon as well.