AIN’s Part I: Aircraft PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY Part I: Aircraft...Embraer leads for jets,...

PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY

AIN’s Part I: Aircraft

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PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY Part I: Aircraft

AIN’s

In AIN’s annual survey, readers rate airframe manufacturers on product support. The results of the avionics survey will appear in next month’s issue, with engine ratings to follow in October.

by Matt Thurber

Embraer leads for jets, Mitsubishi remains in top turboprop spotReaders responding to AIN’s 2016 Product Support Survey rank Embraer at the top, with the highest combined overall average (8.4) for newer and older aircraft. Dassault Fal-con and Gulfstream (both midsize- and large-cabin jets) tie for second place at 8.2. In third place this year is Bom-bardier’s Challenger series at 8.1, up 0.1 but matching last year’s third-place finish.

Two manufacturers tied for fourth place, both with a 7.9 rating, up 0.2 from last year,

and these are Bombardier’s Globals and Textron Avia-tion’s Citations. Bombardier’s Learjet support climbed to a 7.8 rating, up from last year’s 7.7, leaving it with a fifth-place ranking.

Textron Aviation’s out-of-production jets see a diver-gence this year, with the smaller jets climbing by 0.2, to 7.4, but the midsize Hawk-ers dropping to 6.9.

In the turboprop arena, Mit-subishi’s MU-2s climbed to 9.3 from last year’s 9.1 to top this

category, followed by Pilatus’s PC-12s (7.6) and Textron Avia-tion’s King Airs (7.1), the same placements as last year.

Rotorcraft rankings start with Bell Helicopter at the top of the list (7.5), as it was last year, but with a lower rating (down 0.4), then Airbus Helicopters holding the number-two place (down 0.3 from last year). Sikorsky moved up one place this year to third with 6.5, up 0.2, followed by AgustaWestland with 6.3.

Newer JetsThree OEMs but an unprec-edented four jet series earned an 8.4 rating to rank first place in the newer business jets cate-gory this year, and all showed an improvement from last year’s rating. First-place rankings this year were Dassault Fal-con, Embraer and both Gulf-stream’s midsize and large-cabin jets. Embraer and Gulfstream midsize saw the largest change, up 0.3 from last year; Falcon climbed 0.2 and Gulfstream large cabins were up 0.1.

Contributing to Dassault’s

first-place finish this year were its top rankings for parts avail-ability (8.6, up 0.2 from last year) and overall aircraft reli-ability (up 0.1 to 9.0).

Embraer’s rankings were bol-stered by an 8.6 for authorized service centers (up from 7.5), 7.3 for cost of parts (from 7.0 last year), 9.0 for technical manuals (up from 8.5) and 9.0 for overall aircraft reliability (up from 8.6).

Gulfstream midsize jets earned top scores as a result of an 8.4 for factory-owned ser-vice centers, up from last year’s 7.7; 9.0 for AOG response, up from 8.6; and 9.2 for technical reps, up from 8.1. For large-cabin jets, Gulfstream received a 9.1 for warranty fulfillment, up from 9.0; 9.0 (up from 8.6) for maintenance-tracking pro-grams; and 9.0 for overall air-craft reliability for large-cabin jets, up from 8.9.

Bombardier’s Challengers moved into second place, up 0.2 from last year and also up two places from last year’s fourth.

In third place this year was Textron Aviation for the

Gulfstream IV

Embraer Phenom 300

DAVID McINTOSH



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Citations, climbing 0.3 to 8.1 and up from last year’s fifth place.

Bombardier’s Globals received the same 7.8 rat-ing as last year, but this year moved up to fourth place from the fifth-place tie with the Citations. This year, the Learjets and Tex-tron’s Hawker 400XPs ranked in fifth place. The larger Hawkers climbed 0.2 points this year.

Older JetsIn the older jets cate-gory, Bombardier made a big move up to first place with an 8.1 rating for the Globals. The company’s Chal-lengers came in second place with the same 8.0 as last year, followed by Learjet in third, climb-ing 0.4 to 7.9, and tied with Dassault Fal-con (down 0.1) and

Gulfstream’s large-cabin jets (down 0.4).

The Globals and Challengers tied for top ranking in the fac-tory-owned service cen-ters category with 7.3, up from the Challeng-ers’ 6.4 last year. (The Globals did not receive enough ratings in the older jets category to be included last year.) Top ranking for authorized

service centers was for the Challengers at 8.1, climbing sharply from 6.4 last year.

The Globals secured an 8.2 ranking in parts availability and a 9.3 for technical reps. Challengers were ranked at 8.7 (up 0.3) for maintenance-track-ing programs. Learjets achieved top rankings in cost of parts (6.3), AOG response (8.5) and technical manuals (8.4), up 0.3, 1.1 and 0.5 respectively.

Falcons also scored an 8.2 for parts avail-ability (down 0.3 from last year); 8.6 for war-ranty fulfillment (up 0.5); and 8.9 for over-all aircraft reliability (down 0.1).

Gulfstream’s large-cabin jets tied with Fal-con’s 8.9 for overall aircraft reliability (down 0.2 from last year).

Textron Aviation’s Citations garnered fourth place, the same position as last year, with the same 7.7 over-all average rating.

In fifth place in this category were Tex-tron’s lighter jets at 7.0 (down 0.4), followed by the Hawkers at 6.7 (down 0.8).

TurbopropsThe results in the tur-boprop categories are the same as last year. (Typically AIN doesn’t receive enough ratings to include the Daher TBM series. These cat-egories could see some change when new turbo-props such as the Epic E1000 and Textron sin-gle-engine turboprop enter the market.)

In first place in the

newer turboprops cate-gory was Pilatus’s PC-12 series, with a 7.8 rat-ing, up 0.1 from last year. Top ratings for the PC-12 included factory-owned service centers (8.5), parts availabil-ity (7.4), AOG response (7.5), warranty fulfill-ment (8.7), technical manuals (8.5), technical reps (8.6), maintenance-tracking programs (8.4) and overall aircraft reli-ability (the highest for any newer aircraft at 9.1).

In second place was Textron Aviation for the King Airs.

In the older turbo-props category, Mit-subishi’s MU-2s remain at the top of the list with a 9.3 rating, up from 9.1 last year, followed by King Airs at 7.0 (down 0.3). The MU-2s received top ratings in every category, match-ing last year’s 9.8 rank-ing for overall reliability, the highest of any air-craft in the survey.

RotorcraftThe rankings of the rotorcraft manufacturers are not separated by newer and older airframes, but of note were the category rankings, with Bell Heli-copter receiving top spots in factory-owned service centers (7.8), authorized service centers (7.4), parts availability (7.2), cost of parts (6.1), AOG response (7.6), warranty fulfillment (7.5), technical manuals (8.5) and maintenance tracking programs (7.2).

Airbus Helicopters was ranked at the top for warranty fulfillment (tied with Bell at 7.5), technical reps (8.5) and overall aircraft reliabil-ity (8.1).

Combined Overall Average Ratings of Newer and Older Aircraft

Overall Average

2016

Overall Average

2015

Rating Change from 2015-2016

JETS

Embraer (Phenom, Legacy, Lineage) 8.4 8.1 0.3

Dassault (Falcon) 8.2 8.1 0.1

Gulfstream (GII-GV, G300-G650) 8.2 8.3 -0.1

Gulfstream (G100-G280) 8.2 7.7 0.5

Bombardier (Challenger) 8.1 8.0 0.1

Bombardier (Global) 7.9 7.7 0.2

Textron Aviation (Citation) 7.9 7.7 0.2

Bombardier (Learjet) 7.8 7.7 0.1

Textron Aviation (Premier, Beechjet 400/400A, Hawker 400XP)

7.4 7.2 0.2

Textron Aviation (Hawker) 6.9 7.2 -0.3

TURBOPROPS

Mitsubishi (MU-2, Solitaire, Marquise) 9.3 9.1 0.2

Pilatus (PC-12) 7.6 7.6 0.0

Beechcraft (King Air) 7.1 7.4 -0.3

ROTORCRAFT

Bell 7.5 7.9 -0.4

Airbus Helicopters 7.2 7.5 -0.3

Sikorsky 6.5 6.3 0.2

Leonardo Helicopters (formerly AgustaWestland) 6.3 6.8 -0.5

* Listed in order of the 2016 overall average; ties are listed alphabetically; bold indicates highest number in each catergory.



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What have you done for me lately?Each year, AIN asks aircraft manufacturers to submit sum-maries of key improvements in their product support imple-mented during the past year, and the following reflects the responses of those that chose to participate.

Fixed-wing

AirbusAirbus implemented its world-wide ACJ service center net-work last year. Owners of the 180 Airbus corporate jets in service can have their aircraft maintained at Airbus’s own Airbus Corporate Jet Cen-tre in Toulouse, France; Com-lux America in Indianapolis;

Haeco Private Jet Solutions in Xiamen, China; Sepang Air-craft Engineering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; at Jet Avi-ation Basel, Dubai and Singa-pore; and at ST Aerospace in Singapore. All of these facili-ties offer line and heavy main-tenance, cabin refurbishing and cabin and system upgrades.

ACJ owners can now tap into the Camp Systems main-tenance-tracking service under an agreement between Airbus and Camp. The new Camp for ACJ service com-bines Airbus’s maintenance program optimization with Camp’s computer-based main-tenance management services.

Since the ACJ can host a

large antenna, another new option for ACJ owners is instal-lation of high-speed Ka-band satcom, which is capable of data speeds of up to 50 Mbps. The Ka-band system became available for ACJ installations in this year’s second half.

Bombardier Business Aircraft

Bombardier’s focus, accord-ing to Andy Nureddin, Bom-bardier Business Aircraft v-p and general manager of cus-tomer services, “is on speed, capacity and technological innovation driving down the bottom line.”

Bombardier says it tries to ensure that customers are as close as possible to a Bom-bardier facility, either fac-tory-owned or part of its authorized service facil-ity network. If one of those isn’t available, then a ser-vice truck or mobile mainte-nance team can help take care of the customer. This drives

what Nureddin calls a “virtu-ous cycle,” because customers appreciate nearby service and are then more likely to bring their maintenance to Bombar-dier or an affiliated facility.

To that end, Bombardier added six service trucks in the U.S. and two in Europe dur-ing the past year. This model doesn’t work, yet, in China, where Bombardier has opened a new factory-owned service center in Tianjin, but that should change eventually. “You will find us rapidly coming up with a mobile operation that is appropriate for the Chinese market,” he said.

In June, Bombardier announced that it will estab-lish a fully owned heavy mainte-nance service center at London Biggin Hill Airport. Opera-tions should begin by this year’s fourth quarter. The location will also boost parts availabil-ity for Bombardier’s European fleet. “Biggin Hill is a market we couldn’t afford not to be in,” Nureddin said.

Newer Bombardier jets are now entering service equipped with its Smart Link data con-nectivity, monitoring and in-flight reporting service. The Learjet 75 is the first to be equipped, and Smart Link is rolling out on the Challenger and Global and will be stan-dard on the upcoming Global 7000. Retrofit kits are available in Bombardier service centers. “Connected airplanes are able to give us reams of data,” he said. “We can see trends and fine-tune the maintenance pro-grams. It’s revolutionary how it helps us support and respond and troubleshoot airplanes.”

Efforts such as Smart Link, Smart Parts, Smart Mainte-nance and so on are not just about cost saving, he explained, but “more about budgeting and predictability, peace of mind. It’s an ever-present struggle, how to take cost out and ensure [we] develop maintenance

Bell customer support

By the Numbers 2016Respondents who rated aircraft 809Respondents who completed the survey in its entirety 720Aircraft rated 2,927Aircraft models receiving ratings 150Minimum ratings required to be included in the data 20



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programs that are not too bur-densome on customers. Thank-fully it’s in our DNA; being a regional/commercial manufac-turer, we’ve honed these capabil-ities of iterative improvements to the maintenance program.”

To further manage costs, Bombardier works with sup-pliers to limit future expenses. For example, negotiating a cap on costs for a landing gear overhaul “to provide some sort of cap to the customer, so it doesn’t keep them up at night,” Nureddin said. “Ultimately

everybody benefits. Residual values stay up, suppliers ben-efit, and they are seeing more repairs through their own shop because they underwrite these programs.”

Dassault FalconFalcon owners will soon real-ize lower maintenance costs, thanks to a new stream-lined 12-month check, which replaces the nine-month A check. The first model to imple-ment the new interval is the 7X, and the 2000 and 900 series will

follow “soon thereafter.”Other recent efforts include

enhancements to the Falcon Response AOG support ser-vices, such as more mobile tech teams, release of the Falcon Response mobile app for 24/7 access to the global support net-work and “streamlined AOG response/deployment protocol based upon customer feedback,” according to the company.

Heeding advice from its operator advisory board, Dassault Falcon has developed two new mobile apps, Flight

Documentation and Mainte-nance Documentation.

Dassault’s two new Falcon 900 airborne support aircraft have flown 160 support mis-sions and 50 alternate transpor-tation missions for customers. One of the 900s is located in France and the other in the U.S.

To continue meeting cus-tomers’ parts needs, the com-pany opened distribution facilities in Louisville, Ky., and Lagos, Nigeria. The Falcon spares service level is currently 98.6 percent.

2016 Category Ratings by Newer and Older Aircraft

Overall Average

2016

Overall Average

2015

Rating Change

from 2015-2016

Factory Owned Service Centers

Authorized Service Centers

Parts Availability

Cost of

Parts

AOG Response

Warranty Fulfillment

Technical Manuals

Technical Reps

Maintenance Tracking Programs

Overall Aircraft

Reliability

NEWER BUSINESS JETS

Dassault (Falcon) 8.4 8.2 0.2 7.5 8.0 8.6 7.1 8.7 8.8 8.5 9.1 8.4 9.0

Embraer (Phenom, Legacy, Lineage) 8.4 8.1 0.3 8.0 8.6 7.8 7.3 8.3 8.8 9.0 8.8 8.8 9.0

Gulfstream (G150-G280) 8.4 8.1 0.3 8.4 8.3 8.2 7.2 9.0 8.9 7.6 9.2 8.9 8.6

Gulfstream (G300-G650) 8.4 8.3 0.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.4 8.5 9.1 8.5 8.8 9.0 9.0

Bombardier (Challenger) 8.2 8.0 0.2 7.3 7.8 8.1 6.8 8.5 8.5 8.2 8.9 8.6 8.8

Textron Aviation (Citation) 8.1 7.8 0.3 7.9 7.6 8.2 6.6 8.3 8.6 8.1 8.4 8.2 8.7

Bombardier (Global) 7.8 7.8 0.0 7.6 7.4 7.4 6.5 8.0 7.7 7.9 8.5 8.5 8.2

Bombardier (Learjet) 7.7 8.0 -0.3 7.5 7.5 7.8 6.1 7.9 8.7 7.5 8.7 8.1 7.8

Textron Aviation

(Premier, Hawker 400XP)

7.7 7.0 0.7 8.2 7.5 7.0 4.9 8.4 8.0 7.9 8.5 7.8 8.8

Textron Aviation (Hawker) 7.2 7.0 0.2 8.0 6.9 6.8 6.1 6.9 7.9 7.2 7.3 8.4 7.6

OLDER BUSINESS JETS

Bombardier (Global) 8.1 NA NA 7.3 8.0 8.2 6.2 8.4 8.1 8.3 9.3 8.6 8.8

Bombardier (Challenger) 8.0 8.0 0.0 7.3 8.1 8.1 5.7 8.3 7.8 8.3 9.2 8.7 8.8

Bombardier (Learjet) 7.9 7.5 0.4 6.8 7.4 7.6 6.3 8.5 8.1 8.4 9.0 8.3 8.8

Dassault (Falcon) 7.9 8.0 -0.1 6.5 7.6 8.2 6.2 8.3 8.6 7.8 8.4 8.3 8.9

Gulfstream (GII-GV, G300-G550) 7.9 8.3 -0.4 6.8 7.8 8.0 5.8 8.2 8.2 8.4 8.6 8.4 8.9

Textron Aviation (Citation) 7.7 7.7 0.0 7.2 7.5 8.0 6.2 7.9 8.1 7.5 7.7 8.3 8.5

Textron Aviation (Premier, Beechjet

400/400A, Hawker 400XP)

7.0 7.4 -0.4 7.0 7.1 6.4 5.8 5.5 8.0 7.2 7.3 8.2 7.6

Textron Aviation (Hawker) 6.7 7.5 -0.8 6.4 7.1 5.9 5.4 6.5 6.8 6.4 6.5 8.4 8.3

NEWER TURBOPROPS

Pilatus (PC-12) 7.8 7.7 0.1 8.5 6.8 7.4 5.6 7.5 8.7 8.5 8.6 8.4 9.1

Textron Aviation (King Air) 7.4 7.5 -0.1 8.4 7.2 7.0 6.0 6.1 7.9 7.4 8.2 7.5 8.2

OLDER TURBOPROPS

Mitsubishi (MU-2, Solitaire, Marquise) 9.3 9.1 0.2 9.2 9.6 9.5 8.4 9.8 9.3 9.1 9.7 8.6 9.8

Textron Aviation (King Air) 7.0 7.3 -0.3 7.4 7.1 6.8 5.4 6.4 7.6 6.8 7.8 7.3 8.6

ROTORCRAFT (ALL AGE ROTORCRAFT)

Bell 7.5 7.9 -0.4 7.8 7.4 7.2 6.1 7.6 7.5 8.5 7.6 7.2 8.0

Airbus Helicopters 7.2 7.5 -0.3 7.2 7.2 6.4 5.2 7.2 7.5 7.5 8.5 6.8 8.1

Sikorsky 6.5 6.3 0.2 6.6 6.8 6.3 4.4 5.8 5.8 7.6 7.4 7.0 7.2

Leonardo Helicopters (AgustaWestland) 6.3 6.8 -0.5 6.2 7.2 5.6 4.3 5.6 6.7 6.9 6.7 6.3 7.0

Listed in order of 2016 overall average; ties are listed alphabetically. Bold indicates highest number in each category.



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EmbraerEmbraer has delivered 1,000 business jets, and its global network now numbers 75 ser-vice centers. Embraer’s 24/7 Customer Service Center is located at company headquar-ters in São José dos Campos, Brazil, and it also owns service centers in Sorocaba, Brazil; Mesa, Ariz.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Windsor Locks, Conn.; and Paris.

The Sorocaba facility received FAA repair station approval in May, covering the entire Embraer business jet line.

Last year the company added an authorized service center, ExecuJet Aviation Nigeria, based in Lagos. ExecuJet Aviation is approved as a Phenom 300 line maintenance service center for western Africa.

GulfstreamLast year Gulfstream added MRO services at Jet Aviation’s facility in Teterboro, NJ. Eleven technicians are based at Jet Avi-ation and provide line mainte-nance, airframe and avionics services and 24/7 AOG assis-tance. Parts are locally avail-able from a $60 million inventory located at Teter-boro-based FlightPath Services. The Teterboro technicians can maintain all Gulfstream jets registered in the U.S., European Union countries, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Gulfstream opened two maintenance hangars last year, a 110,000-sq-ft facility that dou-bles the company’s capacity in Brunswick, Ga., and a newly renovated 19,000-sq-ft hangar at its Long Beach, Calif., campus.

The Brunswick facility incorpo-rated “several sustainable and green design features, such as recycled content, water-saving lavatories and showers, energy-efficient indoor/outdoor light-ing and heating/cooling systems and preferred parking spaces for low-emission, fuel-efficient vehi-cles,” according to Gulfstream.

At its Savannah, Ga., ser-vice center, Gulfstream opened a new paint facility last Sep-tember, greatly speeding the painting process for in-service aircraft, which previously had to be slotted into the produc-tion aircraft paint facility. The new facility is air-conditioned and heated and has a crossdraft bay for paint stripping, sanding and priming, and a downdraft bay for painting.

