How do I get there from here?
Monday, February 01, 2010 - Brent Bergan, Vertical Online
In this article from Vertical’s 2010 North American Flight Training Directory, Brent Bergan examines the current outlook for new helicopter pilots and where new graduates can go to get their big break.
The first question on every prospective helicopter student’s mind today is: if I spend $60,000 on my helicopter qualifications, will I be able to get a job? And that leads to a tough two-part question. Is the job market tightening so much that it would be better to hold off training for a few years? Or, should I go ahead and take the plunge and hope to get picked up for my life’s adventure?
First Things First
Everyone’s first step in the helicopter business is learning how it all works, at the flight school of your choice. But, don’t just Google helicopter flight schools and select the first one on the list. Selecting the right school for you is key to getting your first and second jobs as a commercial helicopter pilot. Said Regina Fyola, co-owner of Rotors of the Rockies in Broomfield, Colo., “The relationships flight schools establish can be critical to the placement of students and flight instructors.” According to Fyola, Rotors of the Rockies has established relationships with key operators, and is able to place its school’s top performers at select jobs. For example, Fyola recently placed a top student at PJ Helicopters as a summer fire-fighting intern, and that pilot picked up 80 hours in a Bell 412.
Typically, though — at least in the United States — your first job will be as a flight instructor. If you weren’t already aware, the 200 hours or so you fly during your training will only qualify you to become an instructor — you’ll need a minimum of 1,000 to 1,500 hours of pilot-in-command (PIC) time before you can really work in the industry at large. With any luck, you’ll find your first instructing job at the school you trained with. Said Andre Hutchings, co-owner and director of operations at Los Angeles Helicopters in Long Beach, Calif., “Most flight schools only want to hire their own students — you get to build their character, who they are. We have a lot of people sending resumes; it usually doesn’t work out. We want to ensure they teach the way we want.”
But, there is no guarantee the school you trained with will pick you up as an instructor. As Debbie Sparks, president of Palm Beach Helicopters of Lantana, Fla., put it, “As soon as you walk through the doors of the school, you’re on an interview, from day one.”
Samantha Willenbacher, director of Bristow Academy, agreed. And, with the current economic conditions, said Willenbacher, “We just don’t have as many of the flight instructor positions available . . . .” Because of the tightening job market in commercial sectors of the industry, flight instructors are now hanging around their schools longer than they used to: typically for two years instead of the traditional one.
Oil & Gas Operations
A major reason why Bristow Academy instructors in particular are sticking around longer is because of the price of oil. Bristow Academy is a feeder for major offshore oil and gas operator Air Logistics (a Bristow company). But, at press time, it had been about five months since either Air Logistics or Era Helicopters, another major offshore operator in the Gulf of Mexico, had hired any new pilots for its Gulf operations. A decrease in oil exploration has meant a decrease in their customers’ needs. When oil prices rise again, oil exploration should surge and ideally the helicopter business that supports it will as well.
Depending on the contract requirements of the oil companies, most pilot jobs in the Gulf demand a minimum of 1,000 hours PIC time, and often up to 1,200 hours or more. (In the U.S., this time typically takes at least a year of flight instructing to develop.) For the oil and gas sector in the Gulf, you’ll need a commercial license, a Federal Aviation Administration Class II medical and a helicopter instrument rating.
Once you meet the minimum hiring requirements, you may get a chance to be interviewed for an offshore job. At Air Logistics, part of this interview process takes place in the air, with candidates undertaking a mission. “The check airmen will provide the pilot candidate with a destination, and the candidate will then plan the flight accordingly,” said Tara Bienvenu, human resources manager for Air Logistics in the Gulf. She then added, “When you’re in the cockpit, your ability will become very apparent.”
Bienvenu also noted, “We work closely with the [Bristow] Academy, and that allows for common standards to be met.” This underscores the fact that your second job could really rely on the relationships and the reputation that your flight school has with the commercial market.
