Leonardo Helicopters’ Sales, Profits Surging

Leonardo Helicopters managing director Gian Piero Cutillo is confident the airframer will achieve its goal of double-digit profitability by 2020 based on last year’s results. While the company cannot reveal specifics until it publicly releases its annual financial report on March 14, Cutillo told AIN in an interview last week that its 2018 helicopter deliveries were substantially higher than the 149 handed over in 2017, while order intake was also much higher.

Additionally, he noted that Leonardo had 40 percent market share (by value) in 2018 versus nearly 33 percent in 2017, continuing a growth trajectory that began in 2012. Cutillo said Leonardo has captured 40 percent of the VIP multi-engine market and that its North American fleet had more than doubled in the last decade, from just more than 200 to 450 helicopters. Notably, he said, Leonardo has ranked first in the U.S. for civil helicopter billings for the second year in a row. “I think we are on the right path. Both civil and military sales have grown,” he added.

Cutillo pointed to major sales successes over the last year as evidence of the market’s appetite for the company’s products and proof “we are considered reliable in the industry.” These include a $3.4 billion order for 28 NH90s from Qatar; $2.4 billion order for 84 MH-139s from the U.S. Air Force; $315 million order for 22 AW169Ms from Italy’s Guardia di Finanza; and orders from energy exploration support customers in Russia, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia for AW189s, AW169s, and AW139s.

Industry to Congress: Continue Funding Contract Towers

There are FAA Contract Control Towers at 256 airports around the U.S., handling 28 percent of all ATC tower operations. The contract control tower program accounts for only 14 percent of the FAA budget for air traffic control tower operations, an efficiency level measured by both DOT and FAA. On February 26 a mixed group of industry association leaders sent a letter to Rep. Nita Lowey (D-17-New York), chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, along with Sens. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and several other strategic decision-making representatives and senators imploring they continue funding the program at its full $170 million for Fiscal Year 2020, and leave key language from previous FAA spending bills in place.

“Federal contract towers operate with FAA-staffed facilities as part of a unified national air traffic control system. Absent this highly successful government/industry partnership, many local communities and smaller airports would not receive the safety benefits of ATC services,” said the letter, which was signed by NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, along with U.S. Contract Tower Association executive director J. Spencer Dickerson, AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker, NATA president Gary Dempsey, NASAO president and CEO Shelly Simi, Cargo Airline Association president Stephen Alterman, RAA president Faye Malarkey Black, Airports Council International–NA president and CEO Kevin Burke, and ATCA president and CEO Peter Dumont.

EBAA Reiterates Permit Deadline To Operate under Brexit

EBAA is warning foreign commerical operators, including those conducting on-demand charter, that they will not be able to continue any existing service to, from, or within the UK without a foreign carrier permit or third-party country approval (CAA Part TCO) before the UK’s planned March 29 exit from the European Union (EU).

Currently, an exemption exists that allows UK commercial operations without prior approval, but this will be withdrawn as part of the UK’s departure from the EU. To ensure continuity for UK operations post-Brexit, governmental agreements are being sought to cover reciprocal UK-EU operations under a transition period until December 2020.

In the absence of such agreements, charter or scheduled flights from within or via the UK will require a permit or a Part TCO approval. Private or state flights—as well as those undertaken for non-revenue purposes such as ferry, positioning, and maintenance—will be allowed without a permit or TCO.

According to EBAA, the requirement for EASA Part TCO approval before undertaking any commercial flight within the EU will be retained in the UK, and its CAA will be required to ensure that all foreign air carriers hold a UK Part TCO. The CAA has developed a streamlined process for approval, which will be valid for two years. There is no fee due if a UK TCO application is made before March 29.

FAA’s Duncan To Keynote BASS

Flight Safety Foundation is kicking off its 64th Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS) with senior FAA safety official John Duncan as the keynote speaker. Held in partnership with NBAA, the two-day BASS provides a forum for the business aviation community to discuss safety concerns, approaches to risk reduction, and initiatives to improve safety. This year’s event is scheduled for May 2 and 3 in Denver.

Duncan, who is the FAA’s deputy associate administrator for aviation safety, helps lead the organization within the FAA that establishes, oversees, and enforces safety standards for the aviation industry.

“His more than 30 years at FAA, plus his experience as a corporate and airline pilot before that, give him a unique perspective from which to address the challenges facing the aviation industry broadly, and business aviation specifically, today,” said FSF president and CEO Hassan Shahidi.

Duncan, who joined the FAA in 1986 as an aviation safety inspector, has held numerous positions within the agency, including as executive director of the Flight Standards Service. He has established a reputation for pursuing a collaborative approach to resolving safety issues. He has been a champion of the FAA’s Compliance Philosophy and also has been helping to steer the realignments within the agency’s safety organizations. 