Another environmentally

friendly building at the Savan-nah campus is the new prod-uct support distribution center (PSDC), which opened in June. Enclosing more than 400,000 sq ft, the PSDC is the “center-piece” of Gulfstream’s parts distribution network, which “manages 500,000 unique part numbers for 18 aircraft models at 11 warehouses and service centers worldwide,” according to the company. A new distri-bution center was also opened near Al Maktoum Interna-tional Airport in Dubai.

In Europe, Gulfstream has added product support capa-bilities at Jet Aviation Vienna and Altenrhein Berlin, as well as line maintenance and AOG services at Stansted Airport northeast of London. The company also moved a mobile repair vehicle to Stansted from the Luton service center.

Earlier this year, Gulfstream added a diagnostic tool avail-able by subscription for MyCMP maintenance-track-ing customers.

The new tool “integrates a customizable diagnostic rea-soning engine and a database of known equipment faults and troubleshooting procedures,” according to Gulfstream, and it is based on the Case-Bank Technologies SpotLight. “The MyCMP diagnostics tool starts with user input of an initial observed symptom, which launches a ‘trouble-shooting dialog,’ similar to an expert on a call-in help desk, to arrive at a solution,” said Derek Zimmerman, president of Gulfstream product sup-port. “By dynamically gener-ating decision logic based on fault-isolation technical data and user-submitted solutions, the program quickly identifies the cause of issues to guide the user to the corrective action.” Gulfstream has made the new tool available to operators of the G650 and G550 and plans to offer it on the upcoming G500 and G600.

Falcon 7X

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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries AmericaThis year Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), which supports the roughly 270 MU-2s that are still flying, and its U.S. contractor Tur-bine Aircraft Services (TAS) held three Pilots Review of Proficiency (Prop) seminars in the U.S. The seminars are free, anyone is welcome to partici-pate, and they are designed to help new and current MU-2 operators share information and learn more about how to operate their twin turboprops safely. Representatives of 170 MU-2s attended the Prop sem-inars this year, according to Pat Cannon, president of TAS, which helps MHIA support the MU-2.

Recently, TAS and MHIA completed FAA approval of an Alpha Systems angle-of-attack (AOA) system for the MU-2, under new Part 23 reg-ulations that do not require an STC. The AOA system is cali-brated for all MU-2 flap config-urations and it provides visual and aural warnings, including vocal warnings such as “too slow” and “stall.” The new AOA system costs $5,000 to $6,000, according to Cannon.

TAS is completing final edit-ing of a new icing video, which was announced last year. MU-2 pilots are required to undergo icing training by watching the video under the supervision of an instructor every two years, and this is usually done as part of the Prop seminars. Now the FAA is allowing MHIA to pro-vide the icing training online, and pilots will be able to view the video and answer ques-tions without having to travel or make other arrangements with a qualified instructor. The new video is completely redone, with professional narration by

ABOVE AND BEYOND We asked AIN Product Support participants to list their favorite support providers and what they like about the service they receive. Here are some of the companies and people respondents chose to recognize. Read the full list at www.ainonline.com/above-beyond-2016.

OEMS

Jeffrey PearlLeonardo Helicopters

Despite the way Agusta (Leonardo) handles its business, Jeffrey Pearl has always worked to get our aircraft up and running and answer any question I’ve ever had. An excellent tech rep.

Amanda BondarAirbus Helicopters

Has helped us out on the weekend to get parts to us above and beyond her normal duty time.

Dean EechauteBombardier

Dean, Learjet FSR, knows the aircraft he is responsible for (primarily the Learjet 40/45/70/75) better than anyone we have come across. He will not stop until the issue is resolved regardless of the complexity. The phrase “I don’t know” isn’t in his vocabulary. But if he has to use it, it is followed by “I will find out and let you know.”

Shane McCabeCitation

Shane is the mobile service mechanic and takes ownership of the airplanes he maintains. Excellent mechanic with a wealth of knowledge.

Gene WoodsDassault

Gene and his team have constantly exceeded my expectations and constantly deliver my company a completed and reliable aircraft. They always strive to deliver my aircraft early and if I ask for the airplane early they will go above and beyond to make it happen. I can always count on anybody on his team to go the extra mile and to treat my aircraft like it was their own.

Sanjay PandeyEmbraer

Never had a technical rep call me every week to ask how the aircraft is. He wants to know my every trip to ensure he or someone else is monitoring the flights. When problems arise during our trips, Sanjay is always coordinating and making sure all questions are answered or making sure one of the Embraer Service Facility [employees] is taking care of us.... even if it’s 3 or 4 a.m. The whole Embraer team in Singapore is always supportive and goes beyond the call of duty.

Jim BeebeGulfstream

Jim continues to go above and beyond in his pursuit to help out the customers in his region. He truly responds 24/7 and even drives three hours each way to our facility to lend assistance when needed. Great person to work with.

AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTERS

Janet BeazelyDuncan Aviation Lincoln

Janet is the best project manager I’ve ever dealt with. She’s always active and involved in her projects. She always knows the status of the airplane and everybody in the facility respects and likes her and helps her get my airplane completed on schedule.

