Helicopter operator Erickson Inc. has put its flying fleet into bankruptcy, blaming oil and gas companies that cut back on drilling operations during a slump in energy prices, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Lawyers who put the Portland, Ore., company into bankruptcy said that profitability has declined since 2013 and that it couldn’t overcome “sustained economic distress” in the oil-and-gas industry, where it provides lift services for production rig equipment. Erickson officials said they plan to negotiate with lenders behind some of its roughly $561 million in debt. The 700-worker company also struggled with the slower pace of U.S. military activity in Afghanistan. Its defense revenues fell about 32 percent throughout last year to $105.2 million. Any debt-cutting plan that Erickson officials put forward will need approval from Judge <b>Barbara J. Houser</b>. The company, founded in 1971, has 69 aircraft. It expanded in 2013 with the $26 million purchases of Brazil’s Air Amazonia Servicos Aeronauticos Ltda and the $298 million purchase of Evergreen Helicopters Inc., which expanded its military work.
