Comapany Makes News At Paris Air Show

A lot of news is coming from Bell Helicopter during the Paris Air Show, beginning with the announcement that it has been awarded Phase 1.5 of a two-phase Joint Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft for the Marine Corps (MV-22), and Air Force Special Operations Command (CV-22).

Phase 1.5 of the contract, valued at $11 million, is a modification to an existing contract, designed to implement reliability improvements on a select number of aircraft components which have been determined to have a significant impact on mission readiness. Under the terms of the new contract, government is investing in non-recurring engineering costs to enable Bell Boeing engineers to design changes to certain key aircraft components to improve reliability.

"Phase 1.5 of the PBL process is the next step in this proactive partnership between government and industry," said Gene Cunningham, vice president of the Bell Boeing Program Office in Amarillo. "It will enable us to develop long-term improvements to several V-22 components that will be key to boosting aircraft reliability and mission readiness rates as we continue to mature the Osprey fleet."

Bell also announced the selection of its first Customer Service Facility (CSF) provider in Russia. Kazan Aviation Enterprise was appointed as a CSF offering field maintenance for the Bell model 407 helicopter.

Danny Maldonado, vice president for Customer Support and Bell's Chief Services Officer said, "Recently Bell Helicopter has seen a tremendous increase in the demand for our products in the Russian market. Establishing a CSF there is another indication of the growth we are experiencing, and the importance we place on the Russian market."

Mr. Magomed Bakhulayevich, President of Kazan Aviation Enterprise stated, "Being selected by Bell to be their first CSF in Russia is something we take great pride in and look forward to upholding the high standards Bell has for their CSF network."

The Bell CSF network consists of approximately 133 service facilities located in 33 countries.

And the company capped off the day letting us know about the sale of two 412EP helicopters to the New York Police Department (NYPD) for use as air sea rescue helicopters.

Bob Fitzpatrick, Sr. vice president of Business Development and Commercial Programs stated, "Having a customer like the NYPD, which uses our products everyday, come back and buy updated models to replace their older fleet is a great testament to the quality of our products and the high level of customer support we provide our products in the field."

The NYPD Aviation Unit is slated to receive these new four-axis helicopters with state of the art avionics and mission specific equipment.  Customization will be done by Edwards & Associates, Inc in Bristol, Tennessee.

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com