The 10km POG marathon took place on the 24^th of June 2018 in Port Gentil, Gabon for the second time. Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba gave the starting signal for the running event.

With more than 7000 runners participated in this event, among them is Leonard Komon, Kenyan long-distance runner and the current world record holder in the 10 kilometres and 15 km road races.

As the oldest helicopter operators supporting the Oil and Gas industry in Gabon, Heli-Union decided to participate in the event and was represented by two pilots.

Unfortunately, these two young pilots were not able to brought back victory being among the presences of world champions in the event, but their participations are greatly appreciated.

 

The Spanish Civil Guard has awarded Heli Union Training Center a 24 month contract to train 30 pilots. The contract requires training with FFS (Full Flight Simulator) corresponding to the aircraft type Dauphin AS365N3. HUTC provides the utilisation of its FFS which is located in Angouleme Airport along with its highly qualified instructors based on the training needs.

The pilots will be trained at HUTC facilities in Angouleme, France. The trainings required by the contract include emergency procedures exercise, IFR navigation, harsh condition flights, and many others.

Hervé Maugis, the Director of HUTC commented, “We are very honoured to be given this opportunity to train 30 pilots from the Spanish Civil Guard. Here at the HUTC, we are aiming to provide the best service through our qualified instructor, top of the range training courses, and all the required means (simulators, fleet, etc.) to ensure all our pupils are successfully qualified and well trained after finishing their courses. We also support our customers by enabling them to create operational scenarios and we are very attentive to offer the flexibility they need to re-schedule their training slots.”

Certified by the DGAC and EASA, HUTC is home of the only Dauphin AS365N3 FFS in Europe. Today, the same type of simulator can only be found in France and in Singapore. The simulator allows its users to perform several types of training, ranging from ab initio and recurrent training to specific programs covering failure procedures, instrument flight rules (IFR), offshore and rescue operations, night flight (night vision goggles), flights over mountainous regions and low altitude navigation. HUTC is currently proposing one of the best offer for PBN training in Europe thanks to their brand new FTD 2 equipped with two Garmin GTN750.

As the Operations Manager responsible for operations of Heli-Union Gabon, Florent Thibaudet is not only a qualified Dauphin AS365N3 pilot, but he also manages daily tasks required to maintain operational excellence at Heli Union Gabon.

As far back I can remember, I have always wanted to be a pilot. For me, it did not matter if it is an airplane pilot or a helicopter pilot. I just want to fly! However, now I understand that once you start to pilot a helicopter, you will not want to pilot an airplane anymore!

I have been working for 30 years in the aviation industry as a pilot. Until today, I have performed more than 10.000 flying hours. My journey with Heli-Union started 10 years ago. Before that, I was working as a pilot for specialised companies that provide aerial work.

I have known Heli-Union ever since I was a child. I would see helicopters with Heli-Union written on them flying around the city, featured in some famous French movies at the time, or even during the Tour de France! For a child who was fascinated by the aviation industry, Heli-Union became one of my dream company to fly with.

At first did not have enough experience to fly with Heli-Union, which was why I decided to start as an aerial work pilot before finally climbing up the ladder and build the courage to try!

I was amazed on the diverse backgrounds of the pilots and engineers in this company. Some of them used to work in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Air Ambulance, etc. and some others who used to work as aerial work pilot like myself. This creates a great atmosphere between the employees. We are able to share our stories, listen to and learn from their exciting experience.

It has been 6 month that I have been commissioned in Gabon. Prior to that I spent many years flying with Heli-Union for many different temporary missions in different bases in Africa. Before Douala I also spent some time in Libya and Congo too!

As an Operations Manager, you have to be a multitasker. You have to take the responsibilities not only as a pilot, but you have to manage the operations, the local crew, some administrative tasks, relationship with the customers on site, and many others. It is not an easy job, but I must say that I love the challenges that come with it.

