Canada vs the US: Free trade?

[Helibusdriver]

In a separate topic it was claimed that CHC could not aquire a controlling interest in OLOG or PHI. Supposedly, 70 % ownership would have to remain with US shareholders.

Any facts available?

I remember some years back the establishment of the North American Free Trade Organization - NAFTA. Is the free trade limited, leading to the claim being correct, or could CHC take over OLOG or PHI if conditions were right?

[gayflyboy]

For those of us who live in N America, we understand that, unlike the EU which is largely equitable to its members, NAFTA acts very much in the interests of the USA, usually at the expense of the other members......

The US FARs require that US operators or majority owned within the US (70% I think).

Similar rules supposedly apply within the EU - not on a nation by nation basis, but within the EU. As I remember, the only reason CHC managed to acquire HS/Scotia was due to it's Chairman managing to demonstrate some Irish (and therefore EU) heritige..... I seem to remember that this was rather questioned at the time....

[Helinut]

gfb,

While you are right about the EU laws, they do tend to get interpreted as the powers that be like. Your story about CHC is right, I believe - contrasted with a certain Egyptian grocer who was never allowed to have an AOC, so he had to operate under someone elses AOC, even though he had lots of expensive toys.

Mind you, he got his own back - he sold the only London heliport to a property developer. We are still waiting to see how that one pans out.............

[Helibusdriver]

Thanks for the clarification, guys. It would have been interesting to see how everything played out, if the pilots in the GOM got together in the same corporation as the CHC pilots in the UK, Norway, Denmark and Ireland. All pilots in CHC Europe have access to pilot unions within their own companies within CHC.

Of course, even today the potential for crossatlantic cooperation exists, as OLOG has controlling interest over Airlog and Bristows. Bristows again holds 49 % of the shares in Norsk Helikopter of Norway. So far the pilot groups within OLOG have not been able to focus properly on the potential of this fact. So much in common, guys and girls, and still so sound asleep.......