SUPPLEMENTAL CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING FINANCIAL INFORMATION BS (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 131,908	$ 104,146	$ 121,366	$ 204,341
Accounts receivable	231,775	258,618
Inventories	146,590	147,169
Assets held for sale	52,916	57,827
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	48,691	70,091
Total current assets	611,880	637,851
Intercompany investment	0	0
Investment in unconsolidated affiliates	203,983	216,376
Intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Property and equipment, at cost	2,836,523	2,665,828
Less - Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(521,627)	(508,727)
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,314,896	2,157,101
Goodwill	52,530	75,628
Other assets	168,800	143,764
Total assets	3,352,089	3,230,720
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	79,951	84,193
Accrued liabilities	193,372	224,507
Deferred taxes	14,302	17,704
Short-term borrowings and current maturities of long-term debt	47,243	18,730
Contingent consideration	29,021	33,938
Deferred sale leaseback	0	55,934
Total current liabilities	363,889	435,006
Long-term debt, less current maturities	1,175,760	845,692
Intercompany notes payable	0	0
Accrued pension liabilities	82,620	99,576
Other liabilities and deferred credits	33,151	39,782
Deferred taxes	131,899	165,655
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	24,874	26,223
Common stock	377	376
Additional paid-in-capital	794,676	781,837
Retained earnings	1,199,977	1,284,442
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(278,344)	(270,329)
Treasury shares	(184,796)	(184,796)
Total Bristow Group stockholders' investment	1,531,890	1,611,530
Noncontrolling interests	8,006	7,256
Total stockholders' investment	1,539,896	1,618,786
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests and stockholders' investment	3,352,089	3,230,720
Parent Company
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	721	126	5,102	4,640
Accounts receivable	608,521	377,158
Inventories	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	4,493	4,850
Total current assets	613,735	382,134
Intercompany investment	1,196,032	1,410,347
Investment in unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Intercompany notes receivable	1,380,962	1,184,335
Property and equipment, at cost	135,936	111,287
Less - Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(21,557)	(16,431)
Property, plant and equipment, net	114,379	94,856
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets	44,826	43,423
Total assets	3,349,934	3,115,095
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	342,833	203,700
Accrued liabilities	16,802	31,805
Deferred taxes	1,048	(3,661)
Short-term borrowings and current maturities of long-term debt	24,501	9,088
Contingent consideration	0	0
Deferred sale leaseback		0
Total current liabilities	385,184	240,932
Long-term debt, less current maturities	1,148,223	812,536
Intercompany notes payable	0	100,000
Accrued pension liabilities	0	0
Other liabilities and deferred credits	11,593	17,144
Deferred taxes	112,629	141,771
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Common stock	377	376
Additional paid-in-capital	794,676	781,837
Retained earnings	1,199,977	1,284,442
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(119,377)	(80,604)
Treasury shares	(184,796)	(184,796)
Total Bristow Group stockholders' investment	1,690,857	1,801,255
Noncontrolling interests	1,448	1,457
Total stockholders' investment	1,692,305	1,802,712
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests and stockholders' investment	3,349,934	3,115,095
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	828	884	394	0
Accounts receivable	510,761	342,239
Inventories	38,990	44,285
Assets held for sale	43,579	54,695
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	7,375	7,035
Total current assets	601,533	449,138
Intercompany investment	111,379	111,380
Investment in unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Intercompany notes receivable	13,786	0
Property and equipment, at cost	1,273,921	1,165,164
Less - Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(231,037)	(223,245)
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,042,884	941,919
Goodwill	4,756	4,756
Other assets	899	988
Total assets	1,775,237	1,508,181
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	710,978	369,854
Accrued liabilities	33,875	37,860
Deferred taxes	1,917	2,503
Short-term borrowings and current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Contingent consideration	0	0
Deferred sale leaseback		55,934
Total current liabilities	746,770	466,151
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Intercompany notes payable	113,586	131,075
Accrued pension liabilities	0	0
Other liabilities and deferred credits	7,246	8,379
Deferred taxes	5,202	6,346
