Helicopter Careers: A Guide to the Industry Here you'll find some information some of the career options in the helicopter industry. Why Become a Helicopter Pilot? The Right Stuff - So you want to be a Helicopter Pilot? Airborne Law Enforcement Electronic News Gathering (ENG) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Helicopter Sightseeing Tours Offshore Oil & Gas Support Sector   Why Become a Helicopter Pilot? Civilian helicopter flying offers an interesting, varied, and challenging career. Over the past 10-15 years working conditions for helicopter pilots have improved dramatically, with higher salaries, greater benefits, newer equipment, and considerably greater opportunities. There is a major shortage of qualified pilots available in a field that has doubled in the past 10 years, and is expected to continue growing over the next 10 years. Half of all helicopters pilots in the U.S. were trained during the Vietnam era.  Most of them will retire in the next 5-10 years, creating a large void in the helicopter industry. In the past year alone, more than 1,500 civilian helicopters were built, yet only about 1,000 helicopter pilots were trained by flight schools, this is rapidly creating an imbalance of supply and demand in the helicopter industry.  Smaller towns and cities, who never considered having a police or news helicopter before, are starting to get them.  EMS programs are expanding across the country.  Pay and benefits are going up while hiring requirements are going down.  Now is a great time to become a professional helicopter pilot. Starting pay for qualified commercial helicopter pilots is $50,000 to $70,000 a year, plus benefits such as 401(k), medical, per diem, etc.  Overtime pay is also very good, from 1.5 to 2 times normal pay.  Work 4-6 days of overtime a month and earn $100,000 your first year.  Many helicopter jobs are one-for-one schedules, that means you work one day for each day you get off.  Seven days of work, followed by seven days off is very common for offshore, tours, and EMS, as is 4/4 for EMS and 14/14 for offshore.  Overseas you can work 28/28 or 56/28, with pay starting around $120,000 a year.  Generally helicopter pilots fly 3 to 7 hours a day, with 10 to 14 hours of duty time.   The Right Stuff - So you want to be a helicopter pilot? It’s happened many times, a young couple arrives in my office having just returned from their honeymoon in Hawaii. The grin is still on the groom’s face from the excitement of the helicopter sightseeing tour they took. It was the most exhilarating experience in his life, and now he wants to learn how to fly. Unfortunately, such stories rarely end in the right seat of an S-76. Becoming a professional helicopter pilot is not something to do on a whim. Guys like our honeymooner usually find out quickly that flight training is more difficult, frustrating, and scary than they expected. They discover that there is a big difference between the passenger seat and the pilot seat, and rarely last longer than the first couple of lessons. But many others do. What qualities do they have that contribute to their success? In nearly 20 years in the flight training business I’ve met all sorts of people and have enjoyed playing amateur psychologist, trying to predict who will make the grade, both in training and in a subsequent career. The first firm conclusion I’ve reached is that the student’s background tells me very little about their chances of success. You name the job – we’ve trained one. Dairy farmers, dentists, carpenters, coal miners, morticians, marriage consultants – we’ve made helicopter pilots of them all. Personality is also a poor indicator of success, at least at the training level; and national origin is equally uninformative. We’ve had the whole gamut, from outgoing Aussies to serious Scandinavians. Male or female - doesn’t matter a hoot. However, over the years I’ve observed six essential factors for training success. If you are considering signing up at your local flight school, you might want to see how many of these ingredients you have – without all six, you might want to reconsider. Financial readiness Let’s put the most practical issue first – you’re going to need a lot of money. Between training and living expenses you can count on spending at least US$ 50,000. Putting this together may be the hardest part of the challenge. I always advise people to save now and train later rather than taking a huge bank loan. How you get the money can also be a big influence on your motivation. In general, I’ve seen better results from students who’ve worked two jobs for several years to save the cash than I have from those who were spending money that was handed to them by the family, or even by the bank. Physical Aptitude Sure you can pass the medical exam, but that’s no guarantee that you can fly. I know a pilot who has flown for years, but who never reached solo standard in a helicopter, despite hiring a personal instructor who gave him 150 hours of dual instruction! Why not? I’ve got no idea. There are some things that we are simply not