Starting next year, ExxonMobil will have a new offshore helicopter services provider as the Portugal- headquartered Omni Helicopters Inc (OHI) has partnered with Roraima Airways to bring a service that it says will focus heavily on training and transfer of skills in the sector to locals.
“We have partnered with Omni. The intention is create a Guyanese helicopter company that meets oil and gas standards. How they are doing that is that we are going to be operating with expat staff, but while we are doing that we are going to be hiring and training local Guyanese to fill multiple roles in the aviation industry,” Roraima Air-ways Chief Executive Officer Gerry Gouveia Jr told the Sunday Stabroek.
“Omni Helicopters International is dedicated and committed to the development of local capacity. From year one, we are hiring as many Guyanese as we can find. From year one we are hiring engineers and pilots to train on the helicopters to fly offshore,” he added.
Gouveia Jr is the son of National Security Advisor to the President, Gerry Gouveia Sr who explained to this newspaper that he was no longer a part of Roraima Airways as his son has taken over the reins of the company.
It was also explained by Gouveia Jr. that other jobs that locals will be trained and recruited for include ground support, technical recording, and eventually they will “be hiring pilots and engineers to fill senior roles in the company as we build experience.”
The Sunday Stabroek understands that a prominent United States helicopter service that specializes in the provision of oil and gas transportation services will also come on board in the training aspect of the programme.
While there was no word from ExxonMobil on the brokered deal, Omni Helicopters Guyana Inc (OHGI) announced that it was awarded a contract by ExxonMobil to aid in its offshore operations and would be contracting persons to fill several positions at its recently opened office.
The company informed that work is expected to commence later this year.
OHGI’s office will be based at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, Ogle. Roraima Airways is also based there.
According to an advertisement last week, OHI is working with Roraima Airways “to deliver safe and customer focused offshore helicopter services,” under the name OHGI.
OHI says it has over 500,000 hours of flight experience along with a diverse and modern fleet of 70 helicopters. Suitably qualified persons are being sought for the positions of base manager, finance manager, finance administrator, safety manager, quality control technician, ground operations manager, and operations administrator.
Six positions are open for search and rescue rear crew, two for stores technician, engineering administrator, duty drivers, three for flight coordinator, five for passenger coordinators, and eight persons are needed for the ramp operations team.
OHGI says preference will be given to Guyanese nationals with the relevant experience and training, although training will be provided if needed. Persons can send their CV along with a covering letter to hr@ohgi.gy on or before October 31st.
In February of 2018, UK helicopter provider Bristow had announced that it had secured a five-year contract for offshore crew changes in Guyana. Its support services to the company also involved search and rescue services.
But in the five years it has operated here, not much has been said by the company about training or employment of locals.
In October of last year, amid public discourse and government’s announcement that local content legislation would be ready within a few months, and that it would be targeted at the oil and gas sector, Bristow Group Inc. announced that it had appointed retired Guyana Defence Force GDF officer Courtney Byrne as its Area Manager here.
It is unclear if Byrne was trained by the company to fly any of its choppers offshore.
