Fresh prince of Norwich?
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Fresh prince of Norwich?
I heard that a new operator (with a rather questionable reputation) is sniffing around Norwich for work. One from the land of blondes and probably the best beer in the world.
Supposedly its a contract that is starting in 2019.
Anyone else hear this?
Supposedly its a contract that is starting in 2019.
Anyone else hear this?
After working out of Norwich for several years the major players are Perenco and Shell.
Both will drop operators at the drop of a hat to save a dime so I wouldn't be surprised.
Both will drop operators at the drop of a hat to save a dime so I wouldn't be surprised.
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Then ist a match made in heaven. FreshPrinceAviation is a safety expert (except when their permit to fly IFR gets revoked and when their pilots get suspended of course)
Banksman,
Sadly contracts these days aren't really worth the paper they are written on because the oil companies have clauses in there where they can terminate early (30 / 90 day notice).
As Lowfat already said they will drop you like a stone if they can reduce the bottomline to increase their profits
So Bristow's (and the other operators on the field) contracts aren't as secure as you might think and never will be
Sadly contracts these days aren't really worth the paper they are written on because the oil companies have clauses in there where they can terminate early (30 / 90 day notice).
As Lowfat already said they will drop you like a stone if they can reduce the bottomline to increase their profits
So Bristow's (and the other operators on the field) contracts aren't as secure as you might think and never will be
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Finals, those clauses have always been there. Remember when Bristow were smarting at having lost the SNS Shell contract to KLM Era who built a modern hangar complex and promptly lost the contract at the next renewal partly because goal posts were moved at the last minute to include NS as a whole; and Bristow, the successful operator, promptly moved back into the WW2 hangar ...... to save more profit, we are guilty as well!!!!
'Safety culture'
KLM gave Shell a first class service with excellent punctuality and very well equipped aircraft (S76B with superb AFCS/autopilot). A person in Shell Aviation suggested that by getting the helicopter companies to bid for the whole of the North Sea, then Shell would save a few quid. KLM could bid for the SNS and Dutch sectors but not the NNS so Bristow got the contract. The result was that the SNS and Dutch side were run on a shoestring budget and to quote a colleague it was like the retreat from Moscow! It was embarrassing to be part of it but Shell would rather have chewed their fingers off than admit their mistake. The great professionalism of the Bristow people at Norwich and Den Helder kept it going until the budgets were increased and the bases brought up to respectable standards (apart from the initially rat infested hangar at Norwich, which was never really up to scratch).
Shell made a lot of noise about their safety culture offshore but only if it didn't cost too much money. It was only after we lost G-BJVX and there was a major investigation that they found out that the teams called out to fix NUIs at night (sometimes all night long) and who had been working all the day before were as worried about the fatigue state of the two people in the cockpit as they were about their own tiredness. Only then did Shell implement rules about night call-outs - evacuations for safety reasons; casevacs; medevacs and compassionate reasons but no night shuttles for purely commercial reasons. My most interesting was being called in at 2200, shuttling to about 5 NUIs all night and back to base when the early crews were planning their 0700 flights and that was not unusual. Safety culture - my backside!
Bristow then gave Shell excellent service (after the teething problems were eventually sorted) until Shell decided to save another few quid by ripping up the contract for a cheaper operator. We looked with interest at Shell's finances and found that transport costs were about 0.04% of their budget.
Shell made a lot of noise about their safety culture offshore but only if it didn't cost too much money. It was only after we lost G-BJVX and there was a major investigation that they found out that the teams called out to fix NUIs at night (sometimes all night long) and who had been working all the day before were as worried about the fatigue state of the two people in the cockpit as they were about their own tiredness. Only then did Shell implement rules about night call-outs - evacuations for safety reasons; casevacs; medevacs and compassionate reasons but no night shuttles for purely commercial reasons. My most interesting was being called in at 2200, shuttling to about 5 NUIs all night and back to base when the early crews were planning their 0700 flights and that was not unusual. Safety culture - my backside!
Bristow then gave Shell excellent service (after the teething problems were eventually sorted) until Shell decided to save another few quid by ripping up the contract for a cheaper operator. We looked with interest at Shell's finances and found that transport costs were about 0.04% of their budget.
Last edited by FD2; 22nd Oct 2017 at 10:26. Reason: speling
