Offshore Helicopter Pilot Jobs in the Gulf of Mexico (2026): Who’s Hiring, Bases, Rotations and Minimums

The U.S. government and some operators now call it the Gulf of America (Westwind’s and PHI’s pages do). It’s the same water and the same jobs. Everything below was read on the operator’s own site or job board on Nov 5, 2026. Postings close and change, so check the source before you apply.

Who hires offshore helicopter pilots in the Gulf

Operator	Open Gulf pilot postings (Nov 5)	Minimums (as posted)	Schedule	Pay
Bristow (Houston HQ)	1: “Pilot – (BSEE) 5x2 Schedule – New Iberia, LA,” a VFR captain role the posting says is based in Houma (Bristow posting R-0005633-1)	14 CFR 135.243 minimums; 1st-class medical; commercial with helicopter instrument; 1,500 h helicopter PIC; 100 helicopter hours in the last 12 months	5 on/2 off, Monday–Friday	Not published (“supplemental compensation” on top of base)
PHI Aviation (Lafayette HQ)	1: “Captain, VFR Oil & Gas,” location Gulf of Mexico Pool (PHI posting REQ000550)	1,500 h PIC; commercial with instrument qualification; current Class I medical; high school diploma; able to lift 100 lb	Not published	Not published
Westwind Helicopters (Santa Fe, TX HQ)	1: “Helicopter Pilot – Gulf of America,” Abbeville, LA, Bell 407 or S-76 (Westwind pilot posting (JSFirm 134340))	Commercial helicopter with instrument rating; Class 2 medical; 1,500 h helicopter PIC	14 on/14 off; live anywhere in the U.S.; company housing on duty	Base not published; extras posted (see below)
RLC (Broussard, LA HQ)	0 pilot postings; the board takes applications for future roles (RLC job board)	1,000 h helicopter total with 500 h helicopter PIC; commercial helicopter; 2nd-class medical (RLC pilot training page)	Not published	Not published
Panther Helicopters (Belle Chasse, LA)	0 postings; general application form (Panther Helicopters employment page)	Not published	Not published	Not published

What about Era? Era Helicopters is part of Bristow now. Bristow says the two companies combined in June 2020 (Bristow history page), so there’s no separate Era job board.

The rest of Bristow’s Workday board on Nov 5 had 32 postings in all. Its other pilot roles were overseas: an AW139 captain and a cadet program in Brazil and an S-92 captain in the Falklands (Bristow careers (Workday)). PHI Aviation’s board had 26 postings, and the Gulf captain was the only pilot role (PHI Aviation careers (Workday)).

Where the Gulf bases are

• Bristow lists these U.S. locations: Houma, New Iberia (Acadiana Regional Airport), Lake Charles, Galliano (search and rescue, South Lafourche Airport) and New Orleans (Kenner) in Louisiana; Bay City (Bay City Regional), Lake Jackson (Gulf Coast Regional, Angleton) and its Houston headquarters in Texas; and Mobile Downtown Airport in Alabama (Bristow U.S. locations).
• PHI Aviation lists its Americas head office and MRO facility in Lafayette, the Lafayette Heliport & Training Facility, two Houma facilities (North on Taxi Rd. and East on Thunderbird Rd.) and Galveston, Texas (PHI contact and locations page).
• Westwind flies from Santa Fe, TX, Abbeville, LA, and Houma, LA (Westwind locations).
• RLC says it has 6 bases in three states covering the whole U.S. Gulf (RLC facilities page). Its site names Galliano, Mouton Cove and Venice. It doesn’t publish the full list.
• Panther is at 2017 Engineers Rd., Belle Chasse, LA, and says it has served the Gulf since 1983 (Panther offshore page).

Houma shows up for three of the five operators. If you want to be near the most Gulf pilot jobs, start there. Texas has fewer: Bristow’s Bay City and Lake Jackson, PHI’s Galveston base and Westwind’s Santa Fe HQ. See Houston pilot jobs for the rest of the Houston area.

Schedules and rotations

Two operators publish a rotation. Bristow’s Gulf captain works 5 days on and 2 days off, Monday to Friday, based in Houma. The posting says you must be available for temporary dispatch to other Gulf locations, and it offers relocation support (Bristow posting R-0005633-1). Westwind’s pilot works 14 days on and 14 days off. You can live anywhere in the U.S., relocation isn’t required, and company housing is provided while you’re on duty (Westwind pilot posting (JSFirm 134340)). PHI and RLC don’t publish a rotation for pilots.

The schedules match two different lives. With a 5/2 you live near the base. With a 14/14 you commute in for two weeks, which is how many Gulf pilots live elsewhere. Bristow’s maintenance postings in Houma run 14x14 and its Lake Charles repair station runs 4x3 (Bristow careers (Workday)), so ask which rotation your base uses.

