State of the Industry
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 60
Originally Posted by rotor-rooter
PHI quietly emerged from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy last week, after a quite amazing journey through the process, resulting in the creditors owning 100% of the restructured organisation. It will be interesting to see how the future develops in a market still struggling with reduced demand, low pricing, overcapacity and surplus modern helicopters, coupled to a competitive marketplace filled with Operators with reduced debt loads and new management, operating and business strategies. It will be interesting to see how the Operators move forward individually, or whether additional consolidation or further reduction in Operators will actually occur in the near future.
It's a quite remarkable evolution from the environment of five years ago.
https://www.houmatoday.com/news/2019...-11-bankruptcy
Lafayette-based helicopter transport company PHI Inc. has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reduced its debt by $500 million.
The company, which locally operates bases at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport and at Port Fourchon, completed its debt restructuring process after first filing March 14 in a Texas court and implementing a reorganization plan. PHI got federal approval of its reorganization last month, which included CEO and board chairman Al Gonsoulin retiring from the company and being replaced with COO Lance Bospflug and PHI’s unsecured creditors owning 100% of the company’s equity.
PHI had reported a $11.5 million loss in the third quarter of 2018 following months of a slumping oil and gas industry.
“Our ability to successfully emerge from bankruptcy less than six months after our Chapter 11 filings and strengthen our balance sheet while maintaining and continuing to expand our safety and service commitments is a testament to the hard work of our talented employees and the strength of our relationships with our customers and partners,” Bospflug said. “We have now reached all of the key goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of this process, including a more sustainable debt structure and a stronger balance sheet.
“However, this milestone is just the beginning of what we plan to achieve moving forward. We have ambitious plans for our company to support not only our customers and the industries we serve but also to support our workforce, one of the most highly skilled and committed workforces in the aviation services industry.”
PHI’s equity is subject to the issuance of warrants to current equity holders and future dilution. It also closed a $225 million new five-year term loan and received new equity capital from former unsecured creditors.
“I am honored with the responsibility to lead this storied company forward,” Bospflug said. “On behalf of the board of directors and the entire PHI team, I want to thank Al Gonsoulin for his many years of dedicated service and important contributions to so many in our business. PHI has been a leader in aviation and continues to be recognized as being at the forefront of safety and operations globally.”
Its headquarters, 2001 SE Evangeline Thruway, is used to shuttle people and equipment to and from offshore drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and foreign countries. Customers include Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, among others, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
PHI employs 2,207 companywide.
It's a quite remarkable evolution from the environment of five years ago.
https://www.houmatoday.com/news/2019...-11-bankruptcy
PHI emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy
By Adam Daigle / The Advocate (Baton Rouge)Posted Sep 10, 2019 at 7:19 PMLafayette-based helicopter transport company PHI Inc. has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reduced its debt by $500 million.
The company, which locally operates bases at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport and at Port Fourchon, completed its debt restructuring process after first filing March 14 in a Texas court and implementing a reorganization plan. PHI got federal approval of its reorganization last month, which included CEO and board chairman Al Gonsoulin retiring from the company and being replaced with COO Lance Bospflug and PHI’s unsecured creditors owning 100% of the company’s equity.
PHI had reported a $11.5 million loss in the third quarter of 2018 following months of a slumping oil and gas industry.
“Our ability to successfully emerge from bankruptcy less than six months after our Chapter 11 filings and strengthen our balance sheet while maintaining and continuing to expand our safety and service commitments is a testament to the hard work of our talented employees and the strength of our relationships with our customers and partners,” Bospflug said. “We have now reached all of the key goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of this process, including a more sustainable debt structure and a stronger balance sheet.
“However, this milestone is just the beginning of what we plan to achieve moving forward. We have ambitious plans for our company to support not only our customers and the industries we serve but also to support our workforce, one of the most highly skilled and committed workforces in the aviation services industry.”
PHI’s equity is subject to the issuance of warrants to current equity holders and future dilution. It also closed a $225 million new five-year term loan and received new equity capital from former unsecured creditors.