Thales Reports Mixed 2018 Financial Results

In 2018, France’s Thales group performed very well in its defense and security sectors but was a bit less prosperous in aerospace. Total sales amounted to €15.86 billion ($17.97 billion), compared to €15.23 billion in 2017, up 4.1 percent. The organic change (at constant scope and currency) came in at +5.3 percent, thanks to strong growth numbers in defense and security sales, which increased 4.3 percent to €8.02 billion.

In the aerospace sector, sales totaled €5.78 billion, up 0.6 percent compared to 2017 (+1.4 percent at constant scope and currency). This limited growth reflects the slowdown of the commercial telecom satellite market (Thales’s Alenia space subsidiary), along with a high basis of comparison in in-flight entertainment. The slowdown was partly offset by good momentum in other aeronautical businesses.

Order intake last year amounted to €16.03 billion, up 7 percent from that of 2017 (+9 percent at constant scope and currency). Once again, order momentum was particularly strong in the defense and security segments. As of December 31, 2018, the Group’s order book stood at €32.3 billion. In 2018, consolidated EBIT amounted to €1.68 billion, or 10.6 percent of sales, compared to €1.36 billion in 2017. The aerospace segment posted EBIT of €580 million (10.0 percent of sales). The margin in this segment improved slightly, with competitiveness initiatives and lower restructuring costs offsetting the acceleration of R&D expenses.

First Fatal Bell 505 Crash Kills Five in Kenya

The first fatal Bell 505 accident occurred Sunday night in Kenya, killing all five aboard—four U.S. tourists and the pilot, a Kenyan national. The accident occurred shortly after takeoff at 8:35 p.m. local time as the helicopter—S/N 65037, registered to KIDL Helicopter Operations of Nairobi—was conducting a tourist flight from Lake Turkana Central Island to Lobolo Camp.

Rescue workers located the wreckage at 3:20 a.m. on Monday after a search was coordinated by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Rescue Coordination Center (RCC). An accident investigation has been launched by the Air Accident Investigation Department (AAID) of the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development, and Public Works.

The pilot of the helicopter, Marious Magonga, was KIDL’s chief pilot. He held an ATP, multi-engine, and instructor ratings, had served in the Kenya Defense Forces, and had accumulated more than 5,500 hours of total time in helicopters.

Indonesia Launches Crackdown on Flight Schools

The Indonesian Ministry of Transport (MOT) has decided to embark on a crackdown on flying schools across the country over the next six months to identify those conducting poor-quality courses. According to MOT official Eddy Wijaya, the action will address the lack of skills and knowledge of pilots produced by some of the schools. “MOT feels the current situation has a lot to do with the quality of the courses being offered,” Wijaya said.

In a recruitment exercise of one local carrier recently, only two of 150 recruits passed written and simulator tests while three out of 140 succeeded with another airline. An analysis by the MOT of those who failed revealed that they lacked skills and basic aviation knowledge in areas such as aviation law and navigation. Wijaya acknowledged that the knowledge and skills of newly graduated pilots must improve for aviation in Indonesia to move forward. The MOT has mandated each flying school to have a minimum of five single-engine aircraft and one multi-engine aircraft for training.

Although the MOT did not draw a direct relationship between the most recent audit and the three recent accidents involving Lion Air, the move comes as part of an effort to address Indonesia’s broader safety deficiencies.

Astronautics Nearing Finish Line for RoadRunner STC

Milwaukee-based Astronautics is nearing STC approval and has begun pre-production shipments of its RoadRunner drop-in replacement electronic flight instrument (EFI). Anticipating technical standard order shortly, Astronautics recently completed quality testing on the RoadRunner EFI and is testing initially for an STC aboard the Leonardo A109 light twin.

STC flight trials, which will take place in Minneapolis in the coming weeks, will validate required capabilities for all phases of flight, including LPV approaches, as well as the display of other functions such as GPS mapping and radar, the company said. Designed to reduce operating and maintenance costs, the RoadRunner is made to replace five-inch ADI and HSI electromechanical units.

Astronautics will own the initial STC on the A109 but already has begun pre-production shipping to customers and/or installation centers for development of STCs on other aircraft. The company has lined up a worldwide network of 16 dealers, some of which will be working on STCs. Astronautics president Chad Cundiff believes the initial STCs will involve aircraft such as the Bell 212, 412, and 214, as well as the UH-60L Firehawk. United Rotorcraft selected the AFI 4700 RoadRunner EFI for two of its Firehawks operated by the Ventura County Fire Department.

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