How many hours you need

The FAA sets the floor. Under 14 CFR 135.243, a Part 135 PIC flying VFR needs a commercial certificate and at least 500 hours as a pilot, including 100 cross-country and 25 at night. Helicopter VFR over-the-top also needs a helicopter instrument rating or ATP. A Part 135 PIC flying IFR needs 1,200 hours, including 500 cross-country, 100 night and 75 instrument (50 of them in actual flight) (14 CFR 135.243 (eCFR)).

The operators set the real bar. Bristow, PHI and Westwind each ask for 1,500 hours PIC plus an instrument rating. Bristow also wants 100 helicopter hours in the past 12 months. It prefers a year of offshore oil and gas flying, an ATP, 200 offshore hours (or 100 with 50 in the last 12 months, counting vessels, platforms, helidecks and rigs) and 25 hours of AS350 time (Bristow posting R-0005633-1). Westwind prefers a year or 200 hours in the Gulf, Part 135 time in a Bell 206, Bell 407 or S-76, and Garmin 420–750 GPS experience (Westwind pilot posting (JSFirm 134340)). RLC publishes the lowest entry point: 1,000 hours of helicopter time with 500 hours PIC, a commercial helicopter rating and a 2nd-class medical (RLC pilot training page).

Medicals differ. Bristow and PHI ask for a first-class medical, and Westwind and RLC a second-class. Most pilots reach 1,000–1,500 hours by instructing first; see how to become a helicopter pilot.

Pay: what’s actually published

No Gulf operator we checked publishes a base salary. Westwind comes closest. Its posting says base pay is “commensurate with experience” and lists the extras (Westwind pilot posting (JSFirm 134340)):

• Workover paid at time and a half of the daily rate
• $75 offshore bonus for each night spent offshore
• $60 per diem per day
• $10 per flight hour bonus for all hours flown
• Health, vision, dental, life and disability insurance, holiday pay, PTO and a Simple IRA with a 3% match

Bristow’s posting mentions “supplemental compensation” on top of base but gives no figures (Bristow posting R-0005633-1). Its careers page lists salary, medical, U.S. dental, life insurance, retirement and pension plans, paid holidays and training among its benefits (Bristow careers page). PHI and RLC don’t post pay. For posted helicopter pay elsewhere, see helicopter pilot salary and HEMS pilot jobs, where most postings list base ranges.

What you’ll fly

• Westwind: 15 Bell 407s, 4 Sikorsky S-76s (S-76A and S-76C++) and 3 Bell 206s (Westwind company page). The open job flies the 407 or S-76.
• RLC: an all-offshore-equipped fleet of S-76s, Bell 407s and Bell 206 L4s (RLC fleet page).
• Bristow: about 234 aircraft worldwide, and it says it’s the largest operator of the AW139, AW189 and S-92. It also flies the S-76C++/D, EC135, A109e, A119/AW119 and AS350 B2 (Bristow fleet page). Its Gulf captain posting asks about AS350 time.
• PHI: 213 aircraft (PHI home page). The fleet page lists the H175, H160, S-92A, AW139, AW189 ER, H145, S-76C++, Bell 412, Bell 407, BK117, EC135, AW109 and AS350, company-wide (PHI fleet page). One PHI captain quoted on its careers page says you can “start in a Bell 407 and work your way up to the captain of a large, heavy ship” (PHI Join Our Team page).

Bristow, PHI and Westwind don’t say which models are based in the Gulf, so ask at the interview.

Training once you’re hired

RLC is the only operator that publishes its syllabus. New hires get 40 hours of computer-based training, 14 days of ground school, 2 days in a flight training device, and 9 training flights plus a checkride, along with OSHA water survival and H2S training. Recurrent is at 6 months and then every year. RLC says its roughly 85 pilots average six years of Gulf flying and about 5,000 hours (RLC pilot training page). PHI says its pilots average 10 years with the company (PHI home page).

Sources (checked Nov 5, 2026)

• Postings: Bristow posting R-0005633-1; Bristow careers (Workday); PHI posting REQ000550; PHI Aviation careers (Workday); Westwind pilot posting (JSFirm 134340); RLC job board; Panther Helicopters employment page
• Operator pages: Bristow U.S. locations; Bristow fleet page; Bristow history page; Bristow careers page; PHI contact and locations page; PHI fleet page; PHI Join Our Team page; PHI home page; Westwind locations; Westwind company page; RLC pilot training page; RLC facilities page; RLC fleet page; Panther offshore page
• Regulation: 14 CFR 135.243 (eCFR)

What we couldn’t verify

No operator publishes base pay for Gulf pilots. PHI and RLC don’t publish a rotation. Bristow, PHI and Westwind don’t say which aircraft types are based in the Gulf. RLC doesn’t list all six of its bases, and its base pages had no text. Panther doesn’t publish its fleet, minimums or pilot openings. The Bristow posting has “BSEE” in its title without explaining it, so we don’t guess what the contract is. We found no separate Gulf careers page for other small Part 135 offshore operators, so they aren’t counted. Know one we missed? Tell us.

Next steps

Compare every helicopter operator in our directory, see helicopter pilot jobs in Texas for onshore air medical work, and check Part 135 duty and rest rules.