Last of Bristow "old guard" to retire
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Last of Bristow "old guard" to retire
The last of the "old" pre OLOG managers is set to retire in May.
Allan Brown, Bristow's Commercial Director will retire at the end of May.
Allan is the last of the "3rd" floor Directors to retire and this leaves all new style OLOG clone management at Bristow. There are still one or tow of the old "2nd floor" managers left but the
de-Bristowing of Bristow is now all but complete.
The company is now effectively OLOG in all but name only.
You heard it here first on Pprune.
HH
Allan Brown, Bristow's Commercial Director will retire at the end of May.
Allan is the last of the "3rd" floor Directors to retire and this leaves all new style OLOG clone management at Bristow. There are still one or tow of the old "2nd floor" managers left but the
de-Bristowing of Bristow is now all but complete.
The company is now effectively OLOG in all but name only.
You heard it here first on Pprune.
HH
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Not strictly true HH. Whilst it is true that Allan (who incidentally is International Director, not Commercial) is retiring - and will be a great loss to the company, there are still one or two old-guard directors on the third floor. What is more significant is that most of the old olog guard are out some time ago (following the retirement of George Small) and the new bunch are much more closely aligned to the old Bristow philosophy, and to wanting to progress rather than asset-strip the company, than their predecessors. For example they are getting brand new aircraft for the first time in a while! They are also fully aware of the difference in reputation between Bristow and Airlog.
EC
EC
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I also think from talking to people that the Old Bristow has now gone and will be very hard to return. Certain managers in Aberdeen which is very top heavy especially WT couldnt run a P..S up in a brewery, and the HR?? what do they do?? get rid of these useless people it may start to return to a good company
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Eurochopper
True, new aircraft are coming, EC225s and 155s but that's not unique to Bristow. Airlog have been getting new C+s delivered for a while now and let's face it, Shell just won't continue with the now 23 year old 332Ls and S76A+s. Something HAD to change there and Shell are re equipping worldwide.
I admire your optimism about your management but at some time one has to rebuild to have a viable business since most of what can be stripped has already gone.
My point was that Allan Brown was the last of the OLD Bristow 3rd floor. Who else is left from those days? Not anyone I can think of. Most of them are new or OLOG appointments. The only OLD ones left are from the 2nd floor!
HH
True, new aircraft are coming, EC225s and 155s but that's not unique to Bristow. Airlog have been getting new C+s delivered for a while now and let's face it, Shell just won't continue with the now 23 year old 332Ls and S76A+s. Something HAD to change there and Shell are re equipping worldwide.
I admire your optimism about your management but at some time one has to rebuild to have a viable business since most of what can be stripped has already gone.
My point was that Allan Brown was the last of the OLD Bristow 3rd floor. Who else is left from those days? Not anyone I can think of. Most of them are new or OLOG appointments. The only OLD ones left are from the 2nd floor!
HH
The "Old" Bristow is gone....the Bentley's parked outside the door at Redhill....a real helicopter pilot in charge....a loyalty to the firm that OLOG will never understand nor earn.....or give to the bean fetchers. As long as the company is being run by bean counters....to the exclusion of the bean fetchers...then it will be just another helicopter company. They cannot undo past sins....and transgressions. To be fair...those things happened before and during OLOG's tenure.
After the "Old Man" left there developed an arrogance on the third floor that may have made some people rich but it was at the expense of the corporate culture that built the company to what it was.
After the "Old Man" left there developed an arrogance on the third floor that may have made some people rich but it was at the expense of the corporate culture that built the company to what it was.
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Maxvne - interesting comments; from the outsiders perspective I would have said that retaining one of the biggest contracts on the North Sea and then winning a second in the space of a month (January) constituted quite a well orchestrated "p u in a brewery"!
If that’s your definition of failure I'd hate to have to work to your benchmark for success...
It occurs to me that there is a party being planned for a reported 160 invitees somwhere else on the airfield - perhaps that would be more to your liking??? I'm sure they'd swap with you.
Anyway, Allan Brown - great bloke and I'm sure he will be missed at Bristows. Here's wishing him a long and happy retitrement.
If that’s your definition of failure I'd hate to have to work to your benchmark for success...
It occurs to me that there is a party being planned for a reported 160 invitees somwhere else on the airfield - perhaps that would be more to your liking??? I'm sure they'd swap with you.
Anyway, Allan Brown - great bloke and I'm sure he will be missed at Bristows. Here's wishing him a long and happy retitrement.
