Management Team

Christopher Bradshaw

Bristow President and Chief Executive Officer

Christopher Bradshaw

Christopher Bradshaw

Bristow President and Chief Executive Officer

Christopher Bradshaw has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, currently known as Bristow Group Inc. and formerly known as Era Group Inc., since 2014. Mr. Bradshaw has been a Director of the Company since February 2015. He served as Chief Financial Officer of Era Group Inc. from October 2012 to September 2015. From 2009 until 2012, Mr. Bradshaw served as Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer of U.S. Capital Advisors LLC, an independent financial advisory firm. Prior to co-founding U.S. Capital Advisors LLC, he was an energy investment banker at UBS Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co., and PaineWebber Incorporated. Mr. Bradshaw serves on the board of directors of The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and HeliOffshore. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a degree in Economics and Government.

Alan Corbett

Chief Operating Officer, Government Services

Alan Corbett

Alan Corbett

Chief Operating Officer, Government Services

Alan Corbett was appointed as Chief Operating Officer for Government Services in February 2023.  In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all of Bristow’s Government Services activity, including existing operations, new business, and emerging markets for areas such as Bristow’s growing market share in the Search and Rescue (SAR) sector. Alan is also responsible for Airnorth as well as the Humberside airport.

He previously served as Senior Vice President for Europe, Africa, Middle East. Asia (EAMEA) and Search and Rescue from June 2020 to February 2023.  He also previously served as the Vice President, EAMEA from June 2017 to June 2018. Before that he served as Region Director of the Europe Caspian Region from April 2015 to June 2017 and Region Director of the Europe Business Unit (EBU) from August 2014 to March 2015, in which capacities he had commercial and operational oversight of the region, including the successful transition to a fully Bristow-operated U.K. search and rescue service. Prior to joining the Company in August 2014, Alan worked since 1985 in a number of management positions with Baker Hughes Incorporated, including vice president positions in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa, most recently serving as Vice President, Sub Sahara Africa from 2011 to 2014.

Elizabeth Matthews

Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary

Elizabeth Matthews

Elizabeth Matthews

Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary

Elizabeth Matthews was appointed Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary in December 2022. In this role, she is responsible for legal, compliance, government affairs, and contract review and management.

She has over 25 years of legal experience, with the past 21 years working in the energy sector.

Prior to this role, she most recently served as the Deputy Managing Director, Executive Vice President, and General Counsel for TotalEnergies in the U.S. During her tenure at TotalEnergies, which began in 2013, Elizabeth managed all legal support within the U.S. and served as Deputy Managing Director for TotalEnergies’ U.S. businesses, which included providing strategic direction, driving corporate growth and innovation, and supporting a company transformation to renewable energies. Prior to TotalEnergies, Elizabeth spent 11 years in various senior legal positions at Chevron in Houston, Texas, as well as six years in private practice. Her experience in the energy industry includes renewables (solar, wind and batteries), exploration and production, gas and power, trading, refining and chemicals, and marketing and shipping. She graduated cum laude from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and History and received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Stuart Stavley

Chief Operating Officer, Offshore Energy Services

Stuart Stavley

Stuart Stavley

Chief Operating Officer, Offshore Energy Services

Stuart Stavley was appointed as Chief Operating Officer for Energy Services in February 2023. In this role, he will have oversight of Bristow’s oil and gas operations in all the regions where the Company operates around the world. In addition, Stuart has global oversight for operational shared services, including Safety, Standards, Supply Chain, and Fleet Management functions, among others.

He has previously served as the Senior Vice President, Operations and Fleet Management from June 2020 to February 2023. Prior to that role, he served as Senior Vice President, Operations and Fleet Management for Era Group Inc. since 2014 and served in numerous positions since joining Era in 1993. Stuart served as Senior Vice President, Fleet Management from October 2012 to October 2014 and as Vice President, Fleet Management from October 2010 to October 2012. Stuart also served as Director of Technical Services from September 2008 to October 2010, Director of Maintenance from September 2005 to 2008, Chief Inspector and Field Aviation Maintenance Technician.

David Stepanek

Executive Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer

David Stepanek

David Stepanek

Executive Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer

David Stepanek became Bristow’s Executive Vice President, Sales and Chief Transformation Officer in March 2021. In this role, David is responsible for all sales, marketing, and commercial functions of the business. In addition to activities in Bristow’s existing end markets, his focus will include the transformation of Bristow’s business mix through strategic diversification into new markets.

David has previously served as Bristow’s Chief Operating Officer since June 2020. He served as Senior Vice President, Business Development of Era Group Inc. when he joined Era in January 2020. From 2010 through 2019, David held positions within PHI, Inc., most recently having served as President, PHI Americas, responsible for the overall performance and direction of PHI’s U.S. and international operations in the Western Hemisphere. Before becoming President PHI Americas, David served as PHI, Inc. Chief Commercial Officer and led the company’s growth in the Gulf of Mexico and international expansion including the acquisition of HNZ Group’s offshore helicopter business. Before joining PHI in 2010, David held a variety of leadership positions at Era Helicopters. After four years’ service in the US Marine Corps as a heavy lift helicopter avionics technician, David moved to Sikorsky as an avionics technician and field service representative; he was subsequently promoted and contributed to the sales and product development of the S-76 and S-92 aircraft, amongst many other roles.

Mary Wersebe

Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer

Mary Wersebe

Mary Wersebe

Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer

Mary Wersebe was appointed as Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer for the Bristow Group Inc. in June 2020. In this role, she is responsible for human resources, benefits and compensation, communications and corporate social responsibility.

