On the Record with MARC PAGANINI, PRESIDENT & CEO,
AMERICAN EUROCOPTER
Eurocopter Building $11 Million U.S. Plant
American Eurocopter is becoming more American, breaking ground
August 7 on an $11 million factory, which will initially employ
100, at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTR) in Columbus,
Mississippi.
"We are going to the next step, which is manufacturing activity,"
says American Eurocopter president and CEO Marc Paganini. It's part
of a general strategy "to be present industrially as well as
commercially," he says.
The GTR facility will handle final assembly and flight-testing
for AStar series helos, with capacity for 25 to 30 aircraft per
year, as well as custom completions for EC 120, EC 130, EC1 35,
EC 145 and EC 155 aircraft. American Eurocopter does completions
and custom avionics installations at its headquarters facility in
Dallas, too.
The Mississippi factory will also manufacture AStar component
subassemblies to support Eurocopter plants in France and Germany.
The time is ripe, Paganini says, as Eurocopter has seen its share
of the U.S. civil market grow, by number of aircraft sold, to 47%
last year from about 30% in 1995. It now has 400 customers flying
more than 1,300 aircraft in the U.S. Figures through August indicate
that American Eurocopter now has 47% to 48% of the U.S. corporate
helo market too. "Three years ago we were more in the range
of 20 to 30%," he says.
Eurocopter has three new models for the corporate market, the
$1.6 million EC 130 single and $6.3 million EC 155 twin, and the
EC 225, with a VIP interior. The twin-engined EC 225, with five-bladed
Spheriflex main rotor, is based on the company's Super Puma/Cougar
line. The military version, the EC 725, can carry 29 troops in addition
to its two pilots.
An $879,000 EC 120 Colibri graces the firm's Booth 3953 here,
as does an EC 155 interior mockup, and an EC 155 is flying. The
EC 120 and EC 155, with fenestron tails and other noise-suppressive
features, are promoted for their extra-quiet operation.
--Rich Piellisch
Eurocopter Spares for New York
"I am working on a plan to locate inventory and technical
support in the New York area," says American Eurocopter
president & CEO Marc Paganini. His firm now maintains
approximately $70 million worth of parts in the U.S., up from
about $50 million three years ago.
"It's not only the sale of the helicopter," Paganini
told Show News on the eve of NBAA. "We are delivering
a flying machine, and the machine must fly to the satisfaction
of the customer."
Business First, and More to Come?
It looks as if corporate customers are the top priority as
American Eurocopter establishes a manufacturing facility in
Mississippi. "We are determined to increase our already
significant role in the U.S. economy, providing employment
and quality products for U.S. corporate, parapublic, and governmental
customers," Philippe Camus said at the August groundbreaking.
Camus is CEO of EADS, the European aerospace conglomerate
that with upwards of 100,000 employees is the second largest
in the world, trailing only Boeing. He was joined at the August
7 groundbreaking by two U.S. senators, among other luminaries.
"This is the first of many industrial milestones we
intend for the U.S.," Camus said. "We can envision
increased production presence in defense and commercial aerospace
in the near future."
Air Methods' Biggest Ever
EMS specialist Air Methods has made its biggest purchase ever,
American Eurocopter reports, buying five AS 350 B2 helicopters
and one EC 130 B4, all of which are to be delivered by year-end.
The six single-engine craft will be completed with EMS interiors
by Air Methods in Englewood, CO.
Air Methods has more than 160 aircraft in its fleet, which
is about 55% Eurocopter.