Winning contracts is just one part of "success"....it is not being on top that matters....it is how many folks you have with you when you get there that matters....not how many that were lost along the way.
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Hi Scotsheli,
as you say they only retained the work they already had and yes good news that they won a new contract but what about the previous contracts that have been lost since 1998, none have been won only lost so i stand by my comments the facts do the talking, I certainly do not want to dull their win but they have competed for at least 10 contracts winning none.
Max
as you say they only retained the work they already had and yes good news that they won a new contract but what about the previous contracts that have been lost since 1998, none have been won only lost so i stand by my comments the facts do the talking, I certainly do not want to dull their win but they have competed for at least 10 contracts winning none.
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HH - lets see then, there is at least N McD-G who is still there. He came to the 3rd floor after Allan, but not by very long. Pilot, been in the company since he was 12, surely not one of the OLOG guard? True I can't think of any others but then the 3rd floor is a bit of a ghost town these days. Still, not so long ago they had 13 directors on the 3rd floor, ie probably more directors than pilots - that was a bad thing!
Sasless - one of the best things to happen since the reshuffle is that BHL no longer has bean counters at the top - Bill Chiles (olog boss) is ex oil industry shop floor and Richard Burman (BHL boss) is a geologist. The difference in attitude is noticeable I'm told! Lets face it, any change had to be better than what they had in the recent past!
EC
Sasless - one of the best things to happen since the reshuffle is that BHL no longer has bean counters at the top - Bill Chiles (olog boss) is ex oil industry shop floor and Richard Burman (BHL boss) is a geologist. The difference in attitude is noticeable I'm told! Lets face it, any change had to be better than what they had in the recent past!
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Funny but there certainly seems to be a different atmosphere at Bristow's. I hear that the "new boys" certainly seem to communicate much more than the "old guard". That in itself is a major change from the previous years.
HR - Yes, enough said. I have to admit they are like a "pandemic" but it is not specific to Bristows!!!
I think what is required is a period of stability. As long as certain memebers the oil industry remain with their current thinking, then I don't think there will be much change from the present uncertainty.
I'm enjoying my "retirement"...............
Oh btw, I remember Nick McG when he was 12......
HR - Yes, enough said. I have to admit they are like a "pandemic" but it is not specific to Bristows!!!
I think what is required is a period of stability. As long as certain memebers the oil industry remain with their current thinking, then I don't think there will be much change from the present uncertainty.
I'm enjoying my "retirement"...............
Oh btw, I remember Nick McG when he was 12......
The OLOG relationship with its Air Log pilots is downright adversarial....witness the recent CBA negotiations (if you can define what happened as being negotiation). As long as that kind of attitude exists then there shall continue to be problems in the work environment that deprives the company of the goodwill and loyalty of those out there representing the firm. Maybe it really does not matter in this day and time but at one time it was considered important to have a workforce that lived, breathed, and acted in company colours....knowing that it was appreciated by the customer.
The attitude that prevails at Air Log now is not very healthy for the company in the long run as I see it. It sounds as though the OLOG bunch figured out they knew less about the North Sea than they thought and have released the reins a bit. They certainly have not proven themselves to be very capable after missing so many contracts over the years and have only just now begun to win a few.
I can understand the need to control costs, operate at a minimum manning level, and all that...what I cannot understand is why senior management fail to understand the abstract part of business. The numbers part seems to be a mechanical exercise....certain definable procedures and practices yield measureable results. Thus the business side of business (if you will) is straight forward. The "Human" side is where most modern day managers fall flat on their face. The advent of HR departments have been an evil thing in my view. Used to be you dealt with a pilot when applying for a pilots job....he knew the business...he knew pilots....and he could be effective in communicating the job requirements and at the same time do a reasonable job of assessing your fitness for the job in question and your mettle for being what the firm wanted. Not so today....some bimbo with a degree in HR, who knows nothing about the work or what it requires to get the job done, passes judgement on your fitness. You ask them question...they bat their eyelashes at you....babble the company line about how great the outfit is...how lucky you are to be considered....but does not understand or know anything about the work of the company beyond what is printed on her script.
The major complaint I hear from other pilots anymore is not about money although that is an issue, or about safety which is also an issue, but more importantly....the fact they feel like they are not allowed or welcomed to be involved in decisions or changes to policy and procedures that have a direct affect on the way they have to work. The current management attitude of dictating to professionals by those not qualified to do the work being "managed" is counter-productive. When people are involved in something....they develop a committment to it.
