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Jan
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2015
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Posted 9 years 326 days ago ago by Admin
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Around the world, the baby boomers are headed to retirement. Many are on the verge of retiring, or have already done so. In the helicopter industry, the loss of the boomers is a serious matter for concern. This is because that generation includes highly experienced pilots who possess thousands of logged flying hours, plus equally knowledgeable mechanics and technicians.
“It is difficult enough to train a new helicopter pilot, not just in terms of the time and expense, but also to get them to a level of flying hours that customers and regulators are comfortable with,” says Michael Nagel, principal consultant at Nagel Aviation Consulting in Vancouver, British Columbia. “It takes even longer to bring a mechanic up to speed, not just to educate them, but also to get them operating at full capacity with signing authority.”
Even without the boomers retiring, growing global demand for civil helicopters is already stretching the supply of trained commercial pilots and technicians. The Strategic Defence Intelligence report titled “The Global Commercial Helicopter Market 2013–2023” predicts slightly over three percent growth in the helicopter industry over the next 10 years. Furthermore, the report warns that the expanding Chinese market alone will likely require 6,300 civil pilots from 2013 to 2023. Add the departure of the boomers, and one can see why the helicopter industry has reason to be concerned. After all, it doesn't matter how many people purchase helicopters if there are not enough pilots and mechanics to fly and maintain them.
Bob Sheffield is a consultant to AgustaWestland, former managing director of Shell Aircraft Limited, and owner of WinningCulture (sic) business consultancy (www.winningculture.biz). He says the helicopter industry must take steps to address its looming labor needs. “While manufacturers like AgustaWestland are doing their part to meet the manpower shortage, for example, supporting the new European Helicopter Association's work with Turbomeca on this issue, the operators and their customers will likely have to play the lead role in addressing the threat of a shortage of pilots and maintenance technicians.”
One method of addressing this problem is convincing baby boomers to defer retirement a few years. This would provide time for new pilots, mechanics, and technicians to gain necessary hours and experience. Do the benefits of retaining boomer personnel outweigh potential consequences? Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Why keep boomers
Experience is the key advantage baby boomer pilots, mechanics, and technicians have over their younger counterparts. Boomers have thousands of flying hours, and similar depth in designing, managing, and maintaining helicopters.
Flying hours are a big issue for many clients: they want pilots who have logged lots of them. A case in point is The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers’ aircraft management guidelines (www.ogp.org.uk/pubs/390.pdf). These guidelines require helicopter aircraft commanders to have 3,000 total flight hours on multi-engine helicopters over 12,566 lbs. CTOM (certified takeoff mass), 2,000 hours on multi-engines under 12,566 lbs. CTOM, and 1,500 hours on single-engine helicopters under 12,566 lbs. CTOM. Co-pilots have to have at least 500 total flight hours to serve in any of these three helicopter classes.
"The oil and gas industry isn't alone in wanting pilots with lots of flying hours, for very reasonable safety reasons," says Nagel. "Here in Canada, we are seeing flight hour qualifications and documented training (standards) being raised in other sectors. That's a trend that is happening around the globe as well."
Sheffield explains the challenges such requirements pose to replacing experienced personnel. “Groups like the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers have worked in the past with the European Helicopter Operators Committee to agree to some competence-based requirements for pilots who lack the flying hours normally required.” He continues, “This issue has been particularly important in the conversion to new types, where time-in-type requirements for acting as pilot in command are a significant issue. It has been amplified by the OGP members’ ongoing upgrade from old designs to new helicopters designed in accord with the latest amendments to the design standards, for example, FAR 29 for large helicopters.”
The same groups are also considering similar issues relating to the experience requirements for helicopter maintenance technicians. Sheffield says, "A shift from raw time requirements – for example, years of experience – toward competence measures will likely be appropriate for maintenance technicians just as it was for pilots.” Still, actual experience is preferable to ‘competence in lieu of experience,’ which is what the above measures constitute. On this score, the baby boomers have a clear, undeniable advantage that makes a difference to helicopter operators.
Actual experience also matters to insurance companies. Says Nagel, “Aviation underwriters understand the safety advantages associated with veteran pilots. At the very least, these underwriters will recommend charging more for insurance to helicopter operators who are using less-experienced personnel.”
Why go younger
Peter Norton is chief executive of the British Helicopter Association. It is the UK civil helicopter industry's non-profit trade association. As much as he can understand the value of experienced boomer personnel (“For what it is worth, I am a baby boomer,” he quipped.) Norton sees several reasons why the helicopter industry needs to bring in new blood.
The first reason for not convincing boomers to defer retirement is financial. “Operating companies usually employ pilots on the basis of an annual increment to the pay scales,” says Norton. “Thus, the long serving pilots become expensive in terms of salary and pensions, and are usually released wherever possible, perhaps to be re-employed as contractors to fly on demand. This is especially the case for offshore helicopter operators.”
