Bond Helicopters name returns in new Southern North Sea contract
 

50/50 joint venture between Peter Bond and Gama Aviation - has won a five year southern North Sea contract starting January 2024

https://helihub.com/2022/10/20/bond-...year-contract/

My bets are on Perenco…

Confirmed as Perenco. Bristow NWI to close.

Oh dear....
 

Bye bye Bristow

So what happened to their retirement plans, cited as the reason for selling Loganair? https://www.heraldscotland.com/busin...search-buyers/

Stephens retirement plan. It appears Peter is just warming up :}

Bristow have other clients. All be it small… and is it even formalised yet that it is Perenco? I have a feeling if it was they would state that in the article? Maybe a price war tactic?

You overestimate your enemy. Not the giant they once were.

So another operator on the North Sea
I take it CHC will not now be forced to sell Babcock?

Good observation!

it definitely is Perenco

... is it that time of decade again?

Ho Hum, this is not good news. Another operator to suppress operators already on their ar*@&. Sad for the guys and gals whom bend over backwards daily to supply a first class service to these ungrateful, greedy customers. Why oh why do people give so much when time and time again it's been proven the clients you serve don't give two sh*@5 about you?

Bad day for the North Sea :\

I imagine anyone under age 40, and/or those captains with the "right" type rating/friends with the chief pilot will be "invited to apply" from Bristow and the rest will be binned off/sent to Nigeria/ABZ

This is what happened when Dancopter took Shell from Bristow.

TUPE seems pretty easy for employers to wriggle out of these days, eg

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/pilots-...ter-job-781170

Do we know what helicopter type this new contract is utilising ?

Seems to be policy in the "resources" business. You get so many years and then you could offer to do it for nothing and you will not get "renewed". Not sure of the reason why. Race to the bottom - airlines are bit similar and it is a "thing".
Offshore operators for the O&G folk are a commodity and they don't see things the way the operators do. All they see is a different paint job colour? The question is not "bend over" it is "how far".

Helicopter Operations are a "Contract" business.....always was...always shall be unless the Client decide to form their own Helicopter Operation....and then they too go and come depending upon how the Oil Business is doing.

You get a real feel for how brutal a business it is if you have ever driven through Pecos, Texas during boom times....then during the rock bottom times.

I suppose Aberdeen is similar.

I would be amazed if it wasn’t AW139.

Perenco have always had a reputation for screwing the helicopter operators and playing them against each other. Even though they get a great service from the helicopter operators.

I don't think Perenco are alone in doing that.

Lot of work going into clearing out the old Bristow hangar at Humberside.

Could this also explain why North Denes is being cleaned up??

Further details now online

AW139's in red livery with the bond name... like the old days

Bond/Gama have confirmed Norwich, so not linked to them. When it closed in early 2015, North Denes was a CHC base

and the Bond logo in the same typeface as Gama's logo, like this
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e6fe8254c4.jpg

Is this new venture the result of CHC being forced to sell Babcock North Sea unit — which, if I've got my history right, was formerly known as Bond Offshore?

Does the existing helicopter terminal/facilities utilised at Norwich belong to/leased by Perenco or the helicopter operator ?

Didn't that used to be the case a few years back

The passenger terminal is Perenco's The Hangarage is Bristow owned / leased.

Offshore Contract Renewals
 

It just goes on and on the same way. TUPE is avoided by some clever wangle or other. The keen young pilots bust a gut to give the best service they can, which is firstly professional pride of course, but they also think that the O&G company will be impressed at contract renewal time. They soon realise that they are just bums on seats and that all the duty changes and wangles they made were in vain when another company undercuts them and 'wins' the contract, sometimes even before renewal date.

KLM won Shell from BAH/BIH then Bristow bid for the whole of the North Sea and won before the renewal date. KLM had given Shell a superb service but it meant nothing. It was then as disorganised as Napoleon's retreat from Moscow and gave us a lot of laughs at Shell's expense when things went wrong. Bristow eventually got the contract organised and running well but then lost to Dancopter. Sorry to hear that Bristow is shutting up shop at Norwich and good luck in finding new positions everyone.

Well at least it's a new operator with the current helicopter type that's operated , none of this "different type" ......that can be used to rule out or avoid TUPE , and attempt to keep staffing costs down and impact chances of transfer for existing " old guard "

Good luck to those concerned , hopefully a smooth transfer or that a genuine recruitment process is adopted. It is obvious that personnel with years of continual service , experience and dedication seem to account for zilch when it comes to these contract renewals these days , the Oil and Gas Companies only relating to the bottom line price as bid ....... the helicopter operator probably having to "sharp pencil" to make it work...... especially on some short term contract awards.

Still nice to see Bond back though

Bond really aren't back though are they (as much as I would like them to be), gama are trading under the bond name.

For those with the rose tinted specs, you are in for some disappointment IMHO

Bristow will maintain a presence at NWI for other work.

3 weeks into the contract.

Just wondering how the tactic mentioned above is working out for Perenco this time?

Reading LI should answer that one

Sorry Helicrazi. LI? Not sure what you are referring to.

LinkedIn, there has been some 'running commentary' from the offshore workforce

Nothing interesting under Bond Helicopters on Linkedin. What is the Company profile the comments are being made.

A recent new joiner to the team had his announcement hijacked by some of the work force, the comments have since been removed.

Nothing to see here, move on :oh:

I hear Perenco have a few concerns about the level of service they are receiving from their new helicopter company.

Would there be any truth in that?

Any new start up like this is going to be full of teething problems, we all knew that, surely Perenco did too?