If the oil and gas field isn’t your cup of tea, another sector that hires low-time pilots in the U.S. is the tourism industry. One might think the economic downturn would have busted helicopter tourism, but Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters — which offers tours out of Las Vegas, Nev., and the Grand Canyon, Ariz., — reports that its business has actually remained relatively strong, largely due to the support of European customers.
With 1,000 hours PIC time, you could get picked up by Papillon for its tourism season, and, with any luck, get hired on after the season for utility work. (Operators like Papillon base their post-season hiring on your performance doing seasonal work.) Papillon looks for a strong instructor pilot background, turbine and high-altitude experience, and, most importantly, the right attitude.
Said Walter Wieser, Papillon’s chief pilot, “We’re not seeing the downturn, we’re just seeing less pilot turnover.” Papillon operates 45 helicopters and employs 100 pilots. With about 20 slots available each season, competition is becoming stiff: Papillon received over 100 applications this past season. More than half the pilots who get picked up, however, will stay on for an additional year or two as utility and tour pilots.
If you’re longing to land on glaciers as a helicopter tour pilot in Alaska, you’ll just have to wait. (And, with the unprecedented glacial melt, you could miss your opportunity altogether.) “People’s discretionary spending has dropped significantly,” observed Larry Larrivee, owner of Pollux Aviation, a tourism and utility outfit near Anchorage. That has hit the Alaska tourism industry particularly hard.
“There’s a lot of people out there beating the streets for jobs,” continued Larivee, noting that, in 2009, Pollux didn’t hire anyone new. When he is hiring, however, Larivee looks for pilots with time in Robinson R44s and a minimum of 1,500 hours. He said he actually prefers visual-flight-rules-only pilots, because he’d prefer his pilots stay on the ground if the weather comes down.
Another key operator in Alaska is TEMSCO Helicopters, which picks up new hires mostly from flight schools in the northwestern U.S. Said Joe Hicks, senior vice-president, “We’re looking for higher-time guys first.” TEMSCO’s minimum is 1,000 hours for tours and 1,500 hours for utility work.
Said Hicks, “This next year is going to be a challenge for us, because tourism is going to take a hit in Alaska, because a couple [of] cruise ships are leaving town.” With that expected tourism downturn, TEMSCO will begin moving aircraft toward utility work, and will likely hire less than the 12 to 15 new pilots a year it normally does. Regarding new hires, said Hicks, “It’s going to be a little tighter, a little tougher, but [it] should still be possible.”
Utility Operations
Straight utility operators such as PJ Helicopters of Red Bluff, Calif., which operate 13 aircraft of various sizes, look for a minimum of 1,500 hours PIC time and introductory experience with long lining. Said Mark Gunsauls, director of operations, “The main thing with our company is technical long lining. We don’t require it, but, we teach it here.”
If PJ picks you up, the company will put you through its training program. And, in one-and-a-half to two years, you’ll be able to place an 800-pound object into a one-inch slot. While you’re the learning ropes, you’ll get to do just about everything from fire fighting to law enforcement. Said Gunsauls, “If the seasonal guys do good, and we like what they do, and they have potential, then they can stay on.”
EMS
When they’re ready to settle down and stop their nomadic ways, helicopter pilots frequently look to emergency medical service (EMS) operations. As Bill Moody, recruiting manager for Air Methods (the largest air ambulance operator in the world) put it, “In our industry, EMS is really a destination, it’s not a time-building job.”
Air Methods looks for higher-time pilots with a minimum of 2,000 hours total time, 1,000 hours PIC, 500 hours turbine, 100 hours unaided night flying, and 50 hours actual or simulated instrument time. The quality and recency of the candidate’s overall experience is key. Another plus is mountain-flying experience and night-vision-goggle time, as all of Air Methods’ helicopters will transition to NVGs in the near future.
EMS outfits continually hire due to normal turnover and retirements, but also for expansion. According to Vicky Spediacci, director of operations for REACH Air Medical Services in Santa Rosa, Calif., REACH has opened three new bases in 2009, and, at press time, had eight pilot positions open. She also noted, though, that the company has seen lower turnover recently.