suited to, and no matter how much we practice we are never going to get it. When the practice is as expensive and potentially hazardous as helicopter flying it makes no sense to press on to the bitter end. Academic readiness The aeronautical knowledge required for a career as a helicopter pilot is not especially challenging, but there is a huge volume of it. A prospective pilot must be able to learn a lot of material, correlate that knowledge, and apply it in unpredictable ways. Therefore, to put it bluntly, this is no career for those with serious learning difficulties. On the other hand, don’t let anyone discourage you from learning to fly by telling you that you need to be very strong in math and science to succeed. The truth is that if you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide (preferably in your head), you know enough math to be a 747 pilot. Psychological Suitability Have you really thought this out? Are you ready to strap on a training helicopter that is not much bigger than a motor-scooter and fly around the turbulent skies? Are you willing to handle the challenge of landing a helicopter on a North Sea oil rig during a snowstorm? You better be, because twenty people will have put their lives in your hands and one mistake could lead to disaster. Will you be a hero on the day when the engine fails or will you go to pieces and freeze at the controls? These are not abstract questions - they are real issues. In a lifetime career as a helicopter pilot your courage and skills are likely to be tested to their limits on several occasions. Amazingly, some students never give this issue a moment’s thought. I recall a student who arrived in the US on the QE2 and then took a train to our school in California- all because he was afraid of flying! He lasted a week. Support After money problems, the most common reason students fail to complete their training is opposition from their partners or family. If you are single and self funded this may not be a big issue, but for anyone with a family it can be the most important one. Is everyone in the family on board with your decision to pursue a helicopter career? Are they okay with the financial sacrifices? How about the safety risks? You may find yourself cutting back on your kid’s birthday presents while you are spending hundreds of dollars on a single training flight- can you live with that? It’s going to be very hard to do this without your family’s enthusiastic support. If it’s not forthcoming, you must question whether learning to fly is really worth the risk of loosing your family? Motivation Where did this idea come from, and just how determined are you to succeed? If you first started looking up at every passing helicopter when you could barely talk, I’m already feeling confident. You don’t have to have seen Blue Thunder and read Chichenhawk to have the right stuff, but this would be a promising sign. Can you already identify many helicopter types? Do you recognize the words notar, Fenestron, autorotation, and K-MAX? Are you willing to fly off a tuna boat or wash helicopters for flight time if that’s what it takes to succeed? Would you accept half the income you make now if you could fly helicopters instead? Your girl/boyfriend says it’s them or helicopters- that’s an easy choice right? The industry will demand a great deal of sacrifice in the early years – but if you you’re highly motivated there are some great adventures and some wonderful opportunities awaiting you. So how did you do?   Airborne Law Enforcement Over the past 10-15 years there has been an enormous increase in the number of police aviation units around the world. In the United States this growth received a major boost when the Department of Defense decided to make surplus Army helicopters available to law enforcement agencies at little or no cost. In some cases, for a token payment of $1, Police or Sheriff’s units received several Army surplus helicopters complete with spare engines and thousands of additional spare parts. Many of the units that benefited from this program 10-12 years ago are now replacing their surplus military aircraft with brand new and highly sophisticated helicopters from Bell, Eurocopter, MD, Schweizer, Enstrom, or Robinson. Most law enforcement helicopters in the US are flown by law enforcement officers. Sometimes the unit has its genesis in the enthusiasm of a junior officer who pays for his own training and makes a case to his Chief of Police for the creation of an air support unit. Often a unit like this will start with a piston engine helicopter and a relatively unambitious plan to provide limited patrol support. In due course the many benefits of the helicopter become apparent to everyone on the force and the unit grows to be a key part of the agency’s crime suppression effort. Perhaps the best example of this is the Los Angeles Police Department which now operates approximately 20 helicopters keeping at least 2 in the air 24 hours a day. Although it is difficult for a civilian pilot to get a job flying a police helicopter it is certainly not