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Maybe this is the best method of all - requires everyone to be in it for the long-haul?

 

One of the great dangers for a business in this environment is that the good ones leave by their own choice and you are left with a bunch of employees that no-one else wants to hire either! That is a most certain recipe for destroying a company.

 

The companies that are going to exist through this cycle will take action that falls into one of the following three categories;

  • Contracts unaffected by current market conditions with guaranteed revenues and business volumes
  • Immediate lay-offs and cost-cutting to position themselves for survival
  • Matching expenditures to projected revenues and opportunities

 

Companies do not lay-off loyal, productive employees just for the sake of it. If immediate action is not taken, many companies do not have the resources to survive a down turn even if only in the 90-120 day term, especially if it backs onto the seasonal winter expenses (and a bad season leading into that) that so many operators in our sector have to endure. Contrary to what so many employees seem to believe, a company is not a bank with unlimited resources.

 

On the other side of this equation, there are also a number of healthy and robust operators who will be eyeing expansion and acquisition in this climate, as it reduces the competition and fuels the growth neccessary for survival and the next phase in the recovery cycle - beat the competition.

 

A lot of companies are going to disappear in 2009. Some will be small local operators who have been created to meet specific local opportunity: some will be well known names that have been through it all before: some more will shock the industry as they are players that have survived the past fluctuations and are well managed and financed businesses. In the latter category, I think that we will see the disappearance of a number of operators who have become so specialized that they are unable to weather a change in the marketplace, as they have lost the diversity that is key to survival when the bottom falls out of your world.

 

But there is always a light at the end of the tunnel...

 

Interesting comment, and you could probably include a company like CHC/Heli-One which recently laid off some very good people while retaining some really bad ones. If a company wants to position itself for future growth wouldn't it be wise to keep those that will make it happen when the economy turns around instead of keeping the deadwood that put you in dire straights to begin with? One of the dangers in laying off some really good employees is that the ones that are left are probably not going to wait for the next round of layoffs as all bets will be off. This appears to be where they are heading.

 

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Sounds so much like the auto industry in a way. Deadheads with an aggressive union. One of the problems with this industry/service is that there will never be a shortage of pilots. Ever. No one stays on as a plumber or framer just because it is cool (I hate that phrase, by the way). When the money stops, the trademen move on, no looking back, nor will they stay on and work for next to nothing or free, just to say they are a plumber. New guys either don't see this, or are on the endless treadmill of optimism, hoping that they will make it, meanwhile whoring themselves. I remember the older guys I used to meet when I was new. Thought they didn't appreciate the fact they were pilots, they never seemed overly excitable. Now I know. I am one of them. This biz hasn't gone full circle, either. It is still morphing into it's next incarnation, so we don't know how it will end. Someone thinks all is rosy though, look at all the ads in the margins-someone's got bigger, better shinier products with all kinds of next generation technology. The only thing not being developed are actual jobs. The airport is a scary place right now, you can feel it when you walk into a hangar. Wonder who can still afford that new super duper EC whatever sucking up the cash flow. Oddly enough, that humbe old Jetranger doesn't seem to be such a burden anymore. It's paid for and gets the job done just fine.

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I don't know why operators would want to cut rates other than to take advantage of the current situation. Here in Canada most of us are paid on production, so much a flight hour. The more the company makes the more we make. How will cutting rates benefit the operator except to increase their profit?

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How will cutting rates benefit the operator except to increase their profit?

 

Maybe I'm just too dumb, but could you explain how cutting rates increase profits?

 

And hey, you waited 2 years to make your first post!

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I don't know why operators would want to cut rates other than to take advantage of the current situation. Here in Canada most of us are paid on production, so much a flight hour. The more the company makes the more we make. How will cutting rates benefit the operator except to increase their profit?

 

So.......... flunked Helicopter Operations 101 eh ??? :rolleyes:

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How will cutting rates benefit the operator except to increase their profit?

 

Maybe I'm just too dumb, but could you explain how cutting rates increase profits?

 

 

I understand what helinc is saying,

As this is a PAY CUTS thread, cutting rates=pilot rates.

 

If company X has an existing contract at a set hourly rate, I think helinc is asking whether companies are taking advantage of -- (and is it right) --- these slow times as an excuse to lower "pilot rates", resulitng in more company profit.

 

As a general thought, maybe we ALL should do everybody a favor in this downgraded forum and try to understand what is being said instead of jumping up and barking like a dog on a leash at the postman.

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