It is not a secret that the oil and gas market is not doing very well now. Nevertheless I feel that Heli-Union is dealing with this situation quite well by aiming for long term and objective-driven strategy. Heli-Union is able to stabilise its position in the market and minimise the negative effects from this crisis. Of course we all hope that the market improves soon.

Heli-Union is the only and the largest French Helicopter company in the Oil and Gas industry today. I have been working in the helicopter industry for 30 years, I have seen many other helicopter companies. Heli-Union is one of a few companies that are still standing strong even after more than half a century of service.

 

Heli-Union is currently performing the first ever H725 (now called H225M) Major Overhaul in its 5000m² hangar in Toussus le Noble, where the Headquarters of Heli-Union is located. The H725 Caracal belongs to the French Air Force, is a twin-engine, long-range military transport helicopter.

Heli-Union has been performing periodical checks, repair and overhaul for the French Air Force H725 in the last few years, before being awarded the Major Overhaul contract. The Major Overhaul has started in April 2018.

Pierre Le Gall, Deputy Managing Director of Heli-Union who is in charge of the MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) department commented, “As the leading provider of helicopter MRO services, we are very pleased to have the opportunity from the French Air Force to be the first company in the world to perform Major Overhaul on H725. This shows our ability to evolve and improve, adapting our services to meet the market needs. Our team consists of experienced, skilled and well-motivated engineers, providing the most effective and quality services to our clients. We are looking forward to be working with a wider client database for H725 Major Overhaul service.”

HELI-UNION LEASED A NEW AW139 HELICOPTER TO SUPPORT ITS HELICOPTER OFFSHORE OPERATIONS IN GABON

Heli-Union has signed a contract with Milestone Aviation to lease a new AW139 helicopter. The medium twin-engine helicopter join Heli-Union’s existing fleet of more than 30 helicopters providing offshore passenger transport for oil and gas companies worldwide. The aircraft was delivered to Gabon, where Heli-Union currently operates four helicopters of the same model.

Established in 1961, Heli-Union is one of the biggest helicopter operators, providing safe and reliable offshore helicopter related services such as air transport, Medical Evacuation, Search and Rescue, helicopter maintenance, pilot and engineer training to civil and government organisations. With permanent bases in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, the company has the experience and resources to meet the demands of the oil and gas market.

“Milestone was an ideal leasing partner for this mission,” said Patrick Molis, Heli-Union Chairman and CEO. “They can provide flexibility for our global operations and they have great experience delivering new aircraft from their orderbook. We are pleased to begin a relationship with Milestone and look forward to working with them on other opportunities.”

“Heli-Union has been operating in Gabon since 1975,” said Jonathan Cosson, Deputy Managing Director of Heli Union. “AW139 has become one of the most demanded helicopter types in the Oil and Gas industry. We are pleased to lease yet another AW139 to support our offshore helicopter operations. This addition of a new AW139 into our fleet allows us to continue to grow our decades of experience supporting offshore Oil and Gas companies in Gabon.”

Daniel Rosenthal, Milestone President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “By seeking to understand Heli Union’s unique needs, Milestone offered an individualized solution for their growing fleet. We look forward to growing our relationship with Heli Union as they develop their presence in the global oil and gas industry.”

Heli Union has just received one Leonardo AW139 helicopter to support its offshore helicopter operations in Africa. The market-leading intermediate twin-engine helicopter is leased from a renowned helicopter leasing company.

The leased helicopter will operate on a new contract in Gabon, for offshore passenger crew change from Port Gentil Airport to the designated offshore base.

“AW139 is now becoming one of the most demanded helicopter types in the Oil and Gas industry. We are pleased to lease yet another AW139 to support our offshore helicopter operations. This shows that even during this difficult period, our fleet does not cease to grow and we are heading in the right direction,” said Jean-Baptiste OLRY, HELI UNION Sales and Operations Director.

Heli Union is currently operating 8 AW139 in Africa and in Asia.

