Petroleum Helicopters International, Inc. (PHI), is an American commercial helicopter operator, founded in 1949, by Robert L. Suggs. The company is based in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

and provides service for the

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

, aeromedical services,

pilot training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

and

aircraft maintenance Aircraft maintenance is the performance of tasks required to ensure the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft or aircraft part, including overhaul, inspection, replacement, defect rectification, and the embodiment of modifications, compliance w ...

. In October 2017, PHI acquired

Helicopters (NZ) Helicopters New Zealand or HNZ was a New Zealand-based helicopter operator serving the oil and gas, EMS and government markets. Operating a mix of light and medium turbine-engined helicopters, it performed helicopter transport and air work for ...

from

HNZ Group HNZ Group Inc, now Canadian Helicopters Limited, operated 140 helicopters in support of multi-national companies and government agencies, including onshore and offshore oil & gas, mineral exploration, military support, hydro/utilities, forest man ...

. On March 15, 2019, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On June 5, 2019, court-supervised arbitration announced an agreement to force the retirement of CEO Al Gonsoulin and strip him of his shares.

History

PHI Inc. was founded by Robert L. Suggs and Maurice M. Bayon with a startup cost of $100,000, and three

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...

helicopters. They started by providing service to a seismographic group working in the

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The company's service extended to offshore drilling platforms in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, and grew their fleet with the addition of the Sikorsky S-55. and the

Sikorsky S-58 The Sikorsky H-34 "Choctaw" (company designation S-58) is an American piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when ad ...

helicopters. Over the next couple of decades the company expanded their fleet to 300 helicopters, which was the biggest non-military group of aircraft., and constructed the world's largest heliport at Lake Palourde in Morgan City In 1981 Petroleum Helicopters created PHI Air Medical, and became a provider of aeromedical services.

Fleet

PHI Inc. owns or operates 259 aircraft domestically and internationally. 162 aircraft are dedicated to its Oil and Gas segment. 88 aircraft are dedicated to its Air Medical segment. They also operate five aircraft for the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

in Antarctica.

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Helicopter airlines Airlines based in Louisiana Airlines established in 1949 1949 establishments in Louisiana Companies based in Lafayette, Louisiana Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019