Story ID: 
Ornge Reconsiders AW139 Fleet
By: Mark Huber
Caption: The air ambulance service could eventually sell or trade its AW139s.
Word Count: 319
Ontario’s scandal-plagued provincial air-ambulance service, known as Ornge, is rethinking its original purchase of 12 AgustaWestland AW139 medium twins.

On February 12 Ornge issued a highly public “request for information” that could eventually lead to the sale or trade of its entire AW139 fleet. Ornge said the RFI is part of a “three-year strategic plan” to assess “whether the organization has the most effective and efficient aircraft for its mission moving forward.” The service added that the RFI “will allow Ornge to analyze whether the current AW139s are the optimal aircraft to serve patients, or whether other alternatives exist that would provide enhanced patient care and better value for money.”

In a process that eventually triggered full provincial parliamentary and police investigations into allegations of widespread impropriety, including bribery, Ornge acquired the AW139s to replace an aging fleet of Sikorsky S-76As beginning in 2010; however, only 10 were outfitted with medical interiors and placed into service. The other two were eventually sold as “surplus.” Ornge acquired the AW139s concurrent with in-sourcing its rotary-wing operations, previously operated under contract by Canadian Helicopters. As part of that process, Ornge acquired a fleet of 11 S-76s from CHL and certain hangar facilities.

Internal and external inquiries showed that rotorcraft insourcing proved problematic for Ornge and contributed to high operating costs and suboptimum dispatch rates for the AW139s. Some of this was related to staffing shortages; Ornge’s lack of expertise and familiarity with the AW139 also contributed to the problem.

This has led Ornge to double up positioning of AW139s at select bases; the 10 helicopters are currently scattered among six bases. Ornge also has retained two of the S-76As and operates a fleet of eight Pilatus PC-12s.

In addition to this fleet, Ornge recently placed two S-76As and two PC-12s up for sale.