“I am honored with the responsibility to lead this storied company forward,” Bospflug said. “On behalf of the board of directors and the entire PHI team, I want to thank Al Gonsoulin for his many years of dedicated service and important contributions to so many in our business. PHI has been a leader in aviation and continues to be recognized as being at the forefront of safety and operations globally.”
Its headquarters, 2001 SE Evangeline Thruway, is used to shuttle people and equipment to and from offshore drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and foreign countries. Customers include Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, among others, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
PHI employs 2,207 companywide.
We shall see.
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Europe
Posts: 35
Originally Posted by helicrazi
Over capacity, new management, new strategies blah blah blah
The biggest crisis in this industry is the one being ignored - the lack of pilots, lack of new pilots entering the industry and pilots leaving for fixed wing or retiring.
Its all very well turning these companies around but there is a lack of pilots!!! Urgent investment needed. However these days they are more likely to invest in HR instead
The biggest crisis in this industry is the one being ignored - the lack of pilots, lack of new pilots entering the industry and pilots leaving for fixed wing or retiring.
Its all very well turning these companies around but there is a lack of pilots!!! Urgent investment needed. However these days they are more likely to invest in HR instead
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 260
Originally Posted by ApolloHeli
As someone soon to be at the "ab initio" stage of CPL(H)/IR could you please point me in the vague direction where pilots are lacking?
Bristow are offering an IR sponsorship that may be of interest to you.
Lots of onshore jobs have been vacant for a very long time, however as an ab initio these wont be suitable
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Europe
Posts: 35
Originally Posted by helicrazi
You will get a type rating as a new FO on the north sea at the moment, also other job adverts for FOs being advertised without the requirement of a type rating.
Bristow are offering an IR sponsorship that may be of interest to you.
Lots of onshore jobs have been vacant for a very long time, however as an ab initio these wont be suitable
Bristow are offering an IR sponsorship that may be of interest to you.
Lots of onshore jobs have been vacant for a very long time, however as an ab initio these wont be suitable
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 60
Rumour has it that CHC is still burning through cash and another round of redundancies are incoming. The new CEO has been in the position a week and appears his aim is to run the company super lean in order to reduce costs and increase profitability.
Staff (Global) were apparently told about this plan yesterday? Any insight? Seen nothing in the mainstream media yet, only snippets on social media.
If true, I can’t see them buying out any company if they don’t have the cash to sustain its own business model, never mind another.
How can a company that recently exited Chapter 11 be in such a position already after such a short period of time? Something seriously seriously wrong in the helicopter services world at the moment. Are the big oil companies pushing far too hard now?
Very interesting anyway. (If the rumours are true)
Staff (Global) were apparently told about this plan yesterday? Any insight? Seen nothing in the mainstream media yet, only snippets on social media.
If true, I can’t see them buying out any company if they don’t have the cash to sustain its own business model, never mind another.
How can a company that recently exited Chapter 11 be in such a position already after such a short period of time? Something seriously seriously wrong in the helicopter services world at the moment. Are the big oil companies pushing far too hard now?
Very interesting anyway. (If the rumours are true)
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: UK and MALTA
Age: 56
Posts: 1,188
Originally Posted by Mitchaa
How can a company that recently exited Chapter 11 be in such a position already after such a short period of time? Something seriously seriously wrong in the helicopter services world at the moment. Are the big oil companies pushing far too hard now?
Chapter 11 has just provided another tool for these people to generate more bonuses as the people doing the real work and taking all the real risks suffer through endless rounds of redundancy.
There, now I feel better with that off my chest.
DB
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 60
Originally Posted by DOUBLE BOGEY
Because they are generally run by self-serving, greedy, backstabbing incompetents who have proved time and again that they are completely incapable of balancing a budget without sticking their fat bonuses at the top of the spreadsheet. Just look at the bonus announcements made recently at Bristow's as they re-structured. If you are walking away with millions, and you started as scum, what do you care about the devastating mess you leave behind.
Chapter 11 has just provided another tool for these people to generate more bonuses as the people doing the real work and taking all the real risks suffer through endless rounds of redundancy.
