HELICOPTER ACQUISITION
the available support shop information ready and verifi ed that they can provide the services we required? Can these services give us what we need in a timely manner? All our customer wants is an available aircraft, not excuses.
How will it affect current staffi ng? Whether replacing a current aircraft with a new model or adding an additional aircraft, this will drive additional questions. The bottom line here is to make sure staffi ng is suffi cient to support the new acquisition. If not, this will need to be brought up during the planning stages.
How will it affect training needs? Every new aircraft purchase typically comes with an airframe training course and one for the engine manufacturer. A review of our staffi ng experience was a must, as was making a list of our training needs. What I learned here is very important; the new aircraft purchase price might or might not include training. However, you should work diligently to get some of your maintenance training needs thrown in on the sale acquisition at this point. Ask for the moon and take what you can from it. If you don’t ask, they defi nitely won’t off er. If this isn’t a new aircraft acquisition, then training needs and costs should be addressed at budget planning sessions.
How will we support the current fl eet while transitioning to the new aircraft? What I learned here was that I had plenty of time to transition into the new aircraft, and to support the current fl eet while the entire pilot group and crew were doing their training and had their check rides completed. The aircraft was put on 135 certifi cate operations specifi cation prior to arriving at home base. This was a great time to get to know the aircraft confi guration and get familiar with its layout and how lights and other systems work on the ground. It was also very helpful to send some of our technicians through the needed schools prior to aircraft delivery.
How will this affect the budget? This is obviously the most important piece of the planning stage. Typically, accounting will already have all the direct operating and maintenance costs built into the initial acquisition. It’s very important at this point to make sure you have in your budget all the items I’m laying out here. Not every operation is going to have the same budget, so do the best with what you are given. If it’s possible, try and budget larger, expensive items in the following year’s capital purchase budget.
April | May 2014
HelicopterMaintenanceMagazine.com 29 Green EC-145
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