Mark JamesIntercontinental Jet Service Center

I have every possible contact number for Mark. He is always available to help 24/7/365 and his knowledge base is unbelievable.

Gordon RossPentastar Aviation

Gordon went above and beyond ahead of a visit to make sure the project would run smoothly. He even went so far as to spend his company’s money to make sure my fabric would pass burn cert when they did not even have a signed contract. This small action won the company the whole project as well as referrals.

Dan McKillipsWest Star

Dan’s attention to detail and going the extra mile is great!



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clinical psychologist and pilot Michelle Kole.

To fill the gap between the biennial Prop seminars, MHIA and TAS are developing new training videos. One example is a technique to help pilots lower the nose of short-body MU-2s more softly after landing to help reduce maintenance costs on nosewheels. “The airplane is fairly nose-heavy,” Cannon said. “The cg runs pretty far forward of the mainwheels, and it requires a technique to put the nose down softly.” The technique, which is taught at Prop and involves landing with a small amount of power, will also be explained in a new educational video, and these video tips will be available online for anyone to view.

MHIA’s strong support and the MU-2’s outstanding perfor-mance are attracting new own-ers, and they are spending on upgrades and refurbishment. “New owners are coming in droves, and there’s probably been a record number of sales this year,” Cannon said. Pop-ular panel upgrades are Gar-min’s G600 flight displays and GTN 650/750 touchscreen navigators. “It’s fantastic what people are doing to their air-planes,” he said.

Pilatus AircraftThe PC-12 fleet has passed 1,400 and has logged 5.6 million flight hours. The latest version—the PC-12/47E (NG)—has seen 630 deliveries, and these airplanes

SURVEY RULES AND METHODOLOGY

As with AIN Publications’ previous annual Product Support Sur-veys, the objective this year was to obtain from the users of busi-ness jets, turboprop airplanes and turbine-powered helicopters statistically valid information about the product support provided by business aircraft manufacturers over the last year and to report this information to our readers. The ultimate goal of the survey is to encourage continuous improvement in aircraft product support throughout the industry.

This survey was conducted via a dedicated website, created by AIN from the ground up to provide improved ease of use and to encourage greater reader participation. AIN emailed qualified readers a link to the survey website and also sent a postcard invi-tation with login credentials to the survey website.

The survey website was open from May 2 to June 15. Respondents were asked to rate individual aircraft and provide the tail number, age (less than 10 years old or more than 10), primary region of service and whether they used factory-owned or authorized service centers, or both. Respondents were also asked to rate, on a scale from 1 to 10, the quality of service they received during the previous 12 months in the following categories:• Factory-owned Service Centers–cost estimates versus actual, on-

time performance, scheduling ease, service experience.• Authorized Service Centers–same as above.• Parts Availability–in stock versus back order, shipping time.• Cost of Parts–value for price paid.• AOG Response–speed, accuracy, cost. • Warranty Fulfillment–ease of paperwork, extent of coverage.• Technical Manuals–ease of use, formats available, timeliness

of updating.• Technical Reps–response time, knowledge, effectiveness.• Maintenance Tracking Programs–cost, ease of use, accuracy,

reliability.• Overall Product Reliability–how the product’s reliability and

quality stack up against the competition.Respondents were also asked to recognize individuals who have

provided them with exceptional product support and service. The full list of these people is available online at www.ainonline.com/above-beyond-2016.

The 2016 AIN Product Support Survey results for aircraft are pub-lished in this issue, avionics will be featured next month and engines will follow in October.

Textron 1Call

WINNERSThe following people were randomly selected as winners of

an Apple iPad for participating in our Product Support Survey.

BILL WHITE chief pilot

CHAD VELTAaircraft maintenance manager

RONALD LAWHON chief of maintenance

JOE MCCOYchief of maintenance

CRAIG MOOREchief pilot



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have already reached one mil-lion flight hours.

Last year, Pilatus added Chile’s Aerocardal as a PC-12 authorized service center. Aero-cardal is based at Santiago International Airport, where it operates an FBO.

Pilatus has been expanding its customer support team around the world, for all of its general aviation models (PC-6, PC-12 and the upcoming PC-24 jet). Enhancements to the MyPila-tus.com portal include new pub-lications such as fault isolation guides for the PC-12NG and 10th series and performance infor-mation leaflets. Pilatus has also published an EASA-approved master minimum equipment list and master maintenance and operating procedures manual.

To help pilots become more familiar with the PC-12NG’s Honeywell Apex flight deck, Honeywell’s Pilot Gateway pro-vides a pilot integrated learning guide, task trainer and instruc-tional videos.

Textron AviationTextron Aviation’s service net-work now includes 21 factory-owned facilities, 65 mobile service units and three dedi-cated support aircraft.

Earlier this year, Textron Aviation launched the 1Call AOG response team, which allows customers to place a single call to marshal resources to get their Citation, King Air and Hawker back in the air as quickly as possible. “Custom-ers calling this dedicated line for unscheduled maintenance events can receive prioritized technical support, order expe-dited parts, have alternative lift quickly dispatched or schedule a mobile service unit,” accord-ing to the company.

