Plummeting oil prices have taken a heavy toll on Sikorsky’s commercial helicopter sales. These peaked at $1.5 billion in 2014 but are expected to total about one quarter of that in 2016, at around $375 million. This was the recent outlook Bruce Tanner, CFO of Sikorsky parent company Lockheed Martin, gave to analysts.
Sikorsky (Booth 2617) does not release order and delivery numbers, according to commercial systems and services v-p Dana Fiatarone. He acknowledged that the company began to feel the effects of the oil price drop in the second half of 2014. “The oil-and-gas market has put a pressure on orders and deliveries for all OEMs,” he said, adding his company wants to be “prepared to take advantage of it when it rebounds.”
A product range like Sikorsky’s, with only one medium twin (the S-76D) and one heavy twin (the S-92), is even more exposed to the oil-and-gas market’s ups and downs. Nevertheless, the company is targeting other segments for potential sales this year. “We see potential for an uptick in EMS and search-and-rescue, notably in emerging economies such as China and India, as local demand for more civil service programs grows,” Fiatarone said, adding that the VIP market has been “robust” in North America and Southeast Asia.
The first of Era Group’s S-92s with the gross weight expansion (GWE) option was delivered last August. One of these aircraft, operated in the Gulf of Mexico, is on display here at Heli-Expo. The GWE option adds 1,200 pounds to the payload.
An improved main gearbox for the S-92 has been in development since 2013, at least. Fiatarone could not give a target date for entry into service. The next evolutions to be seen in Sikorsky’s civil range may belong to the “more autonomy” category, he said, such as the in-service Rig Approach system, which reduces pilot workload.
Here at Heli-Expo, Sikorsky is planning to unveil the new flight crew operations manual (FCOM) for the S-92 and S-76D, a first for the airframer. “The main benefit is it provides you with quicker access to information on how the aircraft was intended to be operated under certain circumstances,” Fiatarone explained.
The Schweizer product line of light singles is still being produced, but Sikorsky has stopped taking new orders. Delivery commitments extend into 2017, according to Fiatarone.
Asked how being part of Lockheed Martin has changed Sikorsky so far, Fiatarone answered that no significant change has been seen yet. But the management team is “committed to the integration process,” he said, referring to hoped-for synergies. “We are looking forward to working with Lockheed Martin to take advantage of value-creation opportunities,” he emphasized.
Commercial helicopters and support have generally accounted for 20 to 30 percent of Sikorsky’s sales, depending on the year. In June 2015, Sikorsky announced a restructuring “necessitated by the sustained decrease in global oil prices and continued softness in demand for certain international military products,” a spokesman said. The workforce was reduced by 810, and this resulted in total employment of about 14,450 by year-end 2015.