Helikopter - Offshore - Era-sjefen uttrykker det mange tenker - AIN

Era CEO: Offshore Helicopter Industry ‘Not Sustainable’

The CEO of helicopter services company Era Group said the helicopter offshore oil-and-gas business is “not sustainable” and “in dire need of consolidation.” Chris Bradshaw made the remarks in written comments contained in the company’s annual report issued on Wednesday.

“Consolidation will not only address the excess capacity in the industry, but will also facilitate better absorption of the significant fixed costs required to run an air carrier,” Bradshaw said, adding that the bankruptcies of Era’s competitors and helicopter leasing companies are likely to become a revolving door. “A simple, standalone equitization of these distressed balance sheets is unlikely to address the fundamental issues at play and may only lead to subsequent rounds of restructuring. In our view, the offshore helicopter industry is in dire need of consolidation, among both the operators and the lessors.”

Bradshaw said consolidation of any two of the three deepwater operators in the Gulf of Mexico would create cost savings sufficient to “create significant value” for the surviving companies’ stakeholders. 

While competitors Bristow and PHI both lost money on their offshore operations in 2018, Era managed to post a modest net income of $13.9 million for the year on $222 million in revenues while operating 108 helicopters. However, that result included a $42 million settlement from Airbus Helicopters related to the grounding of H225 helicopters in Era’s fleet.