Pilot and Apprentice, thanks for your insight but I have been in the business long enough to have delivered some of the 332s from the factory when they were new 32 years ago and flown S-61Ns. I understand maintenance schedules and what is replaced and what is not.
You can fly what you like or whatever your employer pays you to fly. If we all waited 10 years to contract a new type, we would not see much progress. It's not your money that pays the bills so while your individual opinion is respected, it's irrelevant.
I don't care if you offer us a 32 year old 332 for half price or quarter price, we won't use it. Our max age for helicopters on contract is 15 years through life of the contract. I spend my company's budget on the types that meet our technical specifications (139, 189, 225, 92 etc) and those which are demanded by our workforce.
Furthermore, our research shows that over a long contract life of 10 years, contracting new helicopters which require less heavy maintenance and offer far superior reliability, speed and performance improves our productivity. Having a modern fleet with reduced seating, more room and cabin ECU also reduces workforce fatigue for which we get Union and IR credit under our offshore workforce fatigue management plan. This, gives us greater helicopter schedule flexibility, improving aircraft utilisation and reducing excess fleet capacity and ad hoc flights which optimises our contracted fleet cost.
So the immediate allure of a seemingly cheap price is a veneer in our case.
Sadly, you lose any credibility by making juvenile comments about EC135s and lie flat beds. Evidently, you are more apprentice than pilot.
I am sorry if your customers' goalposts move, we make a point of not moving ours to give our contractor certainty to be able to invest in new helicopters for our contract. In fact, 50% of our fleet is new while the rest is less than 3 years old.