Diverse missions
require diverse air fleet
With such a wide variety of missions, it’s no wonder that TVA has utilized a diverse aviation fleet to meet its needs. Using helicopters instead of bucket trucks can save money because linemen can restore power up to four times faster, Hammond said. While some competitors contract out flight work, TVA leaders believe it’s better to be in control of maintenance, training, and safety, Featherston said.
The TVA fleet features nine helicopters (and two fixed-wing aircraft), requiring mechanics to be tooled up for three different helicopter manufacturers and four different airframes. Featherston looks for the “best value” over cost, although he said the low bidder still ends up getting the contract about 80 percent of the time. Flight employees include five line pilots, two flying managers, three mechanics, a director of maintenance, and two administrative personnel. Four of the pilots and two of the mechanics are military to civilian, including one Brit. Helicopter operations and
maintenance are headquartered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at TVA’s main aircraft hangar, a 1936 structure on the National Register of Historic Places.
TVA uses its three MD 530Fs for close line work such as transferring lineman onto towers and construction; two Airbus EC120s for line patrols, since they can fly relatively longer without refueling; two versatile Bell 407s for construction lifting, line inspections, and TVA executive/ corporate transportation; and an Airbus EC145 for TVA executive/corporate executive transportation. Bell and Airbus happen to run production facilities in the Tennessee Valley, too, Featherston noted.
The fixed-wing aircraft fly TVA executives to farther locales such as Washington, D.C., where they often conduct business. The twin-engine EC145 comes in handy when important economic development missions need to take place during bad weather, since it can fly IFR.
“It’s nice to know I’m flying a mission that’s going to create thousands of jobs for people in the valley,” said Hammond, who didn’t realize economic development work would be part of his mission when he took the TVA job.
Sometimes TVA aircraft also help fellow power companies and emergency management officials during times of need, such as natural disasters. Last September, for example, TVA crews flew in supplies and helped assess Duke Energy power line damage from Hurricane Florence. That was a mission dear to Featherston’s heart, since his daughter had to ride out that hurricane while reporting for a local TV station.
“We are competitors, but we’re also in it together,” Featherston said of the neighboring power companies, noting that they depend on interlocking grids. “And that’s different for our industry than others.”
TVA’s EC120 and MD 530F sit outside the Muscle Shoals hangar. 54 Mar/Apr 2019
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