impossible. A minority of agencies use contract pilots, or hire civilian members of the department, to fly the helicopter. Some agencies require that you go through a police academy and spend some time doing routine police work prior to taking up your duties as a pilot. This might include spending a year in a patrol car, or even in the County jail, acquiring at least the minimum experience to have a good understanding of police work. For some this would be a daunting hurdle, but for others it might be a fascinating combination of two equally challenging careers. Bristow Academy, Inc. is in the unusual position of providing pilots and maintenance for an airborne law enforcement unit. For the past 9 years Bristow Academy has flown patrols in Contra Costa County’s Bell 407 and Bell 206 helicopters. The pilots wear the uniform of the Sheriff’s Department, but are not sworn (certified) Deputies. Detailed information about the unit is available on this web site. Although this public/private partnership is quite unusual it has been very effective. Bristow Academy and the Sheriff’s Department have worked very well together and at no time has the operations of the unit been negatively impacted by the lack of law enforcement experience of the pilots. In a law enforcement helicopter there are essentially separate functions being carried out by the observer and pilot. Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf believes, and Bristow Academy agrees, that law enforcement helicopters should have a crew that consists of a highly experienced police officer and an equally experienced commercial pilot. There is no reason why these two individuals cannot function as a team and accomplish the unit’s mission effectively and safely. Civilian law enforcement pilots would typically be paid somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 per year. Rates of pay for police officer pilots vary dramatically in the United States from as low as $38,000 up to $90,000 and above. Of course police officers also enjoy a wide range of benefits such as a retirement account and health insurance. Most law enforcement flying is done at night and call outs are common. The work has the benefit of variety and unpredictability, but there are some drawbacks too. For example, most police helicopters never leave their own jurisdiction and for every exciting pursuit there may be many hours of relatively dull patrol work. If a career in law enforcement has no interest for you it is unlikely that you will enjoy airborne law enforcement. On the other hand, as a police pilot you may get to see and do exciting things that most commercial helicopter pilots will never experience.   Electronic News Gathering (ENG) An “ENG Helicopter” is simply a helicopter that is used by a television station to film a news story. Almost every major local TV station in the United States now uses a dedicated helicopter in its news programs. A station without its own helicopter is perceived as unsophisticated and unreliable. When major news breaks TV viewers scan through the stations and can be relied upon to stop when they see a live picture of the incident rather than a newscaster in a studio. More often than not the first picture comes from an ENG helicopter. Most ENG pilots are not employed by the TV station. Instead they work for a helicopter company that contracts with the station. This is often a good thing since it gives the pilot a degree of protection from the sometimes-unreasonable demands of the news director. The TV industry is famously competitive and the pressure to be the first with the news can be intense. Most of the time however the struggle is to find a worthwhile story that can be shot from the air. The weather and the traffic provide the old reliables, but death and disasters are what grabs the ratings. When something big happens, such as a plane crash or an explosion, the station manager himself is screaming for the helicopter. Two helicopters dominate the US ENG market – the Eurocopter AS350 and the Robinson R-44. The AS350 – commonly called the A-Star in the US or the Squirrel in Europe - is a fast, powerful, and roomy aircraft. When equipped with the latest gyro-stabilized camera it can provide a picture that is so stable it could have been taken from the top of a tall building. Some helicopters even have the new high-definition broadcast equipment, giving a crystal clear image. The A-Star also has the advantage of being able to carry a reporter and photographer to the scene of a story or to do a live report from the air. Most of the time the pilot is an invisible part of the story, never appearing on the TV screen, but some stations give the pilot an on-air role. Bristow Academy graduate Rod Jamieson is an example. He and his dog have become celebrities in the San Francisco Bay Area where they both fly daily on the Channel 5 helicopter. Rod carries a photographer in addition to several fixed cameras installed in the helicopter. Viewers watch Rod as he flies the helicopter and reports the story, all the time under the relaxed gaze of his canine