Rotorcraft
Slow Market Doesn't Dent Sikorsky's Investment In Progress
Sikorsky has continued to spend on technology to improve the value proposition of rotorcraft and on better supporting its customers.
The North Slope Borough in Alaska introduced a new S-92 helicopter into search and rescue service in September 2016. [Photo: Sikorsky]
The North Slope Borough in Alaska introduced a new S-92 helicopter into search and rescue service in September 2016. [Photo: Sikorsky]

The slow, but somewhat steady, recovery in oil prices may have fueled some expectations of a recovering helicopter utilization for offshore support operations. But Dana Fiatarone, Sikorsky’s vice president for commercial systems and services, isn’t taking the bait from those who would portray this as an assured path to an uptick in demand for new aircraft. “Overall, we’re still bumping along the bottom [in demand from the offshore sector], but I suppose we’re hopeful that 2018 will start to show a turn upwards,” he told AIN in an interview ahead of HeliExpo 2017. “The long-term trend is that this is just part of a cycle that we’ll come through after one of the industry’s worst downturns.”