Mark Huber is an aviation industry veteran who has worked in the flight training, aircraft sales, aircraft component, and airport development businesses. He has flight time in more than 50 different and diverse aircraft, including helicopters, aerobatic aircraft, vintage warbirds, jet fighters, business jets and turboprops, and transport-category aircraft. He has jumped out of several of these—on purpose—with a parachute. His defense and aviation journalism has been published in a variety of national and international periodicals.

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Mark Huber

Bell Helicopter (Chalet A20) is continuing its strong focus on the corporate and VIP markets to drive new sales of its civil helicopters. Since 2010, 40 percent of all single-engine Bell 407s and 45 percent of all 407GX models have been configured for corporate customers. Meanwhile, 55 percent of new Bell 429 light twins are being sold into this market. And Bell has begun thinking about the corporate, VVIP and head-of-state market for its new 525 super-medium twin as well.

 


“The corporate VIP market has been a mainstay of our fleet,” said Chuck Evans, director of marketing and sales support for Bell’s commercial business. Evans said Bell is moving aggressively to “re-engage” that market with new products such as the 407GX and 429, and even the under-development 505 light single, by participating in more international aviation conventions geared to the corporate fixed-wing market, such as MEBA, the annual NBAA Convention in the U.S. and events in Brazil (LABACE) and Europe (EBACE)–along with events aimed at high-net-worth individuals such as the Monaco Yacht Show and the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. “We’ve got a good line of products and the right kinds of [interior] completions to go along with them,” Evans said.

 


Bell currently manufactures its civil helicopters at its plant in Mirabel, Quebec, and then either flies or ships them to its expansive completion facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee. “Piney Flats can do amazing things,” Evans said. “We have had customers who want to match the interior and exterior of their aircraft to their high-dollar sports cars. Piney Flats can do that. There are almost limitless possibilities.”

 


There are also standard choices that offer a diverse and popular pallet of nine different leathers, three paint schemes and more than 100 exterior colors that customers can choose from. Passenger compartment configurations range from four-to-five seats in the 407 and four-to-six seats in the 429. Seat cushion widths increase with fewer seats in both models. Luggage compartments in both helicopters can accommodate out-sized items such as golf clubs. Customers also typically order high-visibility windows, air-conditioning and pop-out emergency floats, particularly for overwater operations, such as in the New York corridor, said Evans.

 


Depending on the options selected, executive configurations can add between $200,000 and almost $500,000 to the $2.98 million base price on a 407GX and as much as $700,000 on a 429. Installation times vary, depending on complexity, but some standard packages can be fitted in as little as two weeks and even elaborate completions rarely exceed four months.

 


Bell has just started producing the wheeled landing gear version of the 429–the $6.3 million 429WLG–and almost all of those customers are opting for executive interiors. Evans said interest in the 429WLG is particularly high in Latin America, Europe and Russia.

 


VVIP Interiors

 


Bell also is working with Mecaer to develop a VVIP interior for the 429. “When we have to, we can reach out to companies like Mecaer to take [the Piney Flats work] a step or two higher,” said Evans. Mecaer approached Bell more than a year ago to develop the new interior. The decision to ally with Mecaer was not particularly difficult, Evans added, while noting that Mecaer already provides the landing gear for the 429WLG and the new 525.

 


“We’ve done very well with the private individual, corporate and VIP segments, but the VVIP segment is an area where one of our competitors has been strong,” he explained. “With the 429’s bigger cabin and the Mecaer interior we think we will capture a larger share of the VVIP market. It’s a real differentiator. The Mecaer Silens interior cuts cabin noise to the point where passengers do not need to wear headphones to have a normal conversation.” Other advanced features include Mecaer’s iFeel in-flight entertainment system; electrochromatic, dimmable windows; and little touches such as stowage for umbrellas behind the seats, said Evans.

 


Bell is currently working with Mecaer to gain FAA STC approval for the new interior, which it hopes to have in hand early next year. A decision on where to install the new interiors–Mecaer’s Philadelphia plant or at Piney Flats–has not yet been made.

 


Evans said Bell has received strong inquiries for VVIP and head-of-state variants of the upcoming 525 and is working on developing interior options for those markets. “Stay tuned,” he said.

 


As appealing as Bell’s interior options are, Evans said that corporate and VIP customers are even more attracted to the advanced capabilities and increased safety offered by the new-generation glass-panel avionics in the 407GX (Garmin G1000H) and the 429 (Bell BasiX-Pro), and Bell’s product support.

 


“We are focused on installing fully integrated glass cockpits into the products we have: it’s a big driver in terms of increased capabilities and safety–a prime concern for the corporate and VIP market. You can have a very well-appointed aircraft, but if it is not using the latest technology in terms of terrain and traffic awareness and enhanced navigation, it is just not good. These things are must-haves,” he said.

 


Similarly, pointing to product support, Evans said this sector of the market has little patience with product-support delays. “If an aircraft is parked it doesn’t do the customer any good. When you are buying that corporate ship you want to use it when you want to.”

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