JetRanger III, 210 Among Helos On Chopping Block

Bell Helicopter announced Thursday it will terminate production of several of its older aircraft models, in order to accelerate deliveries of its high-demand aircraft.

Representatives with the Textron-owned helomaker tell ANN Bell is seeing healthy demand for its 412, 407 and new 429 commercial products... and in order to increase production capacity of those aircraft, Bell will end production of its 206B3 JetRanger III, 427, 430 and 210 helicopter models.

The company stresses all current customer commitments will be met through 2010, and all models will continue to be supported by Bell's customer support network.

"Our most recent analysis of the marketplace has indicated an increased demand for our 407 and 412 commercial helicopters, along with our outstanding new 429 model," said Bell President and CEO Dick Millman. "We are fully booked on these models until 2010. Consequently, we are both significantly increasing our overall capacity -- and eliminating production of some lower volume products. At the same time we are continuing to provide our number one rated customer support. We know that this is the best path forward to meet our customers' needs."

The decision follows an internal analysis by Bell, which deemed a more strategic allocation of resources was necessary to deliver a larger number of commercial helicopters each year.

Bob Fitzpatrick, Bell's senior vice president for Marketing and Sales said, "When we looked at the marketplace, we identified important trends in the market segments we serve. The data validated that the capabilities of our most popular models, along with our new product offerings, are well matched to meet market needs and we expect will continue to ensure Bell's strong competitive position.

"Bell is a customer-focused company and we are aligning our capacity to fulfill our customer requirements as quickly as we can," he continued. "The decision to eliminate these four products was difficult, but we feel our remaining product line-up along with new products in our development pipeline will benefit our customers and position the company for continued growth."

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com