Story ID: 353
Sikorsky Sells Schweizer S-300 Helicopter Line
By: Mark Huber
Caption: The new entity, Schweizer RSG, will be based in Fort Worth and headed by David Horton, a former Schweizer general manager.
Word Count: 533
Sikorsky has sold the Hughes/Schweizer S-269/300 series type certificate and all related items, including its parts stores, to a new entity formed by Fort Worth, Texas-based Rotorcraft Services Group (RSG). The new entity, Schweizer RSG, will also be based in Fort Worth and headed by David Horton, a former Schweizer president and general manager from 2008 to 2010.

“I still have a lot of friends who operate these helicopters,” Horton said. “We need to get those parts here…and support our customers as soon as possible.” This included plans to get a website for the new company up and running. Horton added he hopes to have parts available for customers before the end of February, and strongly suggested that the operators of an estimated 2,900 S-300-series aircraft worldwide would soon see better product support and competitive prices. “We are going to work to remain competitive and make sure we have a very strong supply chain so we can delivery a good-quality product at a market-accepted price,” noting the pressure on keeping direct operating costs low in the piston-single space. “If we don't pay attention to our customers' direct operating costs [DOCs], we're not going to be relevant. We will make adjustments to make sure our DOCs are competitive with anything else in the market space.”

Sikorsky's prior agreement that dates back to 2008 with China's Avic to manufacture airframe parts for the S-300 remains in place with Schweizer RSG as part of an overall strategy to keep prices reasonable, he said. Schweizer RSG is planning to sponsor a gathering of S-300 distributors and operators at Heli-Expo. “We want to make sure we focus on what they tell us they need,” said Horton.

Horton did not rule out eventual new helicopter production, but said for now the company will focus on supporting the fleet in place. “We have a license agreement with Avic, and we have a shared responsibility for building the entire airframe. We're going to share that responsibility on what makes the most sense. We're going to have to build new helicopters to keep the market energized, and it has to be something the market will accept. Avic is an important part of that in terms of building parts.”

Since 2011, Avic's Avicopter has been manufacturing a virtual copy of the S-300 it calls the AC310 with a base price of approximately $470,000.
 
Sikorsky purchased Schweizer in 2004, but over the subsequent years the future of the S-300 became increasingly ambiguous as parts and pricing issues frustrated operators and an effort to develop a high/hot variant of the S-333 turbine faltered.

Further doubt about Schweizer's future surfaced in early 2015, when, on the cusp of being acquired by Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky announced it would no longer accept new orders for the S-300 and single-turbine S-333 and that it was “evaluating all options,” including the sale of Schweizer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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