companion. The pair have become immensely popular with the audience and are constantly invited to appear at local events. Countless Bristow Academy graduates have worked as ENG pilots over the past 10-15 years. For most it was their first job after building up flight hours by working as a flight instructor. Typically they have enjoyed the experience but felt the urge to move on to other things after a couple of years. An ENG pilot often works a very long day, starting with daybreak traffic and finishing with the evening rush-hour coverage. He may have a few hours off in the middle of the day but he is always on call and expected to respond immediately. One advantage of this job however is that the pilot almost always sleeps in his/her own bed – no nights stuck on oil-rigs or in fire-fighting camps. Pay rates in the ENG sector have always been some of the lowest in the helicopter industry but in the last couple of years there has been a significant improvement. Both the TV stations and the helicopter companies with which they contract for services are trying harder to hold on to good pilots by raising salaries and improving benefits. However, the lure of celebrity and the perceived glamour of the TV industry still enables employers to find pilots who will work for less than this challenging job deserves.   Emergency Medical Services (EMS) When you ask Bristow Academy student pilots about their career goals a very large percentage indicate that their idea of the perfect helicopter pilot job would be flying for a hospital on an EMS contract. EMS pilots are certainly some of the heroes of the helicopter industry. They save lives on a daily basis, sometimes doing so at significant risk to their own safety. It is a glamorous job, but one that has some negative aspects too. EMS pilots are generally very experienced and it might be considered as a top of the career ladder activity rather than something a new pilot would be able to do. Just about every major metropolitan area in the United States, and many rural areas, are served by a commercial for profit emergency medical helicopter service. In the US this is referred to as the EMS industry. In Europe it is generally referred to as HEMS. Some EMS programs are based at a hospital helipad and others operate from a local airport. Typically they provide an on-call service 24 hours a day. When requested they respond to accident scenes or other medical emergencies where time is critical and the patient must be brought to a trauma center as quickly as possible. The flight crew, which usually consists of a pilot and one or two flight nurses, usually have just minutes to get airborne. They must be able to get to the scene as quickly as possible, coordinate with ground personnel, evaluate the landing site, and make a safe landing. Even in daytime this can be challenging and hazardous. Landing sites are often very small and surrounded by tall or difficult to see obstacles such as powerlines, antennas, trees, and buildings. It takes considerable experience to accomplish this both safely and quickly. At nighttime the challenge is greatly magnified. It takes great skill to be an EMS pilot, but it takes just as much judgement and courage to decline a flight or to decide not to land at the scene of an accident. For an EMS pilot this is an extremely difficult decision because he or she knows that the consequences could be very serious for the injured person on the ground. However, pilots are also responsible for the safety of their aircraft and its crew, as well as the safety of the ground personnel over whom they are flying. Most EMS helicopters in Europe are twin-engine. This is due to the fact that European regulations require 2 engines when operating over cities or other congested areas. One of the largest HEMS operators in Europe is the German Automobile Club (ADAC). This organization flies EMS missions all over Germany using BK117, Ec135, and Ec145 helicopters. Part of each German motorist’s membership fee in the Automobile Club goes to pay for this elaborate and nationwide HEMS service. Bristow Academy graduate Stephan Knoedler flies for the ADAC and is featured on the school’s Alumni page. In the US single-engine helicopters are commonly used for EMS work, but most of the more sophisticated programs operate twins such as the Eurocopter Ec135, Bell 430, or Sikorsky S76. These aircraft usually have state of the art avionics and many now operate using night vision goggles or enhanced vision devices at night. For a pilot EMS flying is both challenging and rewarding. You fly the best equipment, you perform a vital mission, and you work in a very professional environment. Perhaps the biggest downside is that most EMS pilots fly very few hours. Many flights are less than 15-20 minutes in duration and on some shifts the helicopter never leaves the hospital. EMS pilots have to be able to tolerate long periods of inactivity interrupted by frantic moments of highly challenging flying and decision making. For most EMS pilots this is the ultimate flying job, but for a small percentage the low flight activity becomes too boring and they return to other sectors of the industry.   