CHC Helicopters International (RBD, Vancouver International) parent firm CHC Group has finished its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it announced in a statement. The firm, along with forty-three of its subsidiaries, filed for bankruptcy protection in the US state of Texas in May 2016 following a tough financial and operational period.
Heavily reliant on serving the oil and gas industry, CHC's operations had been affected by the decline in oil prices since 2014 which led to a decrease in customer demand. This was coupled with an accident with one of its EC225 Super Pumas near Bergen, Norway which killed eleven offshore oil workers and two pilots. Following the accident, its entire fleet of EC225s were removed from scheduled service.
A court-confirmed plan of reorganisation came into effect on March 24, with the group saying that it has emerged "a significantly stronger, better-capitalized company." In addition to its reorganisation, CHC Group received USD300 million in fresh capital from its existing creditors, and will raise additional funds through restructured aircraft leases.
"Although proceeding with a restructuring is not a decision any company would take lightly, we recognized that, if we approached this process in the right way, we could transform CHC as well as change the shape of the industry moving forward," said CEO Karl Fessenden. "This process has allowed us to help secure CHC’s long-term health, and create a streamlined, highly competitive cost structure while establishing a fleet of aircraft better aligned with our customers' businesses."