There, now I feel better with that off my chest.
DB
Chapter 11 has just provided another tool for these people to generate more bonuses as the people doing the real work and taking all the real risks suffer through endless rounds of redundancy.
There, now I feel better with that off my chest.
DB
What are US based staff actually contributing to the company other than strategy and oversight? Give full control to the operating regions to make profit and do away with a top heavy costly management structure in a country that provides no revenue stream.
I’m business naive for sure but if the business units in the UK/Norway/Netherlands/Brazil/Australia etc post profits each year but those profits are not enough to sustain Dallas then the company overall make a loss.
With regards to these upcoming redundancies, hopefully for the people on the front line making the money, the majority of these cuts are made in Dallas.
Last edited by Mitchaa; 13th Sep 2019 at 14:07.
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Montreal
Posts: 568
Mitchaa, yep, bit of a “Hunger Games” parallel, with Dallas being the “Capitol” to the other districts of Panem. Don’t know what inside rumours you have but there are still vacancies advertised for the Dallas office. Flight Operations now run by Supply Chain. Dallas was chosen as a First Reserve strategy to bring Dobbin’s questionable Canadian public company into an MBA-run American airline model. Take it private, tinker with the internals, then flip it back in an IPO for huge profit, and get out. Timing was bad.
Join Date: May 2009
Location: uk
Posts: 151
AH
Maybe ‘waiver’ was the wrong word.
The customer sets the minimum flying experience requirements for the crews they want on contract for their O&G flying - after all, they are paying.
Regardless of total hours there was a general minimum requirement of 500-hrs multi-engine for the co-Pilot.
Makes sense I suppose - the more the merrier?
There is the facility to accept 250-hrs ME but a program of Line Training and mitigation had to be in place to counter the lack of ME time. Not all operators are equal - some have training departments used to such programs, others do not.
It wasn’t often that this ‘facility’ was drawn upon but operators are now having to use every ‘trick’ in the book to attract suitable pilot material to fill the cockpits.
Maybe ‘waiver’ was the wrong word.
The customer sets the minimum flying experience requirements for the crews they want on contract for their O&G flying - after all, they are paying.
Regardless of total hours there was a general minimum requirement of 500-hrs multi-engine for the co-Pilot.
Makes sense I suppose - the more the merrier?
There is the facility to accept 250-hrs ME but a program of Line Training and mitigation had to be in place to counter the lack of ME time. Not all operators are equal - some have training departments used to such programs, others do not.
It wasn’t often that this ‘facility’ was drawn upon but operators are now having to use every ‘trick’ in the book to attract suitable pilot material to fill the cockpits.
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 2,713
Originally Posted by ApolloHeli
As someone soon to be at the "ab initio" stage of CPL(H)/IR could you please point me in the vague direction where pilots are lacking?
https://jobs.babcockinternational.co...0LQ/556860501/
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Inside the Industry
Posts: 726
I wonder what this will mean for the helicopter operation?
https://www.theage.com.au/business/c...18-p52snb.html
https://www.theage.com.au/business/c...18-p52snb.html
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: On land
Posts: 120
I wonder what this will mean for the helicopter operation?
Last edited by Nescafe; 19th Sep 2019 at 04:21.
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Nigeria
Age: 52
Posts: 4,470
Originally Posted by Nescafe
I know you shouldn’t answer a question with another question, but how many oil and gas companies operate their own helicopter squadron?
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Wanaka, NZ
Posts: 2,032
Originally Posted by Nescafe
..how many oil and gas companies operate their own helicopter squadron?
The two big players are Saudi Aramco and Esso Australia. Both have owned and maintained their own helicopter fleets for many years. Only branching out to contractor crews to supplement their own direct hire crews.
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Nigeria
Age: 52
Posts: 4,470
Originally Posted by gulliBell
The two big players are Saudi Aramco and Esso Australia. Both have owned and maintained their own helicopter fleets for many years. Only branching out to contractor crews to supplement their own direct hire crews.
Don't Chevron have a financial stake in the operators in Angola?