Years ago at an Air Methods annual training session this very discussion took place....one of the pilots from the Grand Junction base took the floor and downright begged the corporate boys to utilize the collective talent encumbent within the ranks of the pilots employed by the company. He suggested that despite the pilots being scattered all over the country that by means of the internet, fax, and telephone....there were ways for the combined experience of all the pilots to be tapped by corporate and thus a better situation for all would exist. He was discounted out of hand by the corporate boys. That situation still exists today....they have a union now....they have 25 vacant pilot positions....and they have some very unhappy pilots still.
Life is not perfect and people are not perfect....for sure helicopter operator managers are not perfect. Not withstanding that, until an operator can find a way to have a "personal touch" with the folks that get out there and make it happen....starting with the folks that clean the toilets right up to the folks that sit at the table with the Board of Directors....this industry is going to remain a bad industry to work in. The few places that do get it right will not only prosper business-wise but also be enjoyable places to work and thus will have little turnover which in itself will boost the bottomline profit number.
The attitude that prevails at Air Log now is not very healthy for the company in the long run as I see it. It sounds as though the OLOG bunch figured out they knew less about the North Sea than they thought and have released the reins a bit. They certainly have not proven themselves to be very capable after missing so many contracts over the years and have only just now begun to win a few.
I can understand the need to control costs, operate at a minimum manning level, and all that...what I cannot understand is why senior management fail to understand the abstract part of business. The numbers part seems to be a mechanical exercise....certain definable procedures and practices yield measureable results. Thus the business side of business (if you will) is straight forward. The "Human" side is where most modern day managers fall flat on their face. The advent of HR departments have been an evil thing in my view. Used to be you dealt with a pilot when applying for a pilots job....he knew the business...he knew pilots....and he could be effective in communicating the job requirements and at the same time do a reasonable job of assessing your fitness for the job in question and your mettle for being what the firm wanted. Not so today....some bimbo with a degree in HR, who knows nothing about the work or what it requires to get the job done, passes judgement on your fitness. You ask them question...they bat their eyelashes at you....babble the company line about how great the outfit is...how lucky you are to be considered....but does not understand or know anything about the work of the company beyond what is printed on her script.
The major complaint I hear from other pilots anymore is not about money although that is an issue, or about safety which is also an issue, but more importantly....the fact they feel like they are not allowed or welcomed to be involved in decisions or changes to policy and procedures that have a direct affect on the way they have to work. The current management attitude of dictating to professionals by those not qualified to do the work being "managed" is counter-productive. When people are involved in something....they develop a committment to it.
Years ago at an Air Methods annual training session this very discussion took place....one of the pilots from the Grand Junction base took the floor and downright begged the corporate boys to utilize the collective talent encumbent within the ranks of the pilots employed by the company. He suggested that despite the pilots being scattered all over the country that by means of the internet, fax, and telephone....there were ways for the combined experience of all the pilots to be tapped by corporate and thus a better situation for all would exist. He was discounted out of hand by the corporate boys. That situation still exists today....they have a union now....they have 25 vacant pilot positions....and they have some very unhappy pilots still.
Life is not perfect and people are not perfect....for sure helicopter operator managers are not perfect. Not withstanding that, until an operator can find a way to have a "personal touch" with the folks that get out there and make it happen....starting with the folks that clean the toilets right up to the folks that sit at the table with the Board of Directors....this industry is going to remain a bad industry to work in. The few places that do get it right will not only prosper business-wise but also be enjoyable places to work and thus will have little turnover which in itself will boost the bottomline profit number.
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Tip Cap,
By all accounts you are right, employees seem to have a more positive attitude these days, which reflects on the current management.
Sasless:
I'm not swimming or floating tonight, but after reading your past 3 threads on this subject, are you !!!!
By all accounts you are right, employees seem to have a more positive attitude these days, which reflects on the current management.
Sasless:
I'm not swimming or floating tonight, but after reading your past 3 threads on this subject, are you !!!!
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49% Rule
Isn't Bristow still in charge?
I looked into the UK regs a while back and they state half the voting stock plus 1 share must be held by a UK citizen. The also stated they are wary of secret deals. If UK folks are the majority why does it seem that Offshore Logistics is calling all the shots.
PS - how does CHC do it with their European interests?
I looked into the UK regs a while back and they state half the voting stock plus 1 share must be held by a UK citizen. The also stated they are wary of secret deals. If UK folks are the majority why does it seem that Offshore Logistics is calling all the shots.
PS - how does CHC do it with their European interests?