Some of the big names in the US EMS industry include: AirMethods AirEvac LifeTeam CJ Systems PHi Metro Aviation Omni Flight Calstar REACH Some of these companies have several hundred pilots stationed at bases all over the country. Most EMS pilots will have at least 2,500 flight hours including more than 1,000 turbine hours and an Instrument rating. In addition to piloting skills EMS pilots need to have the social skills to function efficiently as a member of a multi-discipline team. The pilots will be working with doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators as well as paramedics and police officers. They may spend as much as 24 hours together on one shift and need to maintain a harmonious and professional work environment during the hours on standby as well as during the high pressure of a callout. Salaries in the US EMS industry vary from program to program. At the time of writing (2006) most EMS pilots are earning between $50,000 and $75,000 per year. There are a wide range of work practices in use, but almost all provide the added bonus of generous time off. It is this predictable schedule, and the additional days off, that appeals to many EMS pilots. Although they may have to spend some nights at the hospital they are rarely far away from home and they get to see their family on a daily basis. For some pilots who have spent a few years taking advantage of the adventurous opportunities that the helicopter industry can provide an EMS job offers the stability they would like in their lives when they are ready to settle down and raise a family.   Helicopter Sightseeing Tours Helicopter tours have come a long way since the days of the five-minute ride in a Bell 47 at the county fair. More affluent tourists, combined with greater competition for their money, has led to huge growth in this segment of the helicopter industry. It’s hard to think of a major tourist attraction around the world that does not have a nearby helicopter service offering the ultimate tour to the well-heeled tourist. From the vistas of the Grand Canyon to the glaciers of Alaska there is no shortage of adventurous tourists or enterprising helicopter operators ready to serve them. Many of today’s most successful heli-tour companies operate to a level of professionalism that can only be described as amazing. Visitors to places like Las Vegas or Hawaii are encouraged to think of a helicopter tour as the potential highlight of their vacation, worth every dollar, and worthy of the top position on their list of “must do” activities. The tour companies almost always exceed the expectations of their customers – the tours are simply spectacular. A visitor to a company like Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, Papillion Grand Canyon Helicopters or Temsco (Alaska) Helicopters will enjoy a program that is slickly packaged, but completely dependant on the professionalism and personality of the pilot. A pilot flying tours at one of these industry-leading companies has a full support crew who meet and brief the passengers. Each tourist is discretely weighed and a seat assigned in the helicopter so that the total load is distributed evenly. Loaders swap each group politely and efficiently, but with the minimum of time on the ground. Before take-off the pilot is handed a note with the names, nationalities, and seat locations of his or her new passengers. With the efficiency of a racecar pit stop the aircraft is in and out in seconds and another group begins an unforgettable experience. On their return to the heliport the passengers will be given the opportunity to purchase a DVD of their flight, filmed by numerous cameras inside and outside the helicopter and automatically edited. Add in a few souvenir items and many tourists will gladly spend hundreds of dollars on the full package. Sightseeing tours vary considerably in duration, style, and complexity. For many helicopter pilots they offer the first chance to fly a multi-passenger turbine-engined helicopter. 15-30 minute repetitive tours are not particularly challenging, but it does take time to get comfortable with the dual role of piloting and guiding. There is generally little or no time to divert from the script or the standard flight route. Longer and more complex tours can require a considerable knowledge of local history, geography, nature, folklore, and other items of interest to tourists. The pilot’s personality can make a huge difference, both to the enjoyment of the passengers and the size of the tips they leave behind. Tour pilots can make excellent salaries and tips. $75,000/year is not uncommon in the best locations. Another benefit is that you get to live in a great place, such as Hawaii, San Francisco, The Seychelles, or Alaska. The downside can be summed-up in one word – repetition. After a few years of making the same circuits of the island, delivering the same script of fascinating facts and in-offensive humor, and answering the five most commonly asked