Prior to this role, she served as Vice President, Human Resources effective August 2016. Mary previously served as the Company’s Interim Chief Administration Officer from June 2016 to August 2016. She joined the Company as Director, Human Resources Global Operations in May 2014. Prior to joining the Company, Mary was the Director Human Resources at Exterran from 2007 to 2014. Mary also served in human resources roles for Halliburton from 1999 to 2000 and 2001 to 2002, Aspen Technology from 2000 to 2001 and Ocean Energy from 2002 to 2003 after beginning her career with Browning Ferris Industries in 1997.

Jennifer Whalen

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Jennifer Whalen

Jennifer Whalen

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Jennifer Whalen is serving as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer for the Bristow Group Inc. beginning in June 2020. The CFO role is responsible for overseeing our Information Technology department, company accounting, decision support, financial reporting, internal audit, investor relations, strategy and M&A, tax, and other financial functions of the Company.

Previously, she served as the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, for Era Group Inc. since February 2018. Jennifer served as the Company's Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since August 2013 until her appointment as Vice President, Acting Chief Financial Officer in June 2017. Jennifer joined the company as Controller in April 2012. From August 2007 to March 2012, Jennifer served in several capacities at nLIGHT Photonics Corporation, a supplier of high-performance lasers, including as Director of Accounting. Prior to these roles, Jennifer served as the Manager of Accounting at InFocus Corporation for over two years. After serving in the U.S. military, Jennifer started her career in public accounting in the assurance practice group at PricewaterhouseCoopers for approximately five years. She received a B.S. in Accounting from Alabama A&M University and a master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

Samantha Willenbacher

Senior Vice President, Key Accounts

Samantha Willenbacher

Samantha Willenbacher

Senior Vice President, Key Accounts

Samantha “Sam” Willenbacher was appointed as the Senior Vice President, Key Accounts in February 2023. In this role, she will work closely with Bristow’s offshore energy customers around the world to ensure the Company is effectively meeting their current and future requirements. She will also provide global bid support to help the Company capture new business.

Sam previously served as the Senior Vice President, Americas for the Bristow Group Inc. from March 2021 to February 2023. She also served as the Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer for Bristow from June 2020 to March 2021. She has also held key leadership roles for Bristow as the Vice President, Global Commercial Strategy; Director, Americas Region; and the Director of UK Search and Rescue. Sam has also served as the Business Development Manager and later the Director of the Bristow Academy, at the time the world’s largest helicopter flight training school. She joined the Company in May 1998 through employment with Helicopter Adventures Inc., which later became the Bristow Academy.

Richard Lapin

Vice President, Global Affairs

Richard Lapin

Richard Lapin

Vice President, Global Affairs

Richard Lapin, Vice President, Global Affairs, joined Bristow in June 2021. He leads worldwide government affairs for the company and supports Bristow’s business development initiatives in the 16 countries where Bristow operates and in regions targeted for expansion.

Before joining Bristow, Richard spent 12 years at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and TotalEnergies in senior international commercial and government relations roles. Prior to joining Anadarko in 2010, Richard was Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration for Mayor Bill White of Houston, Texas from 2004 to 2009.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Yale University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Before law school, Richard was a teacher of English and Agriculture in the Peace Corps in Thailand, and after law school, Richard spent 10 years in the entertainment industry at DreamWorks SKG and Sony Entertainment.

Joe Pitzinger

Vice President, Treasury and Corporate Development

Joe Pitzinger

Joe Pitzinger

Vice President, Treasury and Corporate Development

Joe Pitzinger was appointed Vice President, Treasury and Corporate Development for Bristow Group Inc. in March 2021. In this role, he is responsible for corporate development initiatives, merger and acquisition activities and treasury functions.

Prior to this role, Joe most recently served as the Director of Corporate Development at Bristow, where he was responsible for the execution of merger and acquisition transactions and supporting the company’s broader strategic development initiatives. Since joining Bristow in 2012, Joe has served in several capacities, including as Assistant Treasurer and Manager of Merger, Acquisitions, and Integration.

Before joining Bristow, Joe worked within the KPMG Transaction Services advisory group performing financial due diligence on both buy and sell side transactions for private equity and corporate clients. Joe is a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Richard Tatum

Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer

Richard Tatum

Richard Tatum

Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer

Richard Tatum joined Bristow in the role of Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer on November 15, 2021. In this role, he serves as Bristow's Principal Accounting Officer responsible for accounting operations and financial reporting for the company.

Richard previously served at Pacific Drilling as Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer from August 2017 until its merger with Noble Corporation in April 2021. He served at Pacific Drilling as Vice President, Controller from March 2014 to July 2017, and as Director Financial Reporting from October 2010 to February 2014. From February 2009 to August 2010, Richard was the Director Financial Reporting at Frontier Drilling USA, Inc. He began his career as an auditor with Grant Thornton LLP, where he held a variety of roles with increasing responsibilities, his most recent position being a Manager in Grant Thornton’s National Professional Standards Group. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Russell Gould

Chief Safety Officer

Russell Gould

Russell Gould

Chief Safety Officer

Russell “Russ” Gould was appointed as Bristow’s Chief Safety Officer on February 24, 2023. In this position, he works with our business-unit leadership teams to support and define a consistent global standard with respect to Safety, Compliance, and Health, Safety and Environment management, which includes working closely with the leadership team to select safety and reporting systems and define standardized company reporting and risk management.

Russ has been a vital part of Bristow for more than 34 years, during which time he has gained extensive leadership experience in Airworthiness, Engineering, and Safety. He previously served as a Safety and Compliance Manager beginning in 2018. From 2013 to 2018, he served as the Director Global Fleet Support. Other roles included Fleet Support Manager, S-76  and EC155 Type Engineer, and licenced aircraft engineer. He started his career at Bristow in 1989 as an engineering apprentice. He has also served as the working group co-chair for Helicopter Health Monitoring for HeliOffshore, working towards the goal of safer and more reliable helicopter operations.