PRODUCT SUPPORT SPECIAL REPORT Data compiled by David Leach SURVEY 2015 Text by Matt Thurber Part 1: AIRCRAFT

n addition to designing and manufacturing safe and efficient aircraft, there is probably no function more Iimportant to aircraft manufacturers than after-sale support. Once again, AIN’s ­annual Product Support Survey captures reader input to evaluate the level of support provided by these companies, and this year there are some surprises among the aircraft­ OEMs. Next month, Avionics. In the October­ issue, Engines.

GULFSTREAM G650

to third place this year, followed models’ overall averages climbed Gulfstream takes top spot for jets, by Sikorsky, down 0.7 to 6.3. this year to 8.0 (0.2 and 0.3, leads turboprop pack respectively), putting them in Newer Jets fourth place, followed by the AIN readers selected Gulf- as last year) and Textron Avi- In the newer jets category, Global models with the same 7.8 stream as the top provider of ation’s Citations (at 7.7 up 0.3 Gulfstream’s large-cabin mod- rating as last year. The Challeng- product support services for from last year). els secured the top spot again, ers scored highest in overall air- its large-cabin jets in the com- The most significant move climbing 0.1 to the highest over- craft reliability at 9.1. Learjet’s bined overall average cate- this year saw Textron’s Hawker, all average of 8.3. Significant highest rating was 7.8 for fac- gory in the 2015 AIN Prod- Premier and Beechjet series up contributors to Gulfstream’s tory-owned service centers. uct Support Survey, hoisting 0.8 to 7.2, likely an indication overall average include top rat- In the newer jets category, the company to a solo first- that the company’s consolida- ings for parts availability (8.5), Textron again received high place finish after last year’s tie tion efforts are paying off. AOG response (8.7) and war- marks from AIN readers, with with Embraer. The Savannah, There are no big surprises ranty fulfillment (9.0). a climb in ratings compared to Ga., airframer’s large jets cap- in the turboprop segment, Dassault’s Falcons moved last year. The Citations jumped tured a combined overall aver- with Mitsubishi’s MU-2 still in up 0.4 to gain second place half a point to 7.8, for a tie with age rating of 8.3 this year, up the top spot, although down in this category with an over- Bombardier’s Globals. Hawker from last year’s 8.1. Embraer slightly to an overall average all average of 8.2 and up from jets climbed 0.4 to 7.0 and the

retained its 8.1 rating, which of 9.1 (which remains the high- third place last year. Autho- Premier and are up www.ainonline.com moves the Brazilian manufac- est of any manufacturer). Pila- rized service centers (8.6) and nearly a point, also to 7.0, aided turer to second place after a tus’s PC-12s again took second technical reps (8.9) contributed by highest ratings for techni- tie for first last year, and this place, this year with a rating of to Dassault’s overall average. cal reps (8.9) and maintenance year tied with Dassault Falcon, 7.6, down from 7.9 last year. In second place last year, tracking programs (9.0). which retained its second-place ’s Embraer this year scored the slot from last year. King Airs saw a jump this year, same 8.1 overall average, now Older Jets In third place this year up 0.4 to 7.4. sharing third place with Gulf- Gulfstream large-cabins is Bombardier’s Challenger In the rotorcraft arena, Bell stream’s midsize jets. Embraer’s took the top spot in this cate- series, climbing 0.2 to an 8.0 retained its first-place finish with top categories included an 8.5 gory, with a boost of 0.5 to an rating and besting its siblings, a strong jump to 7.9 (up 0.7). In for its technical manuals. overall average of 8.3, pushing the Global and Learjet models a major change, Airbus Heli- Gulfstream midsize jets saw Bombardier’s Challengers to both with a 7.7 rating (Globals copters moved from last place a 0.3 jump to 8.1, retaining last second place at 8.0 (same rating down 0.1 and Learjets up 0.2 to snag the second-place spot, year’s third-place finish. Cost as last year). For Gulfstream, from last year). Bombardier’s with the largest rating change of of parts (7.4) was the highest factory-owned service centers Globals and Learjets tied for any manufacturer, up 1.9 to 7.5. category rating for these jets. (7.7), AOG response (8.6), war- fourth place with Gulfstream’s AgustaWestland saw a drop of On the Bombardier front, ranty fulfillment (9.1), technical midsize models (the same 7.7 0.3 to 6.8, moving from second both the Challenger and Learjet reps (8.6), maintenance tracking © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to from lastyear’s fourth place. Citations inthird place, up last year’s ratings, withthe gory climbedcompared with models intheolderjetscate- with Gulfstream at 8.6). (8.5) andAOG response (tied centers (8.2),partsavailability egories were service authorized uals (8.7).TheFalcon topcat- parts (7.1)andtechnicalman- top categories includedcostof year’s rating. TheChallenger bump for Dassaultfrom last second placeat 8.0,witha0.2 Bombardier’s Challengersfor to itstopoverall average. craft reliability (9.1)contributed programs (9.0)andoverall air SURVEY 2015 PRODUCT SUPPORT Sikorsky AgustaWestland Airbus Helicopters Bell Rotorcraft Beechcraft (KingAir) Pilatus (PC-12) Mitsubishi (MU-2,Solitaire,Marquise) Turboprops (Premier, Beechjet400/400A, Hawker400XP) Textron Aviation Textron Aviation (Hawker) Textron Aviation (Citation) Gulfstream (G100-G280) Bombardier (Learjet) Bombardier (Global) Bombardier (Challenger) Embraer (Phenom,Legacy, Lineage) Gulfstream (GII-GV, G330-G650) Jets Dassault (Falcon) *Listed inorderofthe 2015overallaverage;tiesarelistedalphabetically; bold All of the TextronAll of Aviation Dassault’s Falcons tiedwith Combined OverallAverage Ratings of Newer andOlderAircraft - age, down 0.4from lastyear. readers, witha7.7overall aver turboprops, according toAIN product supportfor newer of Newer Turboprops ters (tiedwithDassault). 8.2 for servicecen- authorized Gulfstream large-cabins) and service centers(7.7,tiedwith high ratings for factory-owned and Beechjetmodelsreflect nificant 0.7, to 7.4. Premier models alsoclimbed,upasig- The Premier andBeechjet Bombardier’s Learjetsat 7.5. into fourth placetotiewith and olderjets, at 1.3,moving boththenewer ing increase of Hawkers hadthebiggestrat- Pilatus isthetopprovider indicates highestnumber ineachcategory Average Overall 2015 7.9 9.1 8.3 6.3 6.8 7.5 7.4 7.6 7.2 7.2 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 8.0 8.1 8.1 -

with thehighestrating at 9.1 shi’s MU-2isstillthemarque Older Turboprops craft ­ response (7.8)andoverall air parts(7.1),AOG (7.8), costof ters (7.0),partsavailability for factory-owned servicecen- this year, aidedby topratings up, having climbed0.5to7.5 craft KingAirsare catching programs (8.3). (8.1) andmaintenancetracking manuals (8.5),technicalreps ranty fulfillment(7.9),technical servicecenters(7.0),warrized autho- came inthecategories of The company’s highestratings No surpriseshere: Mitsubi- Textron Aviation’s Beech­ Average Overall 2014 7.2 9.2 8.1 8.1 7.0 7.1 5.6 7.0 7.9 6.4 6.4 7.4 7.7 7.5 7.8 7.8 7.8 reliability (8.9). Change from 2014-2015 Rating -0.7 -0.3 -0.1 -0.3 -0.1 1.9 0.4 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.2 - - this category. the rating that Bellreceived in tracking programs, matching was a7.5for maintenance craft reliability. ters received for overall air rating that Airbus Helicop- having beenbestedby the8.4 10categories,in nineoutof is supportedby highscores Rotorcraft this year. ing, having climbed0.3to7.3 technical reps. craft reliability and 9.7 for est scores a9.8for overall air 10 categories, with the high- MU-2s scored highestinall year). Inthissection,the (down slightly 0.1from last results tofollow inOctober. September issue, withengine port results willappear inthe from 8.8lastyear. Bombardier’s Challengers, up for overall aircraft reliability for respectively); 9.1 andarating of technical reps (up2.0and1.7, programs category and 8.9 for in themaintenancetracking tion’s Premier andHawker 400 a climbto9.0for Textron Avia- con, compared to8.4lastyear; year; technicalreps 8.9for Fal- Gulfstreams, to9.0from 8.5last ranty fulfillmentfor large-cabin jets;warGulfstream midsize parts, to7.4from 5.8forcost of centers, upfrom 7.7lastyear; with 8.6 for service authorized newer jets:DassaultFalcon improvements included,inthe upwardflected moves. although notallcategories re- improvements over lastyear, ings, someshowing significant ing changesinthecategory rat- Most Improved AgustaWestland’s top score Bell’s first-place rating Older KingAirsare advanc- The avionics product sup- thebiggest Some of There were someinterest- o - - -

© 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com AgustaWestland Airbus Helicopters Bell Rotorcraft (allages) Beechcraft (KingAir) Solitaire, Marquise) Mitsubishi (MU-2, Older Turboprops Beechcraft (KingAir) Pilatus (PC-12) Newer Turboprops 400XP) 400/400A, Hawker (Premier, Beechjet Textron Aviation (Hawker) Textron Aviation Bombardier (Learjet) (Citation) Textron Aviation G300-G550) Gulfstream (GII-GV, Older BusinessJets Dassault (Falcon) (Challenger) Bombardier 400XP) (Premier, Hawker Textron Aviation (Hawker) Textron Aviation (Citation) Textron Aviation Bombardier (Global) Bombardier (Learjet) (Challenger) Bombardier (G100-G280) Gulfstream Legacy, Lineage) Embraer (Phenom, Listed inorderof2015 overallaverage;tiesarelistedalphabetically; boldindicateshighestnumber ineachcategory Sikorsky Dassault (Falcon) (G300-G650) Gulfstream Newer BusinessJets 2015 Category Ratings by Ratingsby 2015 Category Newer andOlderAircraft SURVEY 2015 PRODUCT SUPPORT

Average Average Overall 2015 7.9 9.1 7.7 8.3 8.3 6.8 7.5 7.3 7.5 7.4 7.5 7.5 7.7 8.0 8.0 7.0 7.0 7.8 7.8 8.0 8.0 8.1 8.1 6.3 8.2

Average Average Overall 2014 7.2 9.2 8.0 8.2 7.1 5.6 7.0 7.0 8.1 6.7 6.2 7.4 7.3 7.8 7.8 6.1 6.6 7.3 7.8 7.7 7.8 7.8 8.1 7.0 7.8

2014-2015 Change Change Rating Rating -0.3 -0.1 -0.4 -0.7 from from 1.9 0.7 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.3 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.0 0.9 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.4 0.1 Centers Service Service Factory Factory Owned 7.8 8.6 7.0 7.7 7.7 7.8 6.2 7.2 6.1 6.1 6.9 6.9 6.7 7.3 6.4 6.9 6.7 7.4 7.4 7.1 7.7 7.7 7.5 5.4 7.6

Authorized Authorized Centers Service Service 8.1 9.0 8.2 7.0 8.2 8.6 7.1 7.5 8.2 6.9 7.7 7.8 7.1 7.6 7.7 7.7 7.5 7.6 7.9 7.8 8.0 8.5 7.5 5.2 7.5 Availability Parts Parts 7.6 9.5 7.8 8.5 8.5 6.2 7.0 8.0 7.2 7.5 7.0 7.5 7.8 8.2 8.0 5.9 6.2 7.7 7.3 8.0 7.8 8.0 8.1 8.2 6.4 Cost of Cost of Parts 7.0 8.5 7.1 7.1 7.4 5.9 6.3 5.1 4.9 6.7 6.1 6.0 6.5 5.9 6.5 5.1 5.1 6.2 6.3 6.9 6.3 7.0 6.7 5.6 6.6 Response 7.6 9.4 7.8 8.6 8.6 8.7 AOG AOG 6.4 7.5 7.1 6.6 7.5 7.8 7.4 7.8 8.2 6.8 7.6 7.8 8.0 8.1 8.1 8.6 8.1 8.2 6.3 Fulfillment Warranty Warranty 8.6 8.4 7.9 9.1 9.0 7.6 7.6 5.3 7.3 7.5 7.1 7.3 8.2 8.1 8.0 4.4 6.4 8.1 8.0 8.5 8.5 8.4 8.6 8.5 6.5 Technical Manuals 8.2 9.2 8.5 8.7 8.5 6.3 7.7 8.2 7.3 8.6 7.5 7.9 7.7 7.7 8.3 7.7 7.0 7.9 8.2 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.1 6.3 8.3 Technical Reps 8.7 9.7 8.1 8.6 8.9 8.9 7.7 8.5 7.9 6.9 7.8 7.9 8.3 8.2 8.5 8.5 7.9 8.3 8.6 8.8 8.6 8.1 8.7 6.5 8.7

Maintenance Maintenance Programs Tracking 7.5 7.5 8.8 8.3 9.0 9.0 7.3 7.2 7.7 7.9 8.3 8.0 8.2 8.7 8.4 8.0 8.5 7.9 8.4 8.6 7.9 8.6 5.9 8.6 8.6 Reliability Aircraft Aircraft Overall Overall 8.4 9.8 8.9 9.1 9.1 7.2 8.0 9.2 8.4 8.7 8.6 7.6 8.6 9.0 8.3 8.9 7.9 8.4 8.3 8.0 8.3 8.6 7.4 8.8 8.9

© 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY RULES AND SURVEY 2015 METHODOLOGY As with AIN Publications’ previous annual Product Support Surveys, the objective this year was to obtain from the users of business jets, turboprop airplanes and turbine-pow- ered helicopters statistically valid information What have about the product support provided by busi- ness aircraft manufacturers over the last year and to report this information to our readers. you done for The ultimate goal of the survey is to encour- age continuous improvement in aircraft product support throughout the industry. me lately? This survey was conducted via a dedicated website, created by AIN from the ground up to Each year, AIN asks aircraft manu- provide improved ease of use and to encourage facturers to submit summaries of key BOMBARDIER greater reader participation. improvements in their product sup- AIN emailed qualified readers a link to the port implemented during the past year, survey website and questionnaire. In total, and the following reflects these submis- East, and Arabasco is one of more than 16,338 readers were invited to participate in sions. Not all OEMs responded to AIN’s 50 ASFs worldwide. the survey. request for information. Bombardier appointed Indamer Avia- The survey website was open from May 4 to tion in Ahmedabad, India, an ASF for all June 12. Respondents were asked to rate indi- Globals. The company has been servicing vidual aircraft and provide the tail number, age Fixed-wing business aircraft for more than 67 years (less than 10 years old or more than 10), pri- Bombardier Business Aircraft and is housed in a 34,660-sq-ft facility. mary region of service and whether they used During the past year, Bombardier’s In the U.S., Bombardier has added six factory-owned or authorized service centers, or Business Aircraft segment has opened customer response team trucks, bringing both. Respondents were also asked to rate, on a new regional support office (RSO) in the total to 13, all connected to the 24/7 a scale from 1 to 10, the quality of service Munich, Germany, with four field ser- customer response center and the service they received during the previous 12 months vice representatives, three customer sup- center network. in the following categories: port account managers, a spare parts • Factory-owned Service Centers–cost manager, field service administrative Dassault Falcon estimates versus actual, on-time analyst and an RSO manager. Additions to Dassault Aviation’s ser- performance, scheduling ease, service experience. Both the Munich and Farnborough vice network include ExecuJet Aviation • Authorized Service Centers–same RSOs handle Bombardier business air- Nigeria, based in Lagos, now an ASC for as above. craft customers operating more than line maintenance and inspections on the • Parts Availability–in stock versus back order, 570 aircraft in Europe. There are now 15 Falcon 7X, 900 and 2000. The ExecuJet shipping time. RSOs worldwide. ASC will support a Falcon GoTeam • Cost of Parts–value for price paid. European operators can also obtain to help customers with AOG issues in • AOG Response–speed, accuracy, cost. maintenance at the new Bombardier line West Africa as well as $1 million worth • Warranty Fulfillment–ease of paperwork, maintenance station in Nice, France, of spares. This is Dassault’s third ASC in extent of coverage. which is affiliated with the company’s fac- Africa and the second ExecuJet ASC. • Technical Manuals–ease of use, formats www.ainonline.com tory-owned service center in Amsterdam. Ligare Aviation Engineering of Delhi, available, timeliness of updating. To support Challenger 605s in Saudi India, was appointed an ASC for AOG • Technical Reps–response time, knowledge, Arabia, Bombardier added Arabasco service level maintenance on 7Xs based in effectiveness. as an authorized service facility (ASF). India and transient aircraft. • Maintenance Tracking Programs–cost, ease Maintenance will be done at Arabasco’s In April, Dassault Aviation signed of use, accuracy, reliability. Jeddah facility. More than 100 Bombar- an ASC agreement naming Deer Jet of • Overall Product Reliability–how the product’s dier business jets are based in the Middle Beijing to provide line and unscheduled reliability and quality stack up against the maintenance for Chinese-registered 7Xs. competition. Respondents were also asked to recog- By the Numbers 2015 Three technicians on the Deer Jet staff provide Falcon support 24/7. The facil- nize individuals who have provided them with Respondents who rated aircraft 967 ity also stocks spares, supplemented by exceptional product support and service. The Respondents who completed the 850 a $5 million spares inventory at Das- full list of these people is available online at survey in its entirety sault’s Beijing warehouse. Dassault also www.ainonline.com/above-beyond-2015. The 2015 AIN Product Support Survey Aircraft rated 2,412 expanded Falcon jet spares at its Singa- results for aircraft are published in this issue, Aircraft models receiving ratings 160 pore depot by 50 percent. avionics will be featured next month and Last November Dassault Falcon engines will follow in October. n Minimum ratings required to be 20 Service, the manufacturer’s factory- included in the data owned service network, announced © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY 2015

plans for a heavy MRO facil- Dassault Right Size program devices, is now available on 1000 operators. The Paris facil- ity at Bordeaux-Mérignac in has cut prices on tens of thou- Android devices and allows ity is moving into a new building France, next to the Falcon sands of parts. operators to open a case with that will be easier for customers manufacturing plant. the contact center. to access and double the size The facility is sched- Embraer Executive Jets As the fleet grows, Embraer of the existing facility. The new uled to open in the middle Marking the fifth anni- continues to add field service building will open in the second of next year and will eventu- versary of its customer sup- representatives. In Sorocaba, half of next year. ally employ up to 70 special- port contact center, Embraer Brazil, Embraer opened its new The Embraer USA service ists and technicians. There are Executive Jets opened a new factory-owned service center center in Phoenix now offers currently three heavy MRO contact center to improve inte- and FBO in March last year. in-house Phenom main and facilities in the service net- nosewheel overhaul services. work–in Little Rock, Ark., A permanent mobile res- Wilmington, Del., and Le cue unit is now in place at Bourget, France–plus a major Teterboro Airport. service center in Reno, Nev., Embraer has consolidated a and a line service center in complete spares inventory in Sin- Sorocaba, Brazil. Seven sat- gapore and Australia and expand- ellite stations provide trou- ed its spares depot in Bangalore. bleshooting and unscheduled maintenance worldwide. Gulfstream FalconResponse was Gulfstream secured Part launched in May, designed to 145 repair station approvals for return grounded aircraft to ser- its service centers in Sorocaba, vice more quickly. FalconRe- Brazil, and Beijing, allowing sponse provides guarantees for these facilities to offer main- timely spares and technician tenance services on U.S.-regis- dispatch for AOG repairs any- tered Gulfstreams. At Sorocaba, where in the world, plus avail- DASSAULT FALCON SPARES WAREHOUSE the company opened a new ability of alternative lift. The facility encompassing nearly

three Falcon command cen- gration of support personnel Other company service centers 38,000 sq ft and offering seven www.ainonline.com ters can send one of two Falcon technical teams and to offer have added capabilities, such as customer offices and a 1,077-sq- 900s not only to deliver spares more comprehensive around- foreign maintenance approvals ft bonded parts warehouse. The but also to provide the alter- the-clock support. at Embraer’s U.S. service cen- new facility is more accessible native lift, something that Fal- The company’s Aircraft ters, Rolls-Royce engine main- for customers. con was first to implement. One Health Analysis and Diagno- tenance approval at the São José At Gulfstream’s Appleton, of the Falcon 900s is based in sis system has been expanded dos Campos Embraer Executive Wis. service center, the com- Teterboro and the other one, the to cover the latest models: the Jet Services facility and Chinese pany added a 25,500-sq-ft han- first placed in service, is based at Legacy 500, which entered ser- approval as a third-party ser- gar dedicated to maintenance Paris Le Bourget. The airborne vice last year; and the Leg- vice provider for Legacy 600/650 for midsize Gulfstreams and support 900s serve North, Cen- acy 450, slated to enter service AOG services and line checks at able to fit up to five aircraft. Jet tral and South America, Eu- later this year. FlightSafety Beijing Capital Airport. Aviation is now offering main- rope, Russia, the Middle East International received EASA At Embraer’s Paris Le tenance, repair and overhaul and most of Africa. approval for Legacy 500 main- Bourget service center, the services for Gulfstreams at its Dassault says its spares net- tenance training. company has added a mobile Teterboro facility. Gulfstream’s work is now filling more than Embraer’s customer sup- response unit, airworthiness Westfield, Mass. service cen- 98.5 percent of orders within port and services guide mobile management service and line ter is managing the Teterboro the requested time frame. The app, first released for iOS maintenance service for Lineage MRO, and 11 technicians are © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY 2015

based there. At Brunswick, Ga., the Gulfstream service center added a 110,000-sq-ft hangar, which began operations in May and created 60 new jobs. Last September, Gulfstream opened a new European parts distribution center near Lon- don Heathrow Airport. This facility supports Gulfstream’s Luton service center and the company’s Europe-based mo- bile repair unit. In October, Gulfstream’s GULFSTREAM LUTON new MyCMP mobile app went live, offering customers access to the MyCMP maintenance- them located in North Amer- take training seriously and are biennial free Pilots Review of tracking program on iOS and ica, and product support for happy to undergo the strin- Proficiency seminars, MHIA Android devices. According to these high-performance twin gent MU-2 Special FAR train- and TAS polled MU-2 owners Gulfstream, “The app presents turboprops remains exem- ing process mandated by the to see how long they planned critical aircraft information, plary, judging by the high FAA, which has dramatically to keep their airplanes, and 70 including aircraft status, current ratings awarded by AIN read- lowered the accident rate in percent said 15 years or more. hours and landings, next mainte- ers. A surprising number of the type. “We’re going to need to sup- MHIA not only contin- port these airplanes for a long ues to provide parts to sup- time,” Cannon said. port the remaining MU-2s, including sourcing new ven- One Aviation dors to build higher-qual- Eclipse Aerospace merged ity parts when necessary, but with Kestrel Aircraft earlier also to offer upgrades, such as this year and formed One Avi- an upcoming angle-of-attack ation, which manufactures the

indicator system. MHIA is Eclipse 550 very light jet and www.ainonline.com also exploring a stretched- is developing the K350 tur- acrylic window to replace boprop single. The startup of aging Plexiglas cast windows, production of the 550 is ben- Cannon said. efitting owners of earlier 500s EMBRAER MOBILE SUPPORT Some MU-2 control wheels because many of the 550 fea- are deteriorating, and TAS tures are available as upgrades nance due and open and closed MU-2s are selling to pilots is looking into certifying a on the 500 series. system discrepancies. Users can who are transitioning into replacement, which could be Eclipse 500 upgrades now also create maintenance pro- the MU-2 for the first time, adapted from Beechjet 400 include the 550 avionics pack- jections, update flight logs and according to Pat Cannon, wheels. This could include a age by IS&S as well as auto- enter maintenance discrepancies president of Turbine Aircraft four-way trim switch mounted throttles, anti-skid brakes and directly from the app.” Services (TAS), which con- on the wheel. TAS is also cer- glass-faced windshields. Other tracts with Mitsubishi Heavy tifying new hose kits for the upgrades will reduce scheduled Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Industries America (MHIA) MU-2, to replace original Jap- maintenance requirements, America to provide product support. anese-made hoses that had rel- according to the company. There are 285 Mitsubishi Many of the new buyers are atively high prices. Other Eclipse develop- MU-2s still flying, most of younger pilots, too, and they At the 2014 edition of the ments include an extension © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY 2015

information manuals on its The Paris center recently website. The company has moved into a larger facility enhanced the MyPilatus.com with improved client access portal and released improved and more capacity at Paris Le versions of its iOS and Android Bourget Airport. customer service apps. The Textron Aviation mobile service fleet numbers Textron Aviation more than 60 vehicles, and the Consolidation under the company added another air- Textron Aviation brand and a craft to its AOG fleet. move to offer maintenance for On the spares front, Textron Beechcraft, Cessnas and Hawk- Aviation is adding inventory, ers at more factory-owned ser- including more parts located at vice centers seems to have its service centers, and will intro- TEXTRON AVIATION boosted AIN reader ratings for duce a new parts-ordering web- these aircraft in this year’s Prod- site later this year. The fill rate of the warranties on the 550 located logistic and customer uct Support Survey. Eight of the for Hawker and Beechcraft and for replacement parts on support representatives. company’s facilities now service parts has climbed to 96 percent 500s as well as price reduc- . all models, and by the end of this from 85 percent. ProAdvantage tions on many key parts. Pilatus year all 14 North American facil- maintenance cost programs are The company has also added Pilatus reached a milestone ities will offer maintenance for the now available for King Air and an Eclipse service center in during the past year when the three formerly separate brands. Hawker operators. Eelde, The Netherlands. PC-12 fleet, which now num- bers more than 1,320 aircraft, Piaggio exceeded five million flying Under its new identity as hours. More than 530 of those Piaggio Aerospace, the Ital- are the latest PC-12 NG model, ian manufacturer of the Avanti and they have already logged twin turboprop said it has more than three quarters of a “completely restructured its million hours. customer support and train- Pilatus product-support www.ainonline.com ing organization.” To do so, activities last year included the company added expert appointment of two more personnel, expanded the level Pilatus centers (Russia’s Nest- of spares both in Europe and erov Aviation and Oriens Avi- North America and improved ation in the UK), and two response for technical support satellite service centers (Aero- by adding an integrated global cardal in Chile and North- BELL HELICOPTER technical support team. east Air of Portland, Maine). Buyers of the newest ver- At Pilatus HQ in Stans, Swit- Textron Aviation now owns sion of the Avanti, the Evo, zerland, the company has 21 service centers, and techni- Rotorcraft can now add a pay-by-the- expanded customer support cians are undergoing continual Airbus Helicopters hour Parts Total Care parts teams for both the PC-6 and cross-training on Beechcraft The large improvement in coverage program. Piaggio PC-12. and Cessna models. In May, AIN reader ratings of Air- moved the U.S. spares ware- All PC-12 owners now for the first time the company bus Helicopters product sup- house from West Palm Beach, have the option for a free-for- hosted a two-day joint cus- port seems to indicate that the Fla., to authorized service life pilot’s operating hand- tomer conference for opera- company’s efforts are bearing center Banyan Air Service in book, and Pilatus is providing tors of Beechcraft, Cessna and fruit. Airbus Helicopters is © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Fort Lauderdale, where it also free access to electronic pilot Hawker models. focusing its product support PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY 2015 Above and Beyond

We asked AIN Product Support participants to list their favorite support providers and what they like about the service they receive. Here are some of the companies and people respondents chose to recognize. improvements on three key OEMs areas–parts availability, tech- nical publications and cus- I have worked with Terry as my FSR for Learjet since the late 1990s, and he has always been available, helpful, had a sincere interest in solving the tomer response–aided by its Terry Rubek, Bombardier Keycopter web portal and problems, true to both the customer, and Bombardier, fair and balanced. A new HCare support system joy to work with, and a great asset for Bombardier. as well as close monitoring of Both David and Dan are “on the spot” when we have unscheduled David Cardenas and Dan Reeves key customer support perfor- maintenance issues. They both have solved our problem as Beechcraft mance indicators. expeditiously as possible. Airbus Helicopters has 30 Mark always returns our calls and always has an answer for our questions customer centers worldwide, Mark Campbell, Citation and is very well recognized as a leader in Cessna Citation maintenance. and each is designed to provide MRO services locally, includ- This gentleman is our CSM and we operate between the Middle East ing spares and field representa- Bernard Delouye, Dassault and Europe. He has shown dedication and attention to his customers tives. A new customer support like I have never seen; if there is a gift he deserves it. platform is being introduced to Sean runs a top-notch maintenance facility at Hartford. We are treated like facilitate urgent requests. This family, and their responsiveness is unparalleled. Sean insists that we carry Sean Peterson, Embraer 24/7/365 capability is housed his personal cellphone number in addition to Embraer’s Corporate 24 hr in five regional service hubs in technical service number, and insists that we do not hesitate to call him 24/7. Texas, Singapore and Brazil to enhance responsiveness in the Dallas will drop everything to take care of a customer–even to his own customer’s time zone. Dallas Gumm, Gulfstream hurt. He always makes you feel like you’re the only customer he has or Airbus says parts availabil- cares about. He is a great representative of his company. ity and on-time deliveries have Fabian always provide instant support and does his very best to help improved significantly during Fabian Conne, Pilatus customers and solve their problems. He is setting a fantastic example the past year, with 98 percent for his dedicated and committed team. Many thanks! of planned spares orders deliv- Authorized Service Centers ered on time last year and a 50-percent reduction during the Jeff has gone out of his way to gain our business in the avionics sector. He checks up on us every few weeks, even if we have not had any past two years of the number Jeff Aman, Duncan Aviation of parts that weren’t delivered issues with our avionics lately. We know that when we have issues, a when the customer requested, call to Jeff is all that is needed. according to the company. David is always available for his customers, is always pushing for customer- David Ricklin, Jet Aviation Basel AG Airbus tells operators it is oriented improvements and tries to make the impossible possible! now committed to 100-percent on-time delivery for planned Mark is an amazing and totally available resource for any maintenance www.ainonline.com spares orders, backed by a new Mark James, Intercontinental Jet Service question regardless of whether the aircraft is maintained in Tulsa or by spares management policy tar- another service provider. geting optimal timing and loca- Darin has always gone out of his way to provide any assistance that he tion. The company relocated can whenever we call with any ­questions regarding issues that we may AStar parts to its Dallas-Fort Darin Wilson, StandardAero be having with our aircraft. Since they did many of the retrofits on these Worth logistics hub (one of aircraft, Darin and well as many of the others at StandardAero are a wealth seven worldwide) “because the of information and he has no reservations in sharing his knowledge with us. majority of the AStar fleet flies Absolute competence performing maintenance work on new aircraft in North America.” Patrick Eskew and Trevor Probst with teething pains. It has been a long road learning these new aircraft, The Keycopter portal now Stevens Aviation hosts technical publications and they have performed flawlessly from entrance to RTS. I can not say enough good things about the Elliott, Moline Authorized Service with improved format and con- All Staff, Elliott Aviation tent, including the new eTech- Center. They treat our aircraft­ and our money as though it was their own. Pub online viewer. All Staff, Constant Aviation Great support. On-time deliveries. On budget or ­acceptably close. The Challenger team, lead by Lisa Hall, provided me with the best visit Lisa Hall, West Star Aviation I’ve ever had with this aircraft. © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY 2015

AgustaWestland to the company’s new v-p for company’s training academy focus on customer service issues. AgustaWestland has intro- global sales and marketing. received approval for six new “They are the advocates for the duced four service plans “The time when Bell was con- technical training courses and customer inside Sikorsky,” accord- designed to cut the cost of tacting its customers from Part 147 renewal from the Civil ing to Ed Beyer, vice president of parts, labor and service and to Texas is over. We are right Aviation Authority of Singapore. commercial systems and services. reduce turnaround times. there with the customers and “We continue to enhance To advance customer sup- The Italian airframer also we are local,” said Patrick our customer offerings at port, Sikorsky has implemented launched the AW139 Reliabil- Moulay, who noted that more Bell Helicopter Prague and new business-to-business and ity Data Sharing Group to than 80 percent of Bell’s sales in Singapore to maximize our inventory visibility capabilities help inform customers about force is now deployed outside capabilities throughout Asia with its SAP enterprise resource issues before they cause prob- the U.S. Moulay assumed his Pacific and Europe,” accord- planning system. This includes lems. The group uses the data new position in January after ing to the company. implementing Servigistics to to develop “a more accurate serving as Bell’s managing improve material forecasting evaluation of component reli- director and acting vice pres- Robinson Helicopter and planning. ability, identifying trends and ident for Europe and Rus- With more than 11,000 own- New Sikorsky customer sup- allowing focus on an improved sia. He is the first non-U.S. ers of Robinson rotorcraft in port centers include the first spares planning process and national to hold his position more than 60 countries, Robin- Sikorsky-authorized S-92 center the monitoring of the most at Bell. son Helicopter has authorized at Sikorsky Helitech in Austra- important product improve- Moulay said Bell’s plans more than 450 service centers to lia, the first S-76 support center ments implemented into the include setting up training and provide support for its custom- in southeast Asia, Mycopter Avi- fleet–leading to improved air- service centers closer to the ers. Unique among manufac- ation Services, and a North Sea craft availability,” according to company’s customers. “The turers, Robinson has made all S-92 support center launched by the company. first thing a customer asks is manuals, including pilot oper- Sikorsky and Saab. Sikorsky now Other product support ini- ‘Who is going to take care of ating handbooks, maintenance has more than 20 customer sup- tiatives include appointing me?’ We are expanding our manuals and service informa- port centers around the world. approved service centers closer footprint across the world. We tion online, available to anyone At Sikorsky’s commer- to operators’ locations. These are improving our capabilities at no cost “to provide operators cial headquarters in Trumbull, include UK-based AW169 pro- in Prague, Singapore, China immediate access to the infor- Conn., the company is building a vider Specialist Aviation Ser- and Brazil. The other element mation they need.” new customer care center, sched- vices and Heliconia Industrie is the training centers around Robinson Helicopter pro- uled to open later this year. o www.ainonline.com in Morocco, which supports the world, and that is some- vides live customer support, the AW139. thing new for Bell. [The new online parts ordering and ship- AgustaWestland is add- Bell training center in] Valencia ment of most standard and WINNERS ing a full-scale maintenance [Spain] is only the beginning; we AOG parts within 24 hours. The following people were training simulator in Malay- have the same plan for the Mid- According to the company, randomly selected as winners of sia this summer and has dle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin “We know our customers can’t an Apple Watch for participating in raised the number of avail- America. And with the 525 afford to be grounded and our product support survey. AIN able maintenance training coming along soon, we have depend on Robinson’s support selected five winners and not all seats by 137 percent. New syl- to have the simulators close to to keep them flying.” chose to be listed. labi for AW139 and AW189 where the operators are,” Mou- Scott Moore, practical training have lay said. Sikorsky aviation department manager been certified. Bell supports its customers Sikorsky has reorganized its Cody Diekroeger, with five distribution centers aftermarket services into two key director of aviation Bell Helicopter and more than 100 authorized areas: commercial and defense. David Slivka, Bell Helicopter is signifi- service facilities in 34 countries. On the commercial side, S-76 and aviation manager cantly expanding its interna- At the Bell Helicopter Sing- S-92 customers have their own Nick Bayma, captain

tional footprint, according apore service center, the account service managers who © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to