Click here to obtain: Héli-Union Universe Issue III – LD

Jonathan Cosson, Heli-Union Deputy Managing Director shares his personal stories and how they led him to reach the position he holds today, together with his vision of what is behind Heli-Union’s strong heritage and future.

BACKGROUND

I started to work for Heli-Union for a 6 month internship, during my final year of engineering degree in 2006. Aviation has always been my passion, hence the decision to pursue the engineering degree. During my internship in Heli-Union, I was assigned to design and develop the part 21, Certification of aircraft and related product, parts and appliances, and of design and production organisation. I managed to finish this task within 4 months. The Technical Director at the time, took me and delegated me to design the CRT software. It was a success and I even managed to get a copyright on this software. By the end of the internship, I was offered a full time employment in the Technical Quality Department and I gladly accepted it. I participated in technical audits, new procedure set ups and safety standards improvement. Not long after, Heli-Union decided to purchase 8 new S76C++ to be added on its list of helicopters. I was then appointed as the project leader of this assignment, ensuring a complete project management until their arrival to the delivery sites, such as Myanmar, Nigeria, etc. in 2010, I was promoted as the Deputy Technical Director and in charge in worldwide operations. I was one of the key managers who were responsible for the AW139 implementation project in Malaysia for Weststar Aviation. The project aimed to help Weststar implement the use of AW139 in their fleet, and to improve their aviation standards. Obviously, it was a successful project. In 2013, following the appointment of the new CEO, I was then promoted as the Technical Director until last year, where I become the Deputy Managing Director of the company. I am very grateful to be able to get involved in various projects as part of my journey with Heli-Union. The people around me have been very supportive and I cannot ask for a better experience.

GOING BEYOND THE ORDINARY…

After 11 years of experience working in this company, I have come to a conclusion on what makes a successful company. The core of success, in my point of view, is to have a team that is innovative, trustworthy, competent, reliable, and led to a right direction. I do not cease on learning to be a good manager from people around me. Having the right team for the right job is a challenge, but once the right team is assembled, I believe that we will be able to overcome any difficulties. To top on that, we constantly bring in innovative inputs from the young minds and practical wisdom from the experienced people.

Heli-Union has more than 56 years of experience in the helicopter industry. We have great arrangements with our helicopter manufacturers (known as OEM) and are able to maintain good relationships. Heli-Union has a strong service culture and all of us is committed to a high level of service performance. I believe this devotion reflects on the positive feedbacks we have been receiving from our clients.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR HELI-UNION?

The current market has been difficult, our operations decrease since the last 3 years due to the low clients’ demand. We have built a new commercial strategy to stay competitive in the market. This requires a qualified, creative and innovative team that can propose cost-effective solutions to the clients while maintaining the international standards.

To support this new strategy, we are also planning to add in new tools, software, and of course, new fleet to ensure a full development of Heli-Union. We are planning to add in super medium helicopters, which we believe will be one of the new upcoming trends for offshore transport. We are not considering any heavy types, due to its cost model, and instead, we focus on multirole helicopters with a good range and reliability program.

We have competent people in Heli-Union and internal communication is very important to ensure everyone’s involvement in all ongoing projects. Being able to communicate freely from one to another will cultivate relationships of trust which are essential to any team working toward a collective goal. Thus, we vitally address this as an important topic and ensure a well-planned communication plan. We invest in team building activities and encourage employees to contribute towards this development.

Alternative markets such as aerial firefighting, SAR and humanitarian aid operations have also become part of our development strategy. We would like to employ several of our helicopters for these new markets. These markets are not new for Heli-Union. We used to be involved in these types of operations before Heli-Union decided to concentrate on the Oil and Gas market in the year 2000. We are ready to take the step to invest in this new strategy. Thus, I believe we would be able to achieve the same recognition as we did.

