Richmond, British Columbia-based MRO Heli-One is working with Leonardo Helicopters to establish AW139 main gear box (MGB) MRO capability as an authorised component repair centre for Leonardo. This new capability is being established at the Heli-One Canada facility in Delta, and will give operators additional options for MGB maintenance services.

Leonardo's AW139 helicopters are flown globally in a variety of missions including EMS, SAR, VIP, law enforcement and offshore transport as well as public service and government applications. This new capability will enable AW139 operators with more support options from an authorised component repair centre. Heli-One Canada has been supporting the AW139 platform since 2008 and implemented intermediate and tail gear box (IGB, TGB) capability in 2020.

Heli-One has been working with Leonardo to coordinate training and tooling to establish MGB capability. Both companies have maintained a long-term collaborative working relationship and successfully launched the IGB and TGB overhaul capability in 2020. Building on that success, the decision to progress to the MGB is an opportunity for both companies to offer more maintenance options to global AW139 operators.

“We are excited to continue working with Leonardo Helicopters to establish this new capability at Heli-One Canada,” says Christian Drouin, VP of Heli-One. “Our technicians have worked diligently to implement capability and perform IGB and TGB overhaul services and the MGB will be a great challenge and opportunity to develop their dynamics experience further. AW139 operators will have the added benefit of expanded service options for their gear boxes from an authorised maintenance provider.”

Heli-One is a Leonardo Helicopters authorised component repair centre and Leonardo Helicopters authorised service centre for airframes and offers MRO services ranging from major inspections to small component repair. Heli-One also offers extensive avionics and rescue equipment maintenance services to AW139 operators. Custom modifications and repairs developed by Heli-One design engineers are also available to operators.

Heli-One is also introducing Sky Support, a selection of maintenance and operational services for helicopter owners and operators.

Sky Support is a tailored menu of offerings that go beyond traditional MRO support to meet the modern owner and/or operator's ever-changing needs in a dynamic contemporary aviation environment. Sky Support emphasises partnership, comprehensive solutions and flexibility, and can be customised to an individual customer's needs. The offerings are grouped into three broad areas of support:

Customers can leverage Heli-One's expertise and systems to better manage and support their operations. Through a collaborative approach, Heli-One develops a tailored MRO support solution designed to meet specific customer needs. Some offerings could include supply chain optimisation, inventory management, customs compliance support and logistics support.

Customers can also take advantage of Heli-One's Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) for a piece-of-mind integrated turnkey service. Heli-One offers a centralised model that focuses on optimising and reducing friction cost, customising maintenance solutions tailored to individual aircraft requirements, digitising records for streamlined data management and delivering customer satisfaction through defined work scopes.

Customers can utilise Heli-One's expertise to access some of the best and well-proven aviation technologies and programmes. The offerings range from flight standards capabilities and technical records expertise to training packages.

Heli-One invites customers to customise and tailor their own version of Sky Support based on their operational needs and process requirements.

“The Sky Support concept was developed by recognising that the modern owner and/or operator has complex needs but maybe not the staff or resources to address them,” confirms Drouin. “With Sky Support Heli-One takes care of some of these support and maintenance programmes so owner/operators can continue to focus on flying and delivering crucial services to their customers.”

Heli-One has decades of experience maintaining and supporting helicopter fleets of all sizes around the world.