Bristow Responds to Challenge of EC225 Fleet Suspension

BRISTOW RESPONDS TO CHALLENGE OF
EC225 FLEET Suspension
Bristow’s action following the EC225 fleet suspension was remarkable for
what it says about the company’s financial strength and resilience.
News of the controlled landing of another operator’s EC225 into
the North Sea on October 22, 2012, flashed across the oil and gas
and production plans have had to be modified. In some cases,
production platform and drilling rig shutdowns have been threatened.
industry, the second such incident in six months. It didn’t take long for
Bristow to react and ground its global fleet of EC225s, pending further
investigation by authorities including the UK. Air Accidents Investigation
Branch (AIB) and Eurocopter into the root cause, attributed currently to
cracks in the vertical shafts of a gearbox. Eurocopter supports the UK
Senior Vice President of Commercial Mark Duncan says Bristow
contacted its clients within hours of the suspension. “We began to work
immediately on how to utilize our global resources and think ‘out of the
box’ to help clients replace their lost coverage.”
AIB in determining the root cause.
The challenge facing Bristow was significant. “We were already facing
Not only Bristow suspended EC225 flights; most of the offshore
helicopter industry did so, grounding some 80 aircraft globally. Since
then, clients and helicopter companies have been scrambling to replace
a very tight supply situation, and taking the EC225 out of the picture
has only made it worse,” says Duncan. “So we made a decisive move to
aggressively pursue expansion of our fleet of heavy aircraft.”
coverage with their inventory of other aircraft. The situation has grown
increasingly difficult; with reduced helicopter transport, some oil
company personnel have remained longer than planned on platforms,
Because of its disciplined and prudent balance sheet management
strategy, Bristow had the financial capability to respond quickly. Within
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days of the landing incident, Bristow had ordered an additional 10
Sikorsky S-92s to be delivered between July 2013 and December 2014,
in the process. This is an incredible effort and really demonstrates the
commitment of the engineers and support staff in Aberdeen.”
and secured options for another 16 for 2015 and beyond.
“It has been a big job bringing back the AS332s, and both EBU and
Bristow quickly diverts all available aircraft
COBU did a fantastic job with the overhauls and rebuilds,” Duncan says.
The suspension of EC225 flights hit Bristow’s base in Aberdeen, Scotland,
the hardest, grounding 12 aircraft out of a fleet of 14. Bases in Norway,
Australia and Malaysia each removed two or three EC225s from service.
Bristow’s recent acquisition of Cougar in Nova Scotia also proved timely.
“We were able to transfer aircraft from Cougar in Canada to Aberdeen
on a short-term basis, which gave us additional capacity,” Duncan says.
The first priority was to replace the suspended EC225s in Aberdeen.
Bristow was able to divert new heavy and medium aircraft from its
“In the Canadian Atlantic, they operate in similar conditions to the North
Sea, so the aircraft were easily adaptable.”
operations in the Gulf of Mexico and Nigeria, bringing the Aberdeen fleet
to its current level of active aircraft. As part of this effort, Bristow also
brought back into service six AS332 Super Pumas that were slated for
sale. One of the biggest challenges was getting the AS332s refurbished
and recertified.
Bristow pilots retrain
Since pilots are trained for a specific aircraft type, each pilot moving to a
new type of aircraft is required to undergo training that could take from
weeks to months. Because of demand, a unique challenge then arose
in finding training aircraft and simulators.
“Working with our colleagues in EBU and AUSBU, our COBU team in
Aberdeen is bringing these six aircraft back into service in about six
months,” says John Cloggie, Director of Bristow’s Centralized Operations
Business Unit (COBU). “Thousands of man hours are being expended
“Every available aircraft is doing crew change operations, so is not
available for training,” Duncan says. Again, Bristow’s investment in
training and resources has paid off. “Fortunately, we have our own
Bristow World 2013 Issue 1 7

simulators for some aircraft types. We also have strong relationships
with external training consultants. For the Sikorsky S-92, for example,
we’ve booked every simulator slot we can get in the world.”
and everyone is looking to ramp up their activity. All markets are in a
growth cycle for the first time in a number of years, putting extra strain on
resources and significantly changing the supply demand balance.
Duncan notes that all of Bristow’s business units have been working
together to find pilots for certain aircraft types in addition to getting
aircraft where they are needed. Pilots are also providing support to
clients by visiting bases and talking with passengers.
All of which raises the question: When will the EC225s return to offshore
transport? As of Bristow World’s publication date, word from the UK Civil
Aviation Authority is that it will not lift EC225 operating restrictions until
Eurocopter is able to show it has a fix.
Duncan commends the quick response by Bristow global operations.
“The fact that we’ve been able to respond at the level we have is a
testament to our people on the front lines and the careful planning
In the meantime, Bristow is not waiting for resolution of the issue; it’s
already adapting its business strategy to cover the EC225 gap and
accommodate its clients as they move farther offshore.
and investment in resources that will continue to be part of our
commitment to operational excellence. We really are saving our clients
from production platform and drilling rig shutdowns.” And despite the
challenges, Bristow continues to strive to achieve Target Zero on safety.
Jon Stripling, Director, Global Standards, Quality, Safety & Training,
says the situation “is being managed carefully and properly by the
Bristow has commitments for six AW189s to be delivered starting in
2014 and five EC175s to be delivered starting in 2015. Over the next
two years, a significant number of brand-new aircraft – S-92s, AW139s
and 189s, EC175s and S-76Ds – will be added to its global fleet to meet
market demand and address clients’ offshore requirements.
organization, but we have to remain vigilant to the extra pressures that
have been placed on some areas of our business. We must continue to
reinforce that safety comes first.”
“I believe the whole situation will have a profound effect long term on the
helicopter service industry. Among other things, it has brought home
how helicopter service impacts the bottom line for offshore oil and gas
Future is unknown
Cooperation among clients, regulators and even operators has helped
ease the pressure on the system, making space available on helicopters
operations,” Duncan says. “We’re already seeing clients shift from a
single model to a mixed fleet so they will be able to fly if something like
this happens again.”
for offshore crew changes. But the busy summer season is just ahead
“The fact that we’ve been able to
respond at the level we have is a
testament to our people on the front
lines and the careful planning and
investment in resources that will
continue to be part of our commitment
to operational excellence. We really
are saving our clients from production
platform and drilling rig shutdowns.”
– Mark Duncan, SVP, Commercial
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“Working with our colleagues in EBU and AUSBU, our COBU team in Aberdeen is
bringing these six aircraft back into service in about six months.”
– John Cloggie, Director of Bristow’s Centralized Operations Business Unit (COBU)
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