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Common stock	4,996	4,996
Additional paid-in-capital	9,291	9,291
Retained earnings	888,146	881,943
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	0	0
Treasury shares	0	0
Total Bristow Group stockholders' investment	902,433	896,230
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' investment	902,433	896,230
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests and stockholders' investment	1,775,237	1,508,181
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	130,359	103,136	115,870	200,147
Accounts receivable	388,293	447,776
Inventories	107,600	102,884
Assets held for sale	9,337	3,132
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	36,823	58,206
Total current assets	672,412	715,134
Intercompany investment	148,865	0
Investment in unconsolidated affiliates	203,983	216,376
Intercompany notes receivable	3,600	0
Property and equipment, at cost	1,426,666	1,389,377
Less - Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(269,033)	(269,051)
Property, plant and equipment, net	1,157,633	1,120,326
Goodwill	47,774	70,872
Other assets	123,075	99,353
Total assets	2,357,342	2,222,061
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	358,814	289,838
Accrued liabilities	1,213,763	172,851
Deferred taxes	11,337	18,862
Short-term borrowings and current maturities of long-term debt	22,742	9,642
Contingent consideration	29,021	33,938
Deferred sale leaseback		0
Total current liabilities	1,635,677	525,131
Long-term debt, less current maturities	27,537	33,156
Intercompany notes payable	158,323	1,065,918
Accrued pension liabilities	82,620	99,576
Other liabilities and deferred credits	14,928	21,711
Deferred taxes	14,068	17,538
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	24,874	26,223
Common stock	22,876	22,876
Additional paid-in-capital	284,048	284,048
Retained earnings	35,482	133,559
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	50,351	(13,474)
Treasury shares	0	0
Total Bristow Group stockholders' investment	392,757	427,009
Noncontrolling interests	6,558	5,799
Total stockholders' investment	399,315	432,808
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests and stockholders' investment	2,357,342	2,222,061
Consolidations, Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ (446)
Accounts receivable	(1,275,800)	(908,555)
Inventories	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(1,275,800)	(908,555)
Intercompany investment	(1,456,276)	(1,521,727)
Investment in unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Intercompany notes receivable	(1,398,348)	(1,184,335)
Property and equipment, at cost	0	0
Less - Accumulated depreciation and amortization	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,130,424)	(3,614,617)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,332,674)	(779,199)
Accrued liabilities	(1,071,068)	(18,009)
Deferred taxes	0	0
Short-term borrowings and current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Contingent consideration	0	0
Deferred sale leaseback		0
Total current liabilities	(2,403,742)	(797,208)
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Intercompany notes payable	(271,909)	(1,296,993)
Accrued pension liabilities	0	0
Other liabilities and deferred credits	(616)	(7,452)
Deferred taxes	0	0
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Common stock	(27,872)	(27,872)
Additional paid-in-capital	(293,339)	(293,339)
Retained earnings	(923,628)	(1,015,502)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(209,318)	(176,251)
Treasury shares	0	0
Total Bristow Group stockholders' investment	(1,454,157)	(1,512,964)
Noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' investment	(1,454,157)	(1,512,964)
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests and stockholders' investment	(4,130,424)	(3,614,617)
Land and Building
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	246,667	171,959
Land and Building | Parent Company
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	5,105	2,830
Land and Building | Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	63,190	50,946
Land and Building | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	178,372	118,183
Land and Building | Consolidations, Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	0	0
Aircraft And Equipment
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	2,589,856	2,493,869
Aircraft And Equipment | Parent Company
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	130,831	108,457
Aircraft And Equipment | Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	1,210,731	1,114,218
Aircraft And Equipment | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	1,248,294	1,271,194
Aircraft And Equipment | Consolidations, Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Property and equipment, at cost	$ 0	$ 0