PHI’s AW139 Fleet Passes 25,000 Flight Hours Milestone

Finmeccanica – AgustaWestland announced that PHI’s AW139 fleet has passed a key milestone of 25,000 flight hours. The important result was achieved by a fleet of ten helicopters performing offshore transportation missions in the Gulf of Mexico since 2011, with the PHI AW139 fleet leader aircraft having accrued more than 3,500 flight hours in less than 4 years of operation.

PHI has provided a significant contribution to the continuous enhancement of the capabilities and mission reliability of the type, and the overall dispatch reliability is now exceeding greater than 90%. PHI participated since the beginning in the AW139 Maintenance Improvement Team that provides technical expertise to improve the maintenance schedule of the aircraft and knowledge of operational issues related to operating in the demanding Gulf of Mexico environment.

The partnership between AgustaWestland and PHI has been critical also to the continuous development of support solutions in the Gulf of Mexico area, such as the establishment of the AgustaWestland Supply Center in Broussard (LA) in 2013 for the support of the AW139 offshore fleet.

The event marks a major achievement for the AW139 intermediate helicopter model, which is the best in its class with a 56% share of the world market, and follows last year’s one million flight hours milestone for the global fleet of AW139s. The strong partnership with PHI has significantly contributed to guarantee the required level of mission effectiveness through support services and maximize the benefits of operating the best in class AW139.

State-of-the-art technology, outstanding performance, low operating costs and the only helicopter in its class to meet the latest safety standards, have made the AW139 the helicopter of choice in the intermediate twin market. With its power reserve, the AW139 delivers Category A (Class 1) performance from a helipad (elevated or at ground level) at maximum take-off weight with an unmatched one engine inoperative capability.

More than 220 customers from almost 70 countries have ordered approximately 900 AW139 helicopters so far to perform a wide range of roles including offshore transport, EMS/SAR, executive/private transport, law enforcement, utility and government missions.The AW139 benefits from a range of modern, constantly enhanced and tailored support and training capabilities, designed to deliver outstanding mission effectiveness and safety standards whatever the mission, leveraging on the expanding network of AgustaWestland service and training centres worldwide.