Safety is a second reason to retire boomers. “The majority of onshore helicopters are flown single-pilot,” Norton explains. “Upon reaching the age of 60, regulations prevent them from continuing to fly unless part of a two-man crew where one pilot is under 60.”
The third reason for not trying to retain boomers is simply that they may not be motivated to stick around. “It is my understanding that most helicopter pilots would wish to continue to fly up to age 65 at which point their pensions would mature sufficiently for them to take retirement,” Norton says. “No amount of coercion by the operating companies can affect retention of the pilot work force under these circumstances.”
There are other reasons to focus on bringing in new personnel, rather than retaining current staff. One of these reasons is the need for pilots to continuously upgrade their skills as new aircraft come into service. Nagel expounds, “Training is a costly investment for helicopter operators, and it may not make sense to spend this money on boomers who will retire with this knowledge in a few years. There is also more motivation among younger pilots to learn about new types, because they know that they will be working with these types for years to come.”
A second reason to focus on young blood is the often-demanding assignments that come with helicopter work, for example, flying in hostile environments and in politically volatile parts of the world. “Older pilots have families and commitments, and thus are less willing to be away from home for weeks or months at a time,” Nagel noted. “It's the young pilots who fill these gaps, earning the hours they need for the better jobs, while keeping helicopters flying around the world.”
The industry adapts
As noted by consultant Sheffield, the helicopter industry is taking a range of approaches to deal with the manpower shortage being created by the growing helicopter market and retiring boomers. It is worth noting that not everyone is apparently faced with this issue; at least not Air Methods, the U.S. air medical transport company headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. The company has a fleet of nearly 400 EMS aircraft and 1,180 EMS pilots on staff.
“While some of the company's pilots are considered baby boomers, it's a very small percentage of our pilot workforce, so we don't have any formal incentive programs in place to encourage baby boomer pilots to put off their retirement,” replied Tracey Budz, Air Methods’ director of corporate communications. She adds, “In addition, currently Air Methods’ pilot attrition rate is low, in the single digits, and while we do have open positions at this time, the number is very manageable. Also, you might be aware that in late 2012, Air Methods purchased Sundance Helicopters Inc., a helicopter tour operator based in Las Vegas. While there were many business reasons for the acquisition, one was long term in nature: a way to enhance our ability to train and recruit experienced pilots and provide pilots a more direct career path into our air medical operations.”
Many helicopter operators are mining the world's military organizations as a source for experienced pilots, mechanics, and technicians. “Companies such as Bristow and CHC talk quite openly to the U.S. Department of Defense, Canada's Department of National Defence, and other major government departments in their quest for experienced pilots,” consultant Nagel said. “This strategy may become more effective in the months to come, as the world's militaries downsize due to tight budgets and reduced operations.”
Some helicopter operators run their own training schools, and hire their best graduates to help
fly their fleets. Furthermore, Bristow Helicopters is actively seeking new employees through cadet pilot training and engineering apprenticeships. In a news release, the company states:
“Over the next two years, a significant number of new aircraft will be added to Bristow's fleet to meet market demand as well as client requirements. Along with the increase in assets, Bristow is also looking to recruit a number of individuals to support the business. Bristow Helicopters has invited individuals to apply for 22 engineering apprenticeships, 12 of which will sit within the oil and gas business, an increase of 50 percent from 2012, while a further 10 will be recruited to the SAR team.”
Applicants who win acceptance will complete a four-year program of on-the-job training in both maintenance and flight operations. They will start at the Lufthansa Resource Technical Training College in Gloucester, and then be posted to Bristow Helicopters’ operational bases.
That's not all. Bristow Helicopters will also recruit four cadet pilots through the Air League and will be sponsoring a further 10 beginning pilots to join its world-class training school, the Bristow Academy. According to their press release, aspiring pilots can apply for the two-year cadet training program and full sponsorship is available for those wishing to join the oil and gas business. Bristow Helicopters has hired around 84 graduates from its Bristow Academy since 2007.
Global growth ‘boom’
The global helicopter industry is growing, and with that ongoing growth comes a requirement for more people. This is occurring at a time when the boomers are retiring, taking valuable knowledge and marketable skills out the door. Realistically, the best the global helicopter industry can do in the face of these two forces is to extract as much value as possible from the boomers, while they are still on the job, in training the next generation.
“It makes good sense to pair boomers with younger staff, so that the boomers can mentor the next generation and help them take over the reins,” Nagel concludes. “It also makes good business sense to keep boomers around as long as they help to bridge the manpower gap, but only as long as it takes for helicopter operators to fill that gap with new blood—which they must do.”
So, it looks like the big ageing generation is not yet done impacting the aviation world. They may once again overwhelm growing gloom with a final exiting ‘boom.’