Pros
Never questioned for turning down flights. Pilots are supported from the company. Billing to the customers happens in such a way that it reduces the pressure on pilots to take flights, not take them to make a quota. Training is top notch, Aircraft are well maintained. There's a great safety program that is easy to use and taken seriously. Operational control center staff are well trained and look out for your safety. Free benefits. Like free free. I've yet to see any deduction from my paycheck for a health insurance. Upper leadership seem to have a good handle on the trajectory of the company and are in tune with how the company operates. Upper management, DO, Chief pilots, Asst. Chiefs, and training department are super supportive. Todd Stanberry actually cares about his people, if you're walking around in the HQ and run into him He'll talk to you and actually listen, answer questions, and he remembers talking to you previously, pretty wild with such a large company. The company structure is diversified making it more stable. They operate and maintain air ambulances, but we also run a very large completion center that outfits most air ambulances in the country, So all of the income from the company doesn't come from one place. Overall it really just seems that the upper management guys care, I can't speak for anyone else, but as a line pilot I know i can call anyone of the instructors in the training department, or any of the chiefs and they would help. It's a pretty good feeling. They have an online leadership academy that you can improve yourself with, I'm not a rah-rah company guy buy any means and I don't write this to blow smoke in the least, but I really think the company is good.
Cons
The pay is hard to justify going to school for. Colligate helicopter programs can cost well over $200,000 for your certs and an associates degree. You can spend less out of pocket and go through smaller programs, but it's not a cheap investment by any means. Then you grind working jobs for pretty low pay and pretty high risk for 2-6 years to work up to 2,000 hours to be eligible for a HEMS pilot spot and the entry pay is in the realm of $75,000 (plus base stipends, if offered for your base). To me, that's not a great ROI. The only reason I can stay at this job is because my base has a pretty high stipend, but it's not comfortable knowing that stipends aren't promised forever. Looking at airplane certificates, you can spend less money on schooling, (though the experience grinding is similar to helicopters) and get a job with the airlines making substantially more money, for substantially less risk. Granted, the schedules are vastly different, there are pros and cons on both sides, but a salary in the high $100K-200K's is pretty tempting to make the jump to the fixed wing side.