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NEWSBell RestructuresBut Remains Focused

Bell Helicopter Textron CanadaLtd.has scaled back its workforce by 340employees at its Mirabel facility inQuebec. The move came after the par-ent company in Fort Worth, Texas aidoff 175 employees. In both cases,Bellblamed slow salesdue to the economicdownturn.

In September,Textron Inc. namedJohn Murphey chairman and chief exec-utive officer of the company's US$I.6-billion Bell Helicopter business ollow-ing the ousting of Terry Stinson.Murphey was previously president andchief operating oft1'te.~ .of BellHelicopter Textron and ~ continue to"-be based at Bell's Fort Worth headquar-ters."Bell has made,and will continue tomake, significant changes hat build onthe core competencies and thestrengths of the Bell workforce, andreflect the reality of today's businesscli-mate;' Murphey said at the time of hisappointment. "Our goal now will be tobuild on those initiatives and repositionthe company for continued growth."

Despite the layoffs, Bell's Canadianunit remains focused as it restructuresits workforce which now consists of

Ben is working on enhancing Griff 071capabilities in the field. Mike,1,200 employees. Celebrating its 15thyear of making helicopters in Canada,Bell delivered 122 helicopters in 2001including its 500th 407. In April it cele-brated delivery of the 2,500th Canadian-manufactured Bell helicopter -a police-configured 412 delivered to the Surete

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landsIndustryFirst in USCoulson Aircrane of Port Alberni

British Columbia, n a joint venture widPacific Helicopter Tours of MauiHawaii, was awarded a contract thipast summer by the US Forest Servicfor aType 1 support helicopter on a HoShot base -the US equivalent of ,RapAttack base n Canada. his was th(first time ever that the US ForesService has awarded a contract f0exclusive use of a Type 1 helicopterCoulson provided the Sikorsky 8-61 0the proof of concept contract to PacifiHelicopter, which based he helicopte1

SantaBarbara,California fromjun(to November. The S-61 replaced,Bell 212 (Type 2) that had beerexclusively used in the past. Coulsosaid that the helicopter was used tccarry up to 19 firefighting perso.and their equipment. Flown.Canadian and American crews, th(helicopter flew 350 hours and wainstrumental in fighting 32 wi1dfirein California. As a result, the contrachas been extended by two years.Valuof the initial contract was US$I.".

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du Quebec. t was the onlynew Bell helicopter deliv-ered in Canada in 2001.Nonetheless, n 2002 Bellis expected to deliver itsfirst of several win-engine427s n Canada;at least sixare destined for Canadianoperators. t is also close omoving forward with'plans to develop an IFRversion of the light-twinhelicopter.An announcement isalso expected in the nearfuture on the fate of the}etRanger line. Bell isstudying alternatives o the}etRanger; his is internallybeing called the }RX proj-ect. The company is still

,'s producing one ]etRanger amonth at Mirabel andr?eynoPhoto there is believed to be

another order coming early in 2002from the US Army for up to 17 11I-67Creek training helicopters, which arebased on the }etRanger.

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada isalso working on several governmentprojects. At the forefront is theMaritime Helicopter Project, and Bellhas joined Team Cormorant; Bell willmanufacture the Cormorant at Mirabelif the Anglo-Italian team wins the com-petition.A decision on the basic vehicleis expected by the fourth quarter of2002. Bell is also working closely withthe Canadian Forces on improving theusefulness of the CH-146 Griffon. TheArmy has decided that it wants moreflexibility for the Griffon in the field,including increased payload and theaddition of offensive weapons. Armingthe Griffons would complement theElectro-optical ReconnaissanceSurveillance and Target Acquisition(ERST ) system under development forthe troop-carrying helicopter. TheGriffon is now limited to carrying amounted door gun.A variety of rocketsand missilesare being studied for possi-ble use on the Griffon, of which 99 arein service with the Air Force -89 flyingwith Tactical Helicopter Squadrons hatsupport a number of field units. Theremaining Griffons are flying withCombat Support Squadrons.

Bell is closely watching theCanadian Forces Training Services(CFTS)project, even hough the projectoffice in Ottawa has short-listed theAgusta A109 Power and EurocopterAS355 TwinStar as the preferred

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helicopters for training new militarjhelicopter pilots at Portage Ia PrairiManitoba. However, in mid-Decembthe draft statement of work wa:released which allows companies.ding on the contract to offer a m8fleet of single-engine and twin-enginthelicopters and not just those short-lised by the project office. This leaves ht

..door open to using the current fleet 0CH-139 etRangers,now being used Oflight training, and surplus Griffonsalthough CanadianForceswon't openiadmit that there are more Griffons thapersonnel to support them. It i:believed that up to 15 surplus Griffon:could be used in the training programBombardier and Kelowna Flightcraft arbelieved to be the only prime contractors bidding. Bombardier has been running the program for the past 10 year:with a fleet of 14 ]etRangers. Its contract expires n August.

Bell expects a big year in 2002 wit!the first flight of the BA609, he world':first-ever civil tiltrotor, expected by midyear. Four test aircraft are planned fothe flight test program with two alreadcompleted and two to be completed if2002. Certification is now expecte~late 2003. Bell says t has over 85 o~for the US$IO-milIion iltrotor, includin16 from Canadianoperators.

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