David Smith Named Robinson Helicopter CEO

After more than 40 years with the California helicopter maker founded by his father Frank, Kurt Robinson announced his retirement from Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC) this morning at Heli-Expo.

Robinson, 66, spent most of his professional career at the company from its inception, later becoming v-p of operations and formally taking over leadership of the company when the late Frank Robinson retired in 2010. Kurt Robinson is an experienced helicopter pilot and attorney who also holds an MBA. He said he didn’t want to lead the privately-held company anywhere as long as his father, who retired at age 80. He said he planned to remain active in the helicopter industry, offering counsel and primarily dealing with safety issues, and that the company would continue to be privately held.

Effective immediately, David Smith will take over as president and CEO. Smith joined Robinson last year as v-p of operations after a long career at Bell in engineering, program management, product development, and senior executive positions including chief engineer for the Bell 505 and supervisor of IPT engineering and systems engineering on the Bell 525. He also led the Textron Aviation unit TRU Simulation & Training. He holds a bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics as well as an MBA from Texas McCombs School of Business.

“Moving forward, RHC requires a committed, strong leader who shares our company values, and we’ve found that leader in David Smith,” Kurt Robinson said. “With his strategic experience and passion for our industry, David is well-poised to lead Robinson Helicopter Company into an exciting future marked by continued innovation, success, and global leadership.”

Speaking to AIN before the announcement, Smith said he planned to continue RHC’s dedication to quality and vertically integrated manufacturing but also planned to pursue new product development, noting that the company boosted its engineering staff by 50 percent in 2023. Smith said the extra engineering muscle would give RHC “the resources and depth for enhancements of our existing products including improvements in special-mission equipment.” Smith said RHC would continue to produce aircraft that are paired to customer needs. “High volume, simple, and reliable. That's really where we’ve been, that's where we are, and that's where we want to continue to go.”

For now, at RHC new helicopter orders and deliveries are increasing. But despite producing significantly more parts and components in 2023 than it did in the previous two years, output is still lagging behind demand, even with nearly 300 helicopters manufactured last year. “We are seeing a surge in orders, which has not yet abated. We produced 40 more helicopters in 2023 than we did in 2022,” said Kurt Robinson. “And yet if you want an R66, you're still looking at second quarter of 2025, which to us is unacceptable.”

Smith said the company is tackling the problem in part by beefing up its human resources staff and placing greater focus on employee recruitment and retention, noting that RHC increased its headcount from 1,000 to 1,100 last year.

Reflecting on his career earlier this month, Kurt Robinson said, “I love this industry and I love what we are doing.” Speaking to AIN last year, he recalled helping build the company’s first hangar at Zamperini Field in Torrance, a small, ramshackle affair with an outhouse, and doing data analysis when not attending high school and later college in San Diego. While he initially had no plans to work for the company after college or graduate school, his father lured him back, initially in exchange for free housing. “At that point, the hook was set. From there, I don’t think there was any doubt that I was going to be part of the company,” he said. “Life is so much more interesting if you get passionate about what you do.”