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18-06-2015, 19:34

AIR LIVONIA, LTD.: Tallinn, Estonia; Year Founded 1999. The

Only domestic scheduled airline in Estonia, Air Livonia is established at the capital city in the fall of 1999. Flights to local destinations commence and continue with a single brightly liveried PZL Mielec (license-built Antonov) An-28.

AIR LOGISTICS: 1915 Donald Ave., Fairbanks, Alaska 99706, United States; Phone (907) 452-1197; Fax (907) 452-4539; Year Founded 1973. Air Logistics and its Air Logistics of Alaska (2) subsidiary are established in April 1973 as the principal subsidiaries of Offshore Logistics’ new Aviation Services Division to provide passenger and cargo charters in the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska in support of the energy interest. The main corporate base is at Lafayette, Louisiana, while Air Logistics of Alaska (2) flies from bases at Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Operations continue apace throughout the 1970s, with Offshore’s founder Burt H. Keenan continuing as chairman/president, with David O. Smith, vice president and general manager of the aerial section. On February 27, 1979, Air Logistics accepts delivery of the first fully certified IFR production model Sikorsky S-76 Spirit.

In 1980, a Heliflight Systems, Inc. facility is opened at Conroe, Texas. Airline employment reaches 1,268 in June 1981. With the onset of a decline in the Gulf oil industry sets in during 1982, the company begins to reduce its employment rolls and revise its fleet structure. Revenues for the year reach $11 million.

In the next three years, the company fleet grows to include a large variety of both fixed - and rotary-wing aircraft. Among the former are 4 CASA C-212 Aviocars, plus Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains, PA-34 Senecas, Cessna 404 Titans, and Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders. The 150-unit helicopter component includes 65 Bell 206B JetRangers, 25 Bell 206L LongRangers, 14 Bell 212s, 4 Bell 412s, 4 Bell 222s, 16 Sikorsky S-76 Spirits, 15 Aerospatiale AS-355s, AS-365 Dauphins, and Hughes 500s.

In 1983, the company acquires a one-quarter interest in Cairo-based Petroleum Air Services. Air Logistics personnel are sent to Egypt to provide operational, maintenance, and management assistance; its pilots and mechanics assist the partner’s fleet of 11 Bell 212s, 6 Bell 206L LongRangers, 2 Bell 206B JetRangers, and 5 de Havilland Canada DHC-7s in their support of the oil industry offshore in the Gulf of Suez. Income falls to $6 million.

In 1984, the company begins trading its stock on the NASDAQ exchange. A technical service contract is now signed with Mexico’s He-liservicio Campeche, S. A. to provide maintenance and training assistance; 49% minority control will later be assumed.

During its takeoff from Whittier, Alaska, on June 14, a Bell 206L LongRanger with 3 passengers loses engine power and descends into marshy terrain. Although no one is injured, the craft must be written off.

During the year, a Bell 212 is leased to the CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) and a minority interest is acquired in Heli-copteros Andes, S. A. of Chile. The company suffers a $35-million loss on the year.

Airline employment in January 1985 stands at 700 and the fleet now includes 50 Bell 206Bs, 35 Bell 206Ls, 14 Bell 212s, 4 Bell 412s, 3 Bell 205s, 2 Bell 214STs, 1 Sikorsky S-222, 23 S-76s, and 15 Aerospatiale TwinStars. The number of Aviocars is reduced to 2 and the fixed-wing component also includes 2 Cessna Titans, 2 Piper Navajos, and 2 Piper Cessna Conquests.

On January 5, 1986 an S-76A, with 1 pilot and 5 passengers, is rolled over by a high wind while deplaning passengers on a moving barge at Grand Isle BL73 in the Gulf of Mexico; three persons are killed and the others are injured, two seriously.

In the fall, a Bell 412 comes down in the same area injuring two passengers. Marine operations in Canada are discontinued and the decline in the oil industry brings reduced demand for company services in international offshore markets.

