Story ID: 382
CHC Celebrates Major Milestone with Rededication
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: As it celebrates its 70th anniversary, CHC Helicopters looks to its past as it reimagines the future.
Word Count: 566
As CHC Helicopter celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, it traces its beginnings as a crop dusting operation in British Columbia to one of the world’s largest operators of offshore helicopter transport, search and rescue, utility and emergency medical services rotorcraft. Founded as Okanagan Air Services by three Canadian Air Force veterans in 1947, and later Okanagan Helicopters, its operations expanded north into the Arctic, east to Newfoundland and south into the U.S. until it became one of the industry’s most experienced rotorcraft operators. A merger in 1987 created Canadian Holding Company which later became CHC. In 2004 the company created two distinct divisions, Helicopter Services which focuses on global operations, and Heli-One, which is the world’s largest independent rotorcraft MRO. 

CHC, which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, announced on March 5 that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas has signed a confirmation order approving the company's reorganization plan. "The company expects to complete its financial restructuring process and emerge from Chapter 11 in the next few weeks, after the conditions of the plan are satisfied," according to CHC. "We are very pleased with the court's approval of our plan, which is the final legal step in our financial restructuring process and a key milestone towards CHC emerging as a stronger, better capitalized company," said CHC president and CEO Karl Fessenden.

As part of its anniversary celebration, the company last week unveiled a new corporate brand and website, with a refresh of the corporate logo and colors that harken back to its early Okanagan heritage. A new company positioning statement, “Reach Beyond,” was chosen with the company’s customers in mind.

“We are proud of CHC’s rich history, and are proud of our culture which recognizes and appreciates the various opportunities that have allowed us to become the global operators we are today,” explained Fessenden. “We strive to reach beyond what our customers expect from us to deliver the highest levels of service and cost-efficiency in the industry. Our goal is to reach beyond our legacy, achievement, and current high standards to constantly improve our fleet, technologies, safety and employee performance.”

The company recently announced a new contract with Siemens Wind Power to support construction of a new offshore wind farm in the North Sea near Germany. AW139 flights supporting the operation began in January from the CHC base in Den Helder. Last year, CHC wrapped up its support of a similar project offshore of Holland. “We are excited to continue to build on our successful relationship with Siemens, supported by CHC’s decades of experience supporting a range of energy customers,” noted Mark Abbey, the operator’s regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In the Southern Hemisphere, CHC’s fleet of AW139s in Australia just passed the 25,000-flight hour milestone. The company was the first to operate the type in Australia, starting in 2008, racking up hours predominantly in EMS and oil and gas crew transport.

CHC Helicopter Asia utilizes a fleet of more than 30 medium and heavy helicopters in Australia, Timor-Leste and Malaysia, and it has named former Jacobs Engineering vice president for Asia, Vincent D’Rozario, as regional director, Asia Pacific, reporting to Fessenden. In his previous position, he led projects across the region in support of Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron.