Outlook Has Worsened Over The Past Six Months

Bell Helicopter officials say that the commercial helicopter market may not see significant recovery until sometime in the first half of 2017.

Reuters reports that Patrick Moulay, VP of global sales for Bell, said that the outlook for commercial helicopters had worsened over the past six months. The industry had expected to see improvement sometime next year, but they have revised those estimates.

Moulay said the industry has "given up" on a recovery in 2016, and now does not expect an uptick until the first of second quarter of 2017. But he said Bell is in a better position than some companies, because only about 10-15 percent of its business relies on the oil and gas sector.

The delay will actually give Bell an opportunity to complete development of the 525 Relentless aircraft, which is expected to hit the market in 2017, about when the oil and gas sector is expected to begin buying and leasing aircraft again.  He said another bright spot is the company's 407 armored light attack helicopter, which has seen strong demand in the Gulf region.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com