The highly desired locations in EMS are hard to come by. Many pilots start out in less desired locations and simply wait. Moody reported that highly desired locations are almost always filled internally, in accordance with company hiring requirements. Then, once pilots move to desirable locations such as Denver or Salt Lake City, they might just camp out there for their entire career.
Doom and Gloom?
Being a new pilot today is tough, but it’s not impossible. There are jobs out there — you just have to be willing to work hard, to do just about anything to get started, and to sacrifice your choice of location. Helicopter pilots for the most part live a nomadic, seasonal lifestyle and follow the work. Every leader in the industry Vertical spoke with agreed that there’s no real secret to getting hired: your stick-and-rudder skills are critical, but even more so is your ability to be a team player, your attitude and your professionalism (see p.74, Vertical, Dec07-Jan08).
Once you get hired, remember that these companies invest huge amounts of money to train and make you the pilot they need. Said Matt Parker, HR manager and pilot recruiter for Evergreen Helicopters in McMinnville, Ore., “There’s a lot of transients out there that just hop from place to place; [as an operator] you look for integrity.” Ultimately, these operators look for pilots to grow within their organizations and become their future check airmen, chief pilots or directors of operations.
To increase your chances of getting hired, do your homework, know the expectations of the companies you want to work for and diversify your experience. If you want to be a utility pilot in Alaska, make the trip out there for an interview, and have high-altitude experience, time in the aircraft the company flies and long-line experience. Make it so they don’t want to pass up the chance to hire you. If you see a weak spot in your resume, make it better. This business just got a lot more competitive.
The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the commandant or of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Lieut. Bergan is a safety officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, where he flies the
HH-65 Dolphin. He graduated from the navy’s flight school in 2001, but also holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has completed his masters in aeronautical sciences at Embry Riddle.
The Canadian Way
The career path for new civilian helicopter pilots in Canada is radically different from the one in the United States. In Canada, as in many other countries around the world, helicopter flight instructing is a job for more experienced pilots. That means low-time pilots go directly into commercial work — where it can sometimes be a lot harder to get their foot in the door. Many new pilots spend their first few years in the industry doing grunt work, grabbing flight time where they can.
Alberta-based Gemini Helicopters is one Canadian operator known for putting low-time pilots in the air (see p.44, Vertical, Aug-Sept ‘09). Gemini hires pilots with 100 to 300 flight hours, including pilots right out of flight school. But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t selective: “If I have four positions, I’ll take in six candidates and have them take a test and a check flight,” said general manager Todd Tkach. Successful candidates will start out flying Robinson R44s, then progress to Eurocopter EC 120s, and, eventually, AStars.
Because Gemini’s entry-level jobs are in the R44, Tkach wants candidates to have an R44 endorsement, which he said about 60 percent of new pilots have coming out of flight school. He also looks for recent experience. “The longer you sit, the more rusty you get. I’ve had pilots sit in front of me who haven’t flown [recently]; they’re rusty and don’t perform on the check flight.”
Primarily, however, he looks for a good attitude, a strong work ethic and sound judgment: “You’re a 100-hour pilot, we’re not looking for an ace, we’re looking for decision-making.”
As in the U.S., the helicopter industry in Canada has been hit hard by the economic downturn (possibly harder because of its higher dependence on the resource industry). However, operators are hopeful of recovery in 2010. “We hit the bottom and there’s no place to go but up,” said Tkach at press time. “We’re actually seeing a bit more work this fall than we expected.”
Some operators are actually expanding their operations, including Cougar Helicopters, which conducts offshore passenger transfer in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Said J.J. Gerber, director of flight operations, “We actually spiked up our hiring because of work coming on.”
Cougar looks for pilots with similar qualifications to those required in the Gulf of Mexico — a minimum of 1,000 hours PIC time, an instrument rating and night flight time — plus an airline transport pilot license-helicopter, or the completion of the two written exams required for the ATPL(H). But, here, pilots with large helicopter experience will have the advantage. Said Gerber, “Multi-engine, multi-crew, that’s the separator for us… it’s not so much the hours, it’s the correct hours.” – Elan Head
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