In Europe, Textron Aviation placed a CJ3 to provide expe-dited service. This supplements the company’s six service cen-ters, five line service stations and European parts distribu-tion center, as well as locally based design engineers and sup-plier representatives.

To help keep customers flying, Textron Aviation has invested in its parts distribution network with a new forecast-ing system that improves accu-racy and has led to “significant increases in fill rate,” according to the company. Delivery per-formance is better thanks to consolidation of warehouse and shipping operations.

On the technical publications

front, Textron Aviation is launching a system called 1View, which it developed in collaboration with customers. The system allows customers to sign on just once for access to all maintenance manuals, flight documents, service information and e-commerce features for all Textron Aviation aircraft types. Documents are linked for quick access, and users can annotate and draw on data and graphics in the documents.

Rotorcraft

Airbus HelicoptersAirbus Helicopters customer support efforts are focused on “improving technical publica-tions, better tracking of cus-tomer inquiries and issues, bigger parts inventories and vast improvements in the last two years in on-time parts deliveries.” Last year the com-pany implemented customer focus groups to learn more about “customers’ irritants and their expectations,” and then to respond to their concerns.

During the past two years, Airbus Helicopters has added to its worldwide spares supply, improved component repair and standard exchange offers via its

HCare system, bolstered tech-nical support at its three hub facilities in France, Dallas and Singapore and added technical reps. Customers can submit a technical request 24/7 and receive an answer “quickly from one of the three hubs,” no matter where the customer is located, and the hubs will work together to fol-low up with additional resources and expertise.

Technical publications are now easier to use with the Orion viewer and have better content. Airbus is also work-ing on “improving technical irritant resolution and mainte-nance programs.”

Parts inventories have grown, including $20 million worth of additional spares at the Dallas/Fort Worth logis-tics hub. This reflects a strat-egy to locate fast-moving parts near customers and to place parts where demand tends to be erratic in centralized loca-tions, according to Airbus. On-time delivery of parts is improving, with deliveries of unplanned parts orders meet-ing the requested date 95 per-cent of the time, and on-time delivery for parts ordered 15 or more days in advance reaching 98 percent.

Gulfstream Product Support paint hangar



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Airbus Helicopters has released the e-Tech Pub for the H125/H130, available on iPads and most web browsers. Users can now conduct full-text searches using the offline version. Customers can learn how to use the e-Tech Pubs and Orion viewer by logging into webinars that Airbus Helicop-ters is developing.

Bell HelicopterBell’s new Customer Advantage Plans offer fixed-cost-per-flight-hour options for operators that use the company’s maintenance and support services. The ser-vice is available for the entire lifecycle of the helicopter, and it is also transferable to new owners. In addition to helping owners manage maintenance costs, the plan offers optional non-standard kit coverage and preferred rates from 100 Bell service centers or authorized

customer service facilities.During the past year, Bell

has worked on improving its logistics capabilities, the com-pany noted, “so that both our internal and external networks are performing better than anyone else in the world for rotorcraft parts.” Bell says its recently acquired Able Aero-space Services facility in Mesa, Ariz., will also help it improve its component repair and over-haul capabilities.

Leonardo Helicopters (formerly AgustaWestland)Last year Leonardo Heli-copters expanded into grow-ing markets in China, South America and Australia. Cus-tomer feedback has helped the company improve support and training worldwide, and this is a result of developing “a more robust and user-friendly e-com-merce and online parts ordering

system,” redesigning the service contract “with clear perfor-mance guarantees” and imple-menting lean processes in its maintenance facilities to help meet customers’ turnaround time requirements.

Parts “delivery schedule adherence” has reached 90 per-cent for AOG customers and 94 percent “when taking into account warranty fulfillment and routine ordering along with AOG requests.” Accord-ing to the company, these num-bers have continued improving year-over-year.

Leonardo plans to continue investing to shrink component repair turnaround times and to keep spare parts pricing below the consumer price index and other manufacturers’ offerings.

SikorskySikorsky says its efforts dur-ing the past year to improve

customer satisfaction through enhancements to customer interface teams, parts inven-tory mix and added shipping capacity have led to shorter delivery times and better parts availability.

The company’s new Cus-tomer Care Center in Trum-bull, Conn., opened in March. Offering 24/7 availability and a single phone number to reach “a focused, interdisci-plinary team of experts,” the center has helped Sikorsky improve AOG response time by 30 percent.

Also opening in March was Sikorsky’s new forward stock-ing location in Stavanger, Nor-way, which supports S-92s in “one of the largest S-92 oper-ating regions in the world,” according to the company. Other forward stocking loca-tions are planned, and the sec-ond one opened last month.