Parent Offshore Logistics completes a restructuring of all of its longterm loan and lease agreements on December 31, at which point James

B. Clement becomes president/CEO. Gross revenues for the year total $14.8 million.

In January 1987, the company averages 175 helicopters active in offshore support roles. Just after takeoff from an offshore oil platform at Matagorda 665 in the Gulf of Mexico on February 5, a Bell 206L Long-Ranger, with 1 pilot and 3 passengers, crashes into the sea; the helicopter sinks. A shrimp boat arrives in about 30-40. min. and all occupants of the helicopter are retrieved; three are badly injured and the pilot and one passenger later die.

The company now completes its reorganization and, in September, Pumpkin Air and its 32 helicopters is taken over at a purchase price of $10.05 million. Gross revenues reach $15.3 million and net gain is $2.9 million following $1.5 million in debt forgiveness occasioned by the reorganization.

In January 1988, Wimpey Marine, Ltd. in England is acquired for $11.17 million in cash, installment notes, and assumption of liabilities; it will be renamed OLOG Marine, Ltd. The Offshore Logistics, Inc. parent is now incorporated in Delaware as successor to the company of the same name founded in April 1969.

As the Gulf support market improves slightly, the carrier announces a 7% rate increase on September 1. Late in the year, 3 MBB BO-105 helicopters are delivered and 100 aircraft are active in offshore support roles, a figure that dramatically represents the downturn in the oil business over the past year. The parent, Offshore Logistics, reports gross income of $71.7 million for the year.

Airline employment in 1989 stands at 768. At the Paris Air Show, company officials discuss a joint venture operation with executives from Louisiana-based Helikopter Services, A. S. On July 11, while flying in clear weather approximately two miles offshore from Galveston, Texas, a company Bell 206L LongRanger collides midair with a Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. (PHI) Aerospatiale AS-350D; both pilots are killed in the crash.

A new Bell 412SP is delivered late in the month and, in August, a $35-million order is placed by Offshore Logistics for 31 Bell 206L-3 LongRangers. In October, the Gulf Coast helicopter operation of Omniflight is taken over at a cost of $2.6 million in cash and assumption of lease obligations and other liabilities valued at $3.8 million. The arrangement increases the Air Logistics fleet by 18 aircraft.

Howard Wolf is chairman in 1990, with J. B. Clement as presi-dent/CEO. With the energy business making a slight recovery, the average number of aircraft active in offshore support roles grows to 128. HS Logistics, Inc. is formed in February as a joint venture with Helikopter Services, A. S. (HS) of Norway; each company holds a 50% stake in the new operator, which is based at Lafayette, Louisiana. The new joint activity is announced during the Helicopter Association International’s Heli Expo ‘90 at Dallas, Texas. In October, the parent’s Marine Division is sold to Gulf Applied Technologies for $17.2 million.

Under contract for the Shell Oil subsidiary Pecten, HS Logistics helicopters, a Bell 212 (leased from Air Logistics) and two Bell 214Bs (chartered from Helikopter Services, A. S.), commence offshore support flights in Papua New Guinea in February 1991. The former ship is American registered and the latter two Norwegian. At the same time, HS Logistics places an AS-332L Super Puma in service to two oil rigs in the Bay of Bengal under contract to Amoco.

On April 6, an HS Logistics Bell 212, leased from Air Logistics, begins flying offshore support missions for Pecten at Trinidad. Two more

Bell 212s chartered from the American HS Logistics partner are dispatched to Kuwait in July on a two-year medevac contract.

In February 1992, Offshore Logistics General Manager Harris Albert announces that Air Logistics has redeemed the stock in HS Logistics held by Helikopter Service, A. S., primarily because of work for the partnership’s larger helicopters outside of the North Sea. The joint venture becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the American firm. The ongoing contracts of HS Logistics in Brazil and Trinidad will be completed by Air Logistics machines under that company’s direction.

In July, PPI-Seahawk Services is taken over by Offshore Logistics and through it, an agreement is signed with Noble Drilling Corporation for 50% shareholding in Seahawk. The new acquisition provides platform and production management services.

During the fall, the company is contracted to provide helicopter support services throughout the Gulf of Mexico on behalf of The Coastal Corporation and its subsidiary, ANR Pipeline Company. The new obligation is satisfied by the use of 8 Eurocopter AS-355 TwinStars, 1 Bell 412, and 1 Bell 206L-3 LongRanger.

