ROTORWA H ➤
the world, helping to create compliance solutions on behalf of individuals and companies. HAI’s Government Affairs team has worked with US
lawmakers to ensure that the vertical flight industry is included in financial assistance programs. Staff from many of the association’s departments have worked to collect and compile information from operators, rotor-
“Another statistic from Vertical’s survey that stands out is that 53% of respondents indicated that COVID-19 has prompted changes to their business model. The VTOL industry is wonderfully adaptable, and these figures tell me that rotorcraft companies are doing their best to remain flexible and accommodating during the pandemic.”
craft trade groups, and government agencies worldwide to post on HAI’s website as a helpful resource. HAI also this year developed a weekly webinar series, HAI@Work. The initial goal of the program was to provide the rotorcraft community with up-to-date infor- mation about the pandemic in a rapidly changing legisla- tive and regulatory landscape, but the webinars now cover other topics of interest to the industry as well. More than 4,300 attendees from over 50 countries have viewed the webinars live, and videos of them have been viewed more than 4,500 times. “Another statistic from Vertical’s survey that stands out to me is that 53% of their respondents indicated that COVID-19 has prompted changes to their business model,” adds Viola. “The VTOL industry is wonderfully adaptable, and these figures tell me that rotorcraft com- panies are doing their best to remain flexible and accommodating during the pandemic.” Viola believes that the rotorcraft industry, with its
ability to tackle a diverse set of missions for customers worldwide, is resilient. “In the long run, it’s this versatility that will help the
rotorcraft industry rebound. We know we’re headed into a seasonal slowdown in the Northern Hemisphere, but we experienced a mostly positive summer season in firefighting and agricultural work this year,” Viola told Vertical. “Many of those operators are ready to begin their off-season cycle of training and maintenance and are
14 ROTOR 2020 Q4
otherwise preparing for next year’s operations. Work is already starting to pick up in areas of the Southern Hemisphere, and a few firefighting operators are shift- ing aircraft to the other side of the equator,” Viola continued.
It is this ability to adapt, says Viola, that is key to the
industry’s long-term future. “Even as we wait out this pandemic, our industry has continued to evolve,” he added. “Our OEMs are actively developing advanced air mobility and remotely piloted aircraft, working their way through testing and proof-of-concept phases. Our pilots have decades of experience working in the low-altitude, confined-area air- space. The rotorcraft community—manufacturers, oper- ators, pilots, and maintenance—is ideally positioned to build, operate, fix, and fly these aircraft. “All in all, I’m feeling optimistic for our industry because of our history of adaptation and versatility,” Viola continued. “While it may feel that this pandemic will never end, there is, in fact, a light at the end of the tunnel. When that happens (and it will), I want our members to be primed for success and ready to go fly,” he noted.
HAI BRIEFS
HAI Introduces Membership Services Department
EXCITING CHANGES ARE UNDERWAY AT HAI, AND the result means significant changes for our members. HAI’s Operations and Business Development
Departments have merged to create the Member Services
Department. This group directly sup- ports HAI
members by providing services in regulatory assistance and advocacy, operations support, education, and mem- bership and by producing HAI HELI-EXPO, conferences, and other events. This change was prompted by two events: the hiring of Michael Hertzendorf as VP of Operations and the retirement of Karen Gebhart, HAI’s longtime VP of Business Development. “As we discussed the vacancy in Business
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