PHI Oil and Gas is now requiring new hires and current employed pilots to sign a 3 or 4 year training contract to upgrade to PIC or transition into a S76 or S92. The contract requires pilots to pay back the full training costs if they quit or get fired before the 3 or 4 years are up. The current cost for the S92 transition is about $115,000. The cost is not prorated. Rather than incentivizing retention, they are atempting to force pilots Into staying. 

probably learned that one at business school

I can't find that anywhere in the union contract?

are you in the union. because if you're not and not working towards the 51%, this is what happens bro.  

PHI OG & Air med are sinking ships ! Investors and morons drove it straight into an iceberg. 

Training bond and only 3% 401k match, what a joke. When will mgmt learn?

maybe they're trying to run off pilots and keep people from upgrading. didja ever think of that?

only you would think of think because it doesn't make sense. they don't need a reason

since they could simply just not bother to offer any upgrades

Seems like a pretty good way to stymie the money hemorraghing. Just fire the pilot a month before his obligation is fulfilled and now you have 3-4 years of income and all the training repaid!

even if the pilot were to fork over the 115 large, PHI would have to spend it training another pilot 

Simple, don't sign it. When they can't support the Shell & BP contracts and start losing them, PHI will sing a different tune real quick. 

since enough pilots will sign it. ever see how many VFR pilots bid on the upgrades? a couple dozen people minimum usually bid for four spots. if for some reason they didn't get enough people to bid, there would be people lined up out the door to take a spot and gladly sign. try reality.

The 92 is a great aircraft, not much demand outside of the offshore world though.

GOM flying in the 92 is just like a scheduled airline, especially with the "BP airforce" or Shell, and it gets really boring after awhile. Also, you're more of a "programmer" than a pilot, the FMS does all the work...if programmed corectly lol.

if you want to make a career as an offshore pilot, go for it, but it's not for everyone. If not, 407, 135 time is more valuable to civilian operators. 

I know at least one guy who quit near the end of initial training because they kept asking him to sign the 3 year training contract. Good guy too, probably would have spent 9 years there till retirement but wasn't willing to take on that kind of debt. He had 6000 hrs in multiple twin complex helicopters, go figure.

I'm sure he would have stayed for "9 years" lol

"multiple twin complex helicopter" but you're some kind of trainer 

In the gulf where they don't take 3 months to track an aircraft 

Those contracts and fear tactics usually don't hold water and are scare tactics. The worse they can do is impact your credit score. It would cost more in lawyer fees than it is worth if you refuse to pay...if they want to improve retention, positive incentives like hefty retention bonuses, improved 401k, will work better than negative ones. When and if a company does something like you mentioned it sends a red flag message to me and others in our industry that there is a toxic work climate and culture present. 

Just a friendly reminder that training contracts are not legally enforceable. So go ahead and sign whatever BS the morons in management are pushing, get your type rating, and then go fly for Bristow or Chevron. And, since PHI will likely try to steal your last paycheck, don't bother giving notice.

Sad to see that a once industry leading company has fallen so low...

But what is your reference for the contracts not being enforceable?

when all the newly minted IFR pilots were leaving within a year to go overseas. PHI upped the compensation for new captains by eliminating the first 20 steps or so to almost double the pay. That solved the problem. They are probably seeing this again but cannot match airline pay, so training contracts. If they decide to sue you for the money, can't say what will happen.

Depending on the state you live in, they may or may not be enforceable.  However, the "Employer" can turn the debt over to a collection agency.  A civil action will then occur, with a court order "freezing" your assets (If you have any) and placing a judgement on your current paycheck (if you have one).  Then you have to hire a lawyer to clear your issues, and that will cost more than your training contract would have.  So end the end, you have won the battle but lost the war.  

If the training is required to perform the job, the training contract is unenforceable.

You must be new at this, it was tried years ago and failed.  Even PHI knows it won't work.

the culture were satisfactory such garbage contracts would not be required.  My advice, don't sign any such lunacy.