Helicopter firm jobs being lost in Aberdeen

mitchaa

Shall i set the record straight on this 1 I heard of this only this morning, and no i do not work for Heli1, it did come as a little shock though i must admit.

There are 3 helicopter companies in Aberdeen, CHC (Worlds biggest) Bristows and Bond. All 3 of these companies are undermanned and are all IMO safe from this recession. Offshore workers need to get out to the oil platforms and the only way is by helicopter. The companies also do coastguard Search and Rescue and EMS (Emergency services) and there is enough work and contracts to share between the 3 companies, there always has been. These 3 bases are front line day to day helicopter bases, heli1 is not, they do not fly anyone anywhere.

Heli1...The company in this article is an overhaul company, this means they do deep servicing for CHC. They do not provide a service as such to the offshore companies and workers, they are employed by the customer i.e CHC. When the helicopters from CHC for example come to X amount of flying hours they need to be taken off line for weeks/months to undergo major servicing work. There are a few of these bases around the world and the main heli1 base is in Stavanger (Norway) so helicopters from CHC that need deep servicing work will now be done in Stavanger.

So this makes no difference to me. What i suspect will happen is all the engineers from Heli 1 will either A) be offered their jobs in Stavanger, or Disperse between the 3 companies who are all currently short manned.

The only effect i can see this having on myself is that i may not get as much OT as we will have more staff to do the work. I never done much anyway, 2-3hrs pw.

IveSeenTheLight

PasturesNew wrote: »

I have great trouble understanding the Scottish accent at all.

The Scottish accent is very varied.
Each Area has a different twang or accutness to it.

bit like saying the English accent is too posh.
That relates to Scouse, Geordie, Black Country, Dales etc etc etc i'm sure.

handful

Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchaa
That is a bit contradictory as you have just stated we look and talk about womens bosoms, which can therefore be related to a womans size, build and weight.

True women with big boobs tend to be on the larger side and not under size 12 and men tend to go for women with large breasts and therefore not skinny women.

The thing is your rapidly convincing me your not actually a man. I've yet to meet a man who understands what size 12 or 14 actually means never mind one who judges womens attractiveness on what size clothes they wear.



Take some advice Mitchaa and stick to this forum....much friendlier and your gender is never in question or important

baileysbattlebus

SingleSue wrote: »

I actually find a scottish (male!) voice to be very very sexy.......

It has to be Sean Connery though - not Rab C Nesbitt!!!

mitchaa

stephen163 wrote: »

There's a skills shortage in just about every engineering discipline at the moment. However, if a helicopter maintenance firm can justify paying £50k plus when the market rate for the same type of job in non-oil related industries is around £30k, then your skills shortage will quickly become a skills surplus!

True that Aberdeen salaries are higher than anywhere else in this sector, even Heathrow, but all licensed Aircraft engineers around the UK will be earning minimum of £40k, Aberdeen a little higher at £50k. When i was down at Heathrow, the salary was 'only' £44k, so a move to Aberdeen was financially sound. Unlicensed aircraft mechanics will be earning as you say circa £30-35k and if the sh*t hits the fan they will be the 1st for the chop being less qualified than the licensed guys.

dopester wrote: »

Harsh times. Nevermind. Time after time he's confidently predicted walking straight in to a better paid job if he was ever asked to take a demeaning pay-cut, and now it is actual straight-bang job losses in that sector.

I hope he isn't one of the affected - if I recall correctly he has a guaranteed contract with a host of annual pay-rise linked stuff in it - but maybe this will finally wake him up to the seriousness of the situation.

As my posts above, i would imagine if the employees from heli1 are to disperse into the 3 companies then there will be less opportunity for me to just walk into another job i agree....So yes i have noted the seriousness of the situation.

Luckily though im not employed with Heli1, im at 1 of the frontline bases and as to your 2nd point, yes due to the workers union in my company there are a guaranteed 2 payrises per year, 1 an incremental, the other based around inflation. I supsect this year inflation rise though will be at the lower capped rate as it is based around RPI but has a lower cap on it at around 3%, with a max of 7% at the other end.

Interesting though and admittedly i was shocked this morning when i heard.

dealsearcher

I used to fly for Bristows. How are they getting on now?

dopester

mitchaa wrote: »

When i was down at Heathrow, the salary was 'only' £44k, so a move to Aberdeen was financially sound.

When I learnt you worked on the oil-sector support side, and then later, with helicopters, I pictured you in some computer role.

Now I know you're a Licensed Aircraft Engineer. That is a pretty highly-qualified, impressive skilled job you have Mitchaa. Maybe for you it is true, that your skills will keep you in demand even in a deep downturn - and if so - I apologise for questioning what I thought was too confident an attitude. And even at the worse, I'd imagine your qualifications and skills are very transferable to other sectors.

I've just been reading about what is involved in becoming and being a Licensed Aircraft Engineer - and then I looked at the current vacancies, and a few added just today, just on the first page alone, in Scotland, one at up to £45K and others details on application.

mewbie_2

I wonder how long it took some marketing genius to come up with the name "Hele1".

PasturesNew

When you sit at school, staring out of the window, how on earth do you even ever know that people maintain helicopters and that it's a job that you could do ... never mind how do you work out you'd like to?

My school overlooked strawberry fields and I passed a jam factory to get there. Not much inspiration there.

Prudent

PasturesNew wrote: »

When you sit at school, staring out of the window, how on earth do you even ever know that people maintain helicopters and that it's a job that you could do ... never mind how do you work out you'd like to?

My school overlooked strawberry fields and I passed a jam factory to get there. Not much inspiration there.

At least you have an excuse. I went to school in Dyce (where mitchaa works) and still missed out on the idea of maintaining helicopters. Even did a stint working on that industrial estate in my gap year - a long time ago :rolleyes: