Dutch-owned MD Helicopters has reaffirmed its intention to keep the newly-acquired former Boeing commercial helicopter business based in the USA, despite claims to the contrary made by rival Bell.
MD Helicopters chief executive Hank Schaeken says: "We will maintain the technical and industrial base in the USA. We decided right from the start that we would not move the company. There is a lot of industrial and economic common sense to staying where we are," he adds.
US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) final approval of the sale to the Dutch RDM subsidiary has drawn a strong response from Bell, which was earlier blocked for competitive reasons from acquiring Boeing's Mesa-based civil product line.
Bell chairman Terry Stinson contends: "I think the FTC made a terrible mistake- It takes technology paid for by the US Government out of the country".
Boeing will retain ownership of its Notar anti-torque system and license MD Helicopters to continue using it on MD520Ns, MD600Ns and MD902 Explorers. It has also agreed to provide technical and engineering support for MD Helicopters for the next five years and, for this reason, "-it makes sense to stay close to Boeing", says Schaeken.
MD Helicopters is looking to establish a new 9,290m2 (100,000ft2) final assembly, maintenance and head office facility either adjacent to Boeing at Falcon Field, or at the nearby Phoenix airports, Chandler or Williams Gateway.
"We need to come to a decision very soon as we need to be out of Boeing within one year," explains Schaeken.
The company, meanwhile, has cut the price of the Explorer by $500,000 and added 115kg (250lb) payload to the twin-engine machine's 2,950kg maximum take-off weight. It has announced a sale of two of the eight seat machines to the Belgian Gendarmerie. MD is also delivering two armed MD902s to the US Coast Guard for six months of offshore interdiction trials.
Source: Flight International
