Ten Years From Now

[mtnhopper]

Just thought I'd ask if anyone has any predictions as to where our industry will be in the not so distant future. Inlight of the VIH news

[bucktweed]

Forget ten years from now, I think the next six months are going to be worth the price of admission. Not even the busy season and there is already a major employee crunch.

[Fenestron]

10 years from now, you'll see more innovative companies using the latest technology and separating themselves from the rest of the hacks who are quite happy using old out of date, payed for ten times over, equipment. The ratio will flip sides to what it is now.

The old guys that are holding back the industry, will be retired or gone to finer places, thus allowing an evolution in the right direction that will benefit the industry as a whole.

I see the future in a positive light, it will get better.

[Guest JeffyG]

i see a whole wack of experience that will be gone from the industry with the new generation that will be moving in.... fly safe

[Elvis]

10 years from now I will be retired and could care less what happens

[gas producer]

Everything goes in cycles, the old guys you speak of know this very well. Right now things are booming; ten years from now we will most likely be at the bottom or just climbing out of a major down swing in the industry. The weak will have been eliminated and the strong will survive. I seem to remember a company in Prince George that bought up a bunch of companies and then went public. It was amazing how cheap they could go when it was the shareholders money at risk. Not to long after they went belly up when the industry was on some hard times MMMM........

[Cambox]

Well, I can't speak from the pilot side of things, but as far as maintenance goes, I wonder who's going to keep them in the air? Enrollment in the tech schools is at an all time low in the a/c maintenance courses and we are not actively recuiting people into the field....... Also, I believe the artificially low tariff rates are keeping wages way below what they should likely be to attract compotent people. With these low rates, I wonder how many operators will be around in 10 years? Cost of equipment, spares and fuel etc have increased dramatically in the last few years, but tariff rates,imo, certainly haven't kept realistic pace with these costs. We can only disillusion ourselves for so long me thinks......

 

R...

[vortex]

10 years from now, you'll see more innovative companies using the latest technology and separating themselves from the rest of the hacks who are quite happy using old out of date, payed for ten times over, equipment. The ratio will flip sides to what it is now.

The old guys that are holding back the industry, will be retired or gone to finer places, thus allowing an evolution in the right direction that will benefit the industry as a whole.

I see the future in a positive light, it will get better.

Sounds like a helicopter salesman that's dreaming...

[cap]

Until rates for a/c in Canada increase to the rates that they should be, then there isn't going to be much change in the basic problems of the industry........we'll still have them with us. Canada now has the oldest fleet of R/W in the Free World. Thirty to thirty-five years ago our rates were higher than the USA and equalled those of most other countries in the Free World. In 1967 when I worked out of Calgary, AB I was in the top 11% of Canadian wage earners. That info came from StatsCan at that time and was easily believed. I'm here to tell all now that I ceased being part of the top 11% of Canadian wage-earners a looooooooong time ago.

[John Moore]

The trend globally and across the spectrum of all sorts of free enterprise is for larger companies to consume the smaller. It is the sure fire way to eliminate the competition and increase the customer base.

 

It is very difficult to see how operators of only a few machines can survive. Their costs per helicopter operated are higher than those companies that run twenty or in some cases one hundred machines and yet the smaller outfits must charge rates that are no higher than the larger ones. The economies of scale have a significant effect.

 

If the small companies are smart, they will sell out to the larger. Perhaps they can take advantage of the fact that there are at least two major players on the Canadian helicopter scene and play one against the other. Another idea is for the smaller operators to band together to try to form one company large enough to compete.

 

Unions are gaining a foothold amongst Canadian helicopter pilots and engineers. Airline pilots and Transport Canada pilots have been unionized for years. My feeling is that the operators have no one to blame but themselves for this situation. Had they been perceptive and had any empathy what-so-ever for their employees and their families they would have seen this coming a long time ago.

 

Global warming will play a significant role in the future of helicopters. There may in fact be a substantial increase in helicopter activity as the climate change occurs.

 

Get ready for an increase in rates, the end of the small operator, the emergence of three or four large helicopter companies, unions of both pilots and engineers, improved working conditions, increasing wages and greater helicopter activity from the effects of climate change.