Plan Support for MEGHAS Avionics on Eurocopter Fleet

By ANN Correspondent Juan Jimènez

Mssr. Gil Michielin, Thales Avionics Vice President and General Manager of the Helicopter Avionics division, announced at HAI that a support agreement has been signed with American Eurocopter and Eurocopter Canada, Ltd. Eurocopter Mexico SA will also be signing the agreement within the next two weeks.

The purpose of the agreement is to provide a support infrastructure to Eurocopter aircraft owners operating the MEGHAS avionics suite that Thales manufactures. The new agreement states that operators of two or fewer Eurocopter products will receive their MEGHAS support from Eurocopter, and operators with fleets of three or more aircraft will receive their support from Thales Avionics. Nevertheless, the agreement is flexible enough so that it permits the operator to obtain support from the source with which the operator feels most comfortable and which best fits operational needs.

The new agreement divides the planet into areas of support responsibility, some of which are the responsibility of Thales Avionics, some fall under Eurocopter's responsibility, and some are shared. Such is the case of USA and Canada, as well as some areas in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

According to Michielin, the primary benefits for the Eurocopter/MEGHAS operators will be better worldwide coverage, faster AOG deliveries due to optimized local inventory stocks, helicopter-level support contracts which will include the MEGHAS avionics suite, and a single pricing policy.

A new worldwide AOG inventory network will be established at the Edison, Singapore and Paris locations for all MEGHAS operators. A new facility in Seattle will also open this month to service MEGHAS and conventional instruments with a staff of eighty.

New online forum:

Finally, an online customer forum on the Web is now available, which provides a number of services through any browser and a connection to the Internet. This service makes sure that Thales maintains direct contact with all operators. It also gives full information on spares prices and availability, provides an interface to make AOG requests, and allows operators to monitor repair order and purchase order status. The on line system has access to 18,500 part numbers and 1,290 conventional LRU (line replaceable unit) part numbers, including all MEGHAS LRUs. Customer profiles can be created and stored for personalized messaging, special discounts, technical information and other individual services.

FMI: www.thalesgroup.com/avionics