Story ID: 109FinmeccanicaRomiti
New-look Finmeccanica Promises Strong Rotorcraft Focus
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: The AgustaWestland brand is expected to survive the recent restructuring of parent company Finmeccanica.
Word Count: 489

Even after the recent restructuring of parent company Finmeccanica, the AgustaWestland brand will still be much in evidence at this week’s Heli-Expo show. From January 1, the group has been organized under four sectors, including the new Finmeccanica Helicopter Division along with aeronautics, defense and security systems and space.

In an interview ahead of HeliExpo, Helicopter Division CEO Daniele Romiti told AIN that the restructuring and renaming will not cause any disruption to the service its AgustaWestland customers receive. He characterized the move as necessary to make the various businesses more coherent and competitive in an aerospace and defense market that he described as “the battle of the giants.” In this regard, the changes mirror consolidation that has already happened within the rival Airbus, Textron (Bell) and Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin groups.

Still to be fully resolved is the future of established brands under the new Finmeccanica monolith. Giovanni Soccodato, executive vice president for strategy, markets and business development, indicated that AgustaWestland’s helicopters might not be the only products permitted to keep trading on their history and reputation. In fact, a Finmeccanica board meeting later this month [March] is due to consider proposals for a new permanent name for the restructured group, with a spokesman indicating to AIN that the Finmeccanica moniker may just be a working title.

Beyond the Oil Shock

According to Romiti, Finmeccanica’s helicopter business is well placed to survive the well-documented market disruption to the offshore sector caused by the collapsing price of oil. “No one can predict what will happen to the oil price, but our customers need us to help them reduce the cost of [helicopter] ownership and this can be achieved by replacing older, larger aircraft with smaller, more efficient models,” he commented.

So far, said Romiti, Finmeccanica has received only requests to postpone deliveries of new helicopters, rather than order cancellations. He expects new models like the AW119, the latest version of the AW109, the AW169 and AW189 to be in more demand now that the business case for more efficient equipment is even more compelling.

Looking beyond these types, Romiti portrayed the AW609 tiltrotor as “a quantum leap” that will prove popular with a variety of operations. The ability to transition between vertical lift and fixed-wing service promises to transform the viability of a wide variety of operations. For instance, Finmeccanica executives could use the aircraft to make the 900-mile trip from its Cascina Costa headquarters, north of Milan, to the group’s UK offices in Yeovil in two hours 14 minutes–an attractive option compared to the limited scheduled airline services between the two sites.

Finmeccanica is now working closely with ICAO to agree the regulations that will cover tiltrotor operations. It hopes these will include specially designated approach paths that will allow the aircraft to fulfill its potential for cost effective operations.