Case Study

Streamlining Workforce Travel: How Partnering with LodgeLink Benefits Citadel Drilling

Aug 21, 2023

'I highly recommend LodgeLink and no complaints. They're always a phone call away all the time, any time for us'

Time, effort, and money.

These are the key components of getting workers with hardhats into locations where they need to be – on time and safely.

For Citadel Drilling, a provider of efficient oil and gas drilling rigs to fully optimize drilling programs throughout North America, there are crews crossing the continent daily to keep up with the demands of client expectations.

“It's definitely a lot of shuffling,” says Alex Meaver, HR and Travel Coordinator at Citadel Drilling.

“I would say definitely get yourself a LodgeLink. They're always there for you… that's my number one tip" - Alex Meaver, HR and Travel Coordinator at Citadel Drilling

Here’s a look at Alex’s day-to-day responsibilities when managing workforce travel:

Crews working 20 days on, 10 days off year-round
15 to 25 travellers per shift
Multiple work locations throughout Canada and the USA
Each worker will have different needs depending on work and home locations

With those conditions, Alex alone would not be able to accommodate all the various travel needs of those crews. Luckily, she says Citadel has had a helping hand, in the form of LodgeLink.

“Our travelers are sometimes required to make alterations to their schedules based on work and family commitments - where they're traveling to or where they're coming from all the time as well. So there are definitely lots of last-minute requests, cancellations, and everything like that as well. If someone can't make their flight, misses their flight, it’s the same thing. I'm the first call and then the next call is right to (LodgeLink) as well to help us make sure we get everyone where they're supposed to go.”

Manually sifting through pricing for the thousands of flights Citadel Drilling needs on a yearly basis and trying to get the best price for them would be an unpleasant experience for Alex and her team. It’s where she has an advantage.

“You know, flying within Canada is very expensive. So that definitely increases the cost. And same thing in the States… in the busy months, the airlines tend to increase their prices quite a bit. So definitely that is a very big expense for us. Pricing with LodgeLink is definitely lower. We are given actual options. It doesn't just show up as an option and then there's not an actual seat,” she says.

“I know we've looked and said, ‘Well, here's this option on Expedia’, but when I go to LodgeLink, they're actually able to show me that there are no seats on there… they're just showing you that or they give you a price and you click on it and it happens to be thousands more. Whereas with LodgeLink, I get the actual price and the actual seat options. That saves money and time as well.”

“(We’ve been) very satisfied. Like I said, I highly recommend LodgeLink and (we have) no complaints. They're always a phone call away all the time, any time for us. We always say it's a team effort, but I definitely would give LodgeLink the MVP” - Alex Meaver

About Citadel Drilling:

To put it bluntly, Citadel Drilling is different. Part of the modern energy wave – Calgary- based Citadel is “a smart, dynamic company built on fresh ideas from experienced professionals.

With operations centres in Odessa, Texas and Leduc, Alberta, Citadel Drilling is service-focused and caters to their clients’ needs with a fleet of modern, technically advanced AC triple (TA²CT) rigs designed to optimize efficiencies and reduce expensive downtime and labor costs. They’ve also incorporated Opla Energy Ltd., which provides innovative managed pressure drilling (MPD) solutions through cutting edge technology and best in class engineering solutions.