The workforce totals 619 in 1993 and the fleet includes 162 aircraft, of which 150 are owned. In April-July, Offshore Logistics acquires the production management firm Grasso Corporation. Offshore Logistics now also holds minority interest in several other rotary-wing operators, including Petroleum Air Service, Ltd. of Egypt (25%), Hemisco Helicopters International, S. A. of Panama (49%), Heliflight Services of Texas (49%), and Heliservicio Campeche S. A. of Mexico (49%).

Operations continue apace in 1994. On April 15, the oil industry production management firm Grasso Corp, in which Offshore Logistics already holds 27.5% shareholding, becomes a 100%-owned subsidiary.

L. Michael Rizk is general manager in 1995 and his fleet now includes 2 JetRangers, 3 LongRangers, 2 Bell 412s, and 2 MBB BO-105s.

Since 1990, the company has flown in excess of 600,000 flight hours with an accident rate of less than one accident per 100,000 flight hours annually. That record now takes a turn for the worse.

En route to Vermilion Bay, Louisiana, from an offshore platform on February 14, a Bell 206L LongRanger with five passengers crashes 12 miles out to sea in bad weather. Search and rescue efforts are hampered until February 19, at which point pieces of the helicopter and four bodies are recovered. The fifth occupant is not located.

While attempting to land on an offshore site on May 2, another Long-Ranger, with three passengers, crashes into the platform’s edge and falls into the sea (one dead).

In June, Offshore Logistics parent president Clement becomes both group chairman and CEO.

The number of BO-105s is doubled in 1996. Flights continue from five Louisiana bases: Venice, Fourchon, Houma, Patterson, and Intracoastal. When on the night of October 18-19 a semisubmersible breaks away from its tow, an S-76 crew helps to evacuate oil workers from an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

On March 29, a letter of intent for purchase of up to a 49.9% stake in Redhill, Surrey, England-based Bristow Helicopters, Ltd. is signed by Offshore Logistics. The arrangement, concluded with an investment syndicate led by London’s Morgan Grenfeld Development Capital, Ltd., will include a strategic alliance. Longtime Bristow Managing Director Bryan Collins, who is due to retire on April 1, agrees to stay on in an advisory capacity for the next two years. Until a new CEO is appointed, CFO Stephen Palframan is named deputy managing director.

While en route to an oil platform 90 nm offshore of Sabine Pass, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico on June 21, a BO-105 with four passengers disappears. After a four-day search, the USCG finds the machine’s wreckage in 134 ft. of water, 60 mi. SE of Galveston; there are no survivors.

With approval from the British Civil Aviation Authority, Offshore Logistics converts its letter into a purchase by mid-November. The cost is $300 million cash, plus 1.37 million shares of stock and assumption of Bristow’s $145-million debt. In terms of annual revenues, the combined company is second in size only to Helikopter Service Group of Norway.

As a result of the Bristow transaction, Offshore Logistics in January 1997 issues $87.5 million of 6% convertible subordinated notes due in 2003. A $38-million, five-year contract is received from the U. S. government at month’s end and, under its terms, the company on February 7 begins to provide flight services in support of the Mineral Management Service of the Department of Interior and Gulf of Mexico activities of the U. S. Coast Guard.

While en route on June 1 from the company base at Intracoastal City for Chenier, a Bell 206B JetRanger collides with a Houston Helicopters Bell 206L LongRanger, which is en route from Abbeville to an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Both helicopters plunge into the water and the Houston pilot is killed.

In September, company pilots vote to unionize. Despite a growing increase in the value of the company’s stock, Offshore Chairman/CEO Clement resigns on October 9. He is succeeded by Louis F. Crane, a board member with 10-year’s experience. Chief Financial Officer George Small is elected the group’s new president.

Flights continue in 1998-1999. On August 10 of the latter year, a BO-105S is badly damaged when it collides with an unmanned Bell 206 on an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot and three passengers are not injured.

In July 2000, the company joins with Bristow Helicopters, Ltd. to form the joint venture United Helicopter Maintenance to offer technical services for rotary - and fixed-wing operators worldwide. UHM branches will be housed at the main bases of both companies.



 

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