Lou Bartolotta is the recipient of this year’s Helicopter Association International Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Bell Helicopter. He has devoted his entire adult life to the industry and participated in many historical rotorcraft milestones.
Bartolotta joined the U.S. Army in 1969 and flew more than 1,000 hours during his one-year tour in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971. In the mid-1970s, he joined Bristow Helicopters, first serving in Tehran in pre-revolution Iran as an instructor in Bristow’s training academy and then as chief pilot on a seismic support contract, flying Bell 205 and 212 helicopters. He transferred to Aberdeen, Scotland, where he flew Sikorsky S-61N and S-76A helicopters in support of North Sea oil exploration and production.
From 1983 to 1985, Bartolotta served as HAI vice president of operations in Washington, D.C. After his stint with HAI, he joined Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, the German company that later merged with France’s Aerospatiale to form Eurocopter, now known as Airbus Helicopters.
In 1988, Italian manufacturer Agusta appointed Bartolotta vice president of marketing and operations of its U.S. subsidiary in Philadelphia. Agusta and Westland Helicopters of the UK merged in 2000 to form AgustaWestland, and Bartolotta served the company for 26 years. During that time he oversaw numerous projects, including the introduction of the BA609 (now the AW609) civil tiltrotor, eventually becoming senior advisor to the Commercial Business Unit.
Bartolotta retired from AgustaWestland last July but he continues to serve the helicopter industry through his consulting firm, L.P. Bartolotta & Associates of Philadelphia, which he established in September.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Bartolotta yesterday at the Salute to Excellence ceremony.