On the heels of opening its Able Maintenance Center (AMC) at the company’s Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport headquarters in Arizona last year, Able Aerospace Services is highlighting here at Heli-Expo its EMS completions and upgrade capabilities. Able, established in 1982, has long provided North American rotorcraft operators with MRO and completion services, but the 22,000-sq-ft AMC brings a more comprehensive approach to providing cost-effective fleet completions and upgrades, according to the company.
Able (Booth 11542) believes the new facility combined with its long experience—which includes more than 10,000 FAA-approved repairs along with certifications from EASA, CAAC, JCAB, DCAT and ANAC—are especially important today. With EMS operators facing uncertainty about government reimbursement levels for patient transport—for both per-mile and flat rates—“The need to manage costs will be critical to ensure a balance between payer and operator,” said Heidi McNary, Able’s vice-president of engineering. McNary pointed to the company’s green completions and aftermarket upgrades as clear paths to lowering ownership costs.
On the completions side, “We’ve worked with customers to significantly decrease costs via reduced project time,” said McNary, citing Able’s ability to quickly create customized engineering solutions for air medical configurations, make its own PMA parts, deliver mission-ready aircraft and even provide flight crews, among other efficiencies it offers.
For upgrades, Able can create fixed-price programs to ensure fleets are equipped with modern flight decks in compliance with coming mandates, while creating cockpit commonality that pays additional dividends. Able recently completed a two-year project for Air Evac Lifeteam, upgrading 90 Bell 206s with digital flight decks that comply with coming HTAWS mandates. “If [an aircraft is] out of service for a mandate [requirement], that’s a great time to upgrade,” McNary noted. Total project costs on the Air Evac upgrades were reduced an estimated 25 percent “by doing all the work in one fell swoop,” she said. Moreover, with all aircraft sharing a common flight deck now, the fleet “is much more flexible, and there’s more pilot flexibility.”
Able also performs six- and 12-year inspections, offers fixed-price repairs on components including transmissions and rotor hubs and has an exchange pool for Bell 206 and 407 components, which minimizes downtime for maintenance.
A center of excellence for Bell Helicopter (Able was purchased by Bell parent Textron Aviation last year), the company also has strong relationships with Airbus and Leonardo, as well as with fixed-wing OEMs.
Able was founded as an electroplating company and acquired its other completions and aftermarket capabilities over time; electroplating is the one specialty that completion and refurbishment facilities typically outsource, as they aren’t equipped to meet the stringent environmental controls that plating processes require. That spectrum of services enables Able to “maintain the maximum amount of integration in-house,” a crucial factor in controlling projects and costs, McNary said.
Able is also showcasing a new booth here at Heli-Expo, featuring a virtual tour of the company’s facilities, where company representatives can provide more details on its customized solutions.