Originally Posted by jlemon

Ah, WHBM, this is truly an international thread (not just U.S.) and your presence here is most welcome....

And you are correct, sir! As you and perhaps others know, I work for a very large helicopter operator that has worldwide operations flying over 300 rotorcraft serving the oil and gas industry in the North Sea and elsewhere (such as the Gulf of Mexico).

These days, our largest, late model helicopter types are the Sikorsky S-92A and Eurocopter EC-225 (the successor to the AS-332L series "Super Puma" family). Both of these twin engine rotorcraft are flown by two (2) pilots and configured with nineteen (19) passenger seats. And there is a reason for the 19 pax configs: 20 or more pax seats would then require having a flight attendant on board here in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world.