I believe that the future of Heli-Union will be bright. We have built a new business model that is much appreciated by our customers. We shall continue to come up with innovative solutions and to increase internal efficiency. I visualise a future of Heli-Union where we optimise the number of helicopter types in service, with newer generations and better performance. I believe that in the future some helicopter operators will disappear. These operators try so hard to reduce their price that they are willing to reduce the safety and quality levels of their service. I am afraid by implementing this strategy, these companies are digging their own grave.  Safety is one thing that we absolutely cannot disregard in this industry. Offering a fiercely competitive price without considering what they are leaving behind is a big mistake. This is not the right way to set a long term sustainability vision and we do not want to be trapped in this kind of unsustainable development strategy.

During our time, we have gone through various phases, the current market difficulty is just another rock on the road.  A lot of companies are being pushed to cut costs to remain competitive. But it is assured that Heli-Union will still be able to accommodate with the market expectation by offering a cost effective, flexible and well adapted world class service without compromising our quality and safety standards. We believe in our clients and their trust in us to deliver a healthy sustainability vision and not only to focus on short term benefit.

 

 

Newly appointed as the Director of HUTC, who is Hervé Maugis and what will he bring to the company?

BACKGROUND

I started my helicopter pilot career in the French Army Aviation in 1988. Along this time, I participated to several overseas operations and involved in the operational development of warfare systems, such as Horizon (AS 332 equipped with a surveillance radar). Climbing my way up to FL150 with oxygen was an interesting experience even though this concept has been given-up since. In the meanwhile, I privately attended a CPL/IR course to enlarge my fixed-wing knowledges.

I completed my military career as flight instructor at the Franco-German training school for EC 665 Tiger crews at Le Luc. Willing to extend my knowledge of international project management, I joined a European organisation for Defence programme acquisition (OCCAR, Bonn) in 2005 where I was in charge to manage the IHM and operational design of the Tiger on behalf of France, Germany and Spain and then the Tiger aircrew training means (courses & synthetic training devices).

After having completed these duties, my desire to fly built up and led to my decision to fly with Heli-Union as AS332 L1 pilot at Tripoli. Stating that the contrast between Bonn and Tripoli was huge! This is a kind of a smart euphemism! Anyhow, I really enjoyed this period and really appreciated to work with the Libyans. Afterwards, Heli-Union offered me this new position of HUTC Director. Leading a training organisation was one of my goal and I therefore accepted this proposal with a great enthusiasm.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR HELI-UNION TRAINING CENTER?

Obviously, I am delighted to be given the responsibility of managing this training organisation which is the leading helicopter training center in France and one of the biggest in Europe.

The first forthcoming challenge will be to maintain the high degree of satisfaction of our customers while tracking the remaining room for improvement we have. The downturn of Oil & Gas revenues has entailed the training volume of our key customers, pushing us away from securing our current clients and finding new segments. For instance we have invested in a brand new FTD representative of H135 T2+ which has already demonstrated its added-value. Thank to this very powerful training device, we are able to propose a PBN training at a very affordable cost, certainly one of the lowest in Europe. We are confident that its level of fidelity with the real helicopter should enable us to get additional credits in the future.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES THAT YOU ARE PLANNING TO ADDRESS?

We have other issues at stake like updating our training courses in the purpose of fulfilling the EASA and ESPN-R recommendations. In this perspective we intend to wash-up the content of the theoretical knowledge by introducing more evidence-based training (EBT) and competency-based training (CBT) inputs, in promoting pilot decisions and risk analysis. Our students are invited and encouraged to share our internal flight safety meetings so that they feel considered as pilots and not only students. Additionally we consider that this involvement should enable them to understand the safety standards which are the main priority for any companies or operators in the world. We also intend to prepare our students to the new cockpit design, HMI and equipment. Finally we would also grab this opportunity to review our courses and introduce innovative training solutions.

These are ambitious objectives which should be achieved by the end-of 2018 thanks to the highly professional and motivated team of HUTC.