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T’S OFFICIAL: Te Robinson Helicopter Company knows a thing or two about customer service. A company that produces only three models of
helicopters, Robinson recently achieved a milestone by being recognized by Vertical magazines’s 2018 Helicopter and Engine Manufacturers Survey as
having the highest customer service satisfaction ratings within the helicopter manufacturing industry. Listening and responding to Robinson operators is one
of the primary factors in the company’s high customer service marks. Its customer service team treats all owners and operators equally, regardless of whether they have one heli- copter or a fleet. “Sales is the just the beginning of a relationship,” offers
Kurt Robinson, company president and chairman. “You put the trust in us to buy our helicopter, and so we will absolutely support it.”
Making Time Machines After working for Bell Helicopter and Hughes Helicopters, Frank Robinson started his company in 1973 and rolled the first production helicopter—the R2—out of his plant in 1979. Forty years later, Robinson has produced more than 12,000
helicopters, many sold to nontraditional customers like hobby flyers who have embraced the airframe and the company that produces it. Today, Robinson maintains a headquarters and manufacturing facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, California, employing approximately 1,100 men and women. Many of the employees are fiercely loyal, staying with the company for upwards of 30 years. From the company’s earliest days, the comparatively
affordable helicopters have appealed to a broad range of operators. Flight training operations around the world use the piston-powered, two-seat Robinson R22 to teach new pilots, and its price point has made it popular with budget-conscious enthusiasts. “From the get-go, Frank would say ‘We’re a Henry Ford–
type of company, and we’re going to try and keep the costs low,’” recalls Kurt, who assumed leadership of Robinson in 2010, after the retirement of his father, Frank. “If we can figure out a way to cut our costs, we want to pass that on to the consumer. I would much rather build a lot of parts at a lower price and have low margins. We want to keep our prices low and earn an honest profit.” Te four-seat, piston-powered R44 was released in 1990
and became the best-selling helicopter in the world with more than 6,000 produced. Te turbine-powered R66 followed in 2010 and is widely utilized in commercial operations.
Now company president and chairman, Kurt Robinson ran the Robinson Helicopter customer service department at one point in his career.
“I love hearing what people do with our aircraft,” says
Kurt. “People tell me things all the time, and I think, ‘I never knew people were doing that.’” From some of the earliest days of the company’s marketing,
Robinson has promoted its aircraft as the product of quality engineering with an emphasis on pilot and passenger safety. “I see aircraft that we built in the 1980s that are still flying today,” Kurt says. “I’ve heard the jokes: ‘Do you really buy a Robinson, or do they just let you use it?’ Some of these helicopters have had three or four different owners.” “We sell a time machine, when you really think about it,”
says Pat Cox, Robinson technical representative. “Very few people buy a helicopter because it’s fun. People buy helicopters to save time. So if we can’t keep them in the air, we don’t deserve to be in business.”
Customer Is King Robinson offers several avenues for customer service, which includes dedicated customer service representatives as well as licensed service centers around the world. Customer service representatives have generally been with the company for many years and have specific customers assigned to them who come to know them well. “I know Frank highly valued customer service,” says Kurt.
“And many times, he was interested in it from an engineering standpoint. He wanted to understand what led to the problem. Once he understood, he’d go back to engineering and say, ‘Tis isn’t right. Pull out that drawing, let’s take another look at that part.’” Like his father, Kurt recognizes the importance of customer
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