Despite all the naysayers and doom merchants, it seems that Bristow are still flying
All of the senior management in Nigeria have experience of running operations outside Nigeria (and anyway are closely monitored by managers in Houston.
Sadly I agree that some of the experienced expats who were sent packing should not have been. This seems to have been due to politics rather than ability
Target zero actually is a great concept, but needs to have more than lip service paid to it, it needs to be given teeth and the highest office in safety should be at least equivalent of that in operations and directly responsible to the CEO.
Hiring of expats always was (in my day) based on skill and relevant experience.
Bristow always used to set the standards and I hope, will in the future. They were not my favourite company after the 'old man' left, but are still one of the leaders in the industry, though I believe, (although commercially more successful than ever) lacking in Alan's buccaneering spirit because of the rise of bean counters, human remains corpses, PCers and generally non-aviation people. No, I don't want to return to the 20th century. Of course automation, safety, monitoring have a part to play, but so do some too the old-fashioned values. Pilots should first and foremost be pilots, capable of flying a basic helicopter, but they also need to be systems managers who have an in-depth understanding of all the systems in the complex machines they fly and how to analyse and cope with malfunctions. It's no good talking of flying the 212 for 100 years. I flew the 212 and it's one of my favourite helicopters ever, but it's almost as old as I am, and I am willing to accept and embrace change for the better. What is really needed is for oil company managers of my (already gone) generation to accept that the training for 21st century helicopters requires a lot more ground, simulator and aircraft training time. This applies to O&G senior managers even more as they ultimately set the limits on budgets for training and safety for the companies dependant on them for their livelihood.