questions, tour flying can become intolerably boring. As a result tour pilots tend to fall into two categories – those who are just doing it as a way to build hours quickly while having fun in some exotic location, and those who genuinely enjoy interacting with the passengers and the opportunity to educate visitors on the wonders of their favorite place on earth. Offshore Oil & Gas Support Sector The single biggest employer of helicopter pilots worldwide is the offshore oil and gas industry. In places like the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico hundreds of helicopters provide the transportation services to and from the oil rigs. This is a very large industry with some companies operating over 200 helicopters and employing several hundred pilots. In the North Sea, where weather conditions can be very challenging, the helicopter operators use medium or large twin-engine helicopters with up to 19 passenger seats. In the Gulf of Mexico it is more common to find smaller aircraft including many single-engine helicopters like the Bell 407 or the Eurocopter AS350BII. In either location flight operations are conducted with military precision and on a scale that could only be compared to the airline industry. Some of the major players in this sector of the helicopter industry are:   GULF OF MEXICO: PHi Air Logistics ERA Aviation Rotorcraft Leasing NORTHSEA: Bristow Helicopters CHC Scotia CHC Helikopter Service Norsk Bond Offshore Almost all of the above companies have recently indicated that they are concerned about the supply of suitably qualified helicopter pilots. In the case of the Bristow Group (which is also the parent company of Air Logistics) they have publicly stated that the shortage of pilots presents a very significant strategic challenge at present. This is good news for current or prospective helicopter pilots. After many years of oversupply the demographics of the industry have caused a significant turnaround. An experienced helicopter pilot now enjoys the luxury of being able to pick and choose between several attractive job offers. The shortage of pilots has created upward pressure on salaries and brought improved working conditions as employers struggle to retain their experienced staff. At present Gulf of Mexico operators typically look for pilots with at least 1,000 hours PIC and an instrument rating. However, all of the operators are currently exploring ways that they can safely reduce the minimum hour requirement without compromising safety or upsetting their oil company customers. Some are developing programs to put less experienced pilots in the co-pilot seat even in aircraft that do not require a second pilot. Others are exploring the feasibility of developing intensive training courses designed specifically for offshore oil support operations. In the future it seems very likely that pilots with 500 hours or less will be able to find employment with leading Gulf of Mexico helicopter companies. In the North Sea many companies have hired newly qualified pilots for co-pilot positions. Bristow Academy, Inc. has trained pilots under the sponsorship of some of the larger operators during the past 10-years. These individuals who were fortunate enough to have their training paid for returned to co-pilot positions straight out of flight school. This approach to training is now very unusual and it is likely that larger operators will expect trainees to contribute some, if not all, of the cost of their basic training. Some Bristow Academy graduates of the JAA program have been hired with as little as 200 hours of total flight time and sent to simulator school for advanced helicopters such as the Sikorsky S-92. It is more likely however that an operator in the North Sea will hire a pilot who has accumulated 500 to 1,000 flight hours. Different companies have different philosophies. Some operators feel that a pilot who has spent 1,000 hours as a flight instructor is more likely to succeed than someone straight out of flight school. Other operators would rather bring a newly qualified pilot into their organization while they are still at an early formative stage of their careers. Whether it is in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, or any of the other major offshore oil support locations (Nigeria, Indonesia, Persian Gulf, or Alaska to name a few) a pilot will fly excellent equipment in a very professional environment. These companies invest enormous sums of money to ensure that they have safe and reliable aircraft and highly effective safety management programs. On a typical day most pilots will fly 3-5 hours in an 8-hour shift. There is a wide variety of work schedules in use in the industry. Some companies operate on a 2-weeks on 2-weeks off basis, some rotate weekly, and some even work 3 months on 1 month off with a 5-day work week. Most pilots in the US sector earn between $45,000 and $75,000 per year. Experienced pilots who work extra shifts can earn considerably more. Pilots in the North Sea and in other parts of the world are generally paid more than US based pilots.