Bell Helicopter

70 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / August 2016

2016 CORPORATE AIRCRAFT PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY

Jets: 1 Embraer, 2 Gulfstream, 3 Dassault, 4 Citation-Textron, 5 Bombardier, 6 Hawker Beechcraft-Textron Turboprops: 1 Pilatus, 2 Daher TBM, 3 Beech, 4 Piper.Pro Pilot staff reportData compiled by Conklin & de Decker

2016/2015 OEM comparison support scores for corporate jets and turboprops

Manufacturers Responses Company response time

Spares availability

Cost of parts Manufacturers Speed in

AOG serviceTech

manuals Tech reps

Service satisfaction

Overall scores

Jets 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif Jets 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif

Embraer 98 8.84 8.72 0.12 8.35 8.21 0.14 7.55 7.88 -0.33 Embraer 8.68 8.44 0.24 8.72 8.60 0.12 9.08 8.92 0.16 8.87 8.83 0.04 8.58 8.51 0.07

Gulfstream 283 8.86 8.83 0.03 8.36 8.31 0.05 6.42 6.27 0.15 Gulfstream 8.73 8.68 0.05 8.64 8.50 0.14 8.93 8.91 0.02 8.64 8.61 0.03 8.37 8.30 0.07

Dassault 189 8.48 8.18 0.30 8.32 8.14 0.18 6.29 6.20 0.09 Dassault 8.38 8.15 0.23 8.16 7.94 0.22 8.73 8.57 0.16 8.49 8.13 0.36 8.12 7.90 0.22

Cessna Citation 394 8.38 8.36 0.02 8.14 8.09 0.05 6.43 6.46 -0.03 Cessna Citation 8.18 8.14 0.04 8.11 8.18 -0.07 8.41 8.41 0.00 8.15 8.20 -0.05 7.97 7.98 -0.01

Bombardier 260 7.97 7.87 0.10 7.49 7.55 -0.06 6.32 6.21 0.11 Bombardier 7.82 7.88 -0.06 7.94 8.05 -0.11 8.40 8.54 -0.14 7.90 7.88 0.02 7.69 7.71 -0.02

Hawker Beechcraft 137 7.32 7.35 -0.03 6.46 6.59 -0.13 5.18 5.57 -0.39 Hawker Beechcraft 6.91 6.86 0.05 7.76 7.73 0.03 7.88 7.79 0.09 7.24 7.40 -0.16 6.96 7.04 -0.08

Turboprops Turboprops

Pilatus 77 8.91 8.54 0.37 8.58 8.47 0.11 6.57 6.75 -0.18 Pilatus 8.55 8.51 0.04 8.64 8.52 0.12 8.90 8.77 0.13 8.80 8.70 0.10 8.42 8.32 0.10

Daher 45 8.74 8.34 0.40 8.02 8.02 0.00 6.50 6.00 0.50 Daher 8.40 7.85 0.55 8.73 8.60 0.13 8.93 8.62 0.31 8.61 8.31 0.30 8.28 7.96 0.32

Beechcraft 155 7.95 7.92 0.03 7.79 7.76 0.03 5.89 5.71 0.18 Beechcraft 7.70 7.62 0.08 8.04 8.04 0.00 8.12 8.26 -0.14 7.80 7.93 -0.13 7.61 7.61 0.00

Piper 20 7.68 6.92 0.76 7.16 6.63 0.53 6.58 6.30 0.28 Piper 7.00 6.95 0.05 8.11 7.82 0.29 8.00 7.30 0.70 8.05 7.52 0.53 7.51 7.06 0.45

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2016 Pro Pilot Corporate Aircraft Product Support Survey

Jets 26 years of surveys for turbine corporate aircraft manufacturers rated 1991–2016*no rating for years indicated

20

13

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20

15

20

16

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19

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There are 2 parts to operating a busi-ness aircraft – how well the aircraft

suits customers’ missions and backup from the OEMs to allow those missions to be accomplished. That backup is product support and Professional Pilot started surveying aircraft operators 26 years ago to learn who’s best at it.

JetsEmbraer keeps the crown for the 2nd year in a row. Embraer has made a big effort to show operators that they care. Overall scores for Embraer improved to 8.58 this year from 8.51 in 2015. For 2016 Embraer places 1st in cost of parts, tech manuals, tech reps and ser-vice satisfaction categories.Gulfstream remains in 2nd place. Overall score increased to 8.37 this year from 8.30 in 2015. Their FAST ser-vice with both trucks and aircraft con-tinues to please their operators. Big G places 1st in company response time, spares availability and speed in AOG service for 2016. Dassault moved up to 3rd this year af-ter placing 4th in 2015. Dassault makes an impressive improvement in overall scores with 8.12 for 2016 compared to 7.90 in 2015. Operators are pleased with new FalconResponse Team that brings parts and techs for AOG Falcons.Citation slips to 4th place this year after being 3rd in 2015. Overall score 7.97 from 7.98 in 2015. Textron has strong support for operators through their 21

service ctrs, aircraft, MSUs and 1Call.Bombardier keeps 5th spot for 2016 as in 2015. Overall score for Bombardier dipped to 7.69 this year from 7.71 in 2015. They improved scores in com-pany response time, cost of spare parts and in service satisfaction.Hawker Beechcraft scores 6th in 2016 as they were in 2015. Overall tally for 2016 is 6.96 compared to 7.04 in 2015. 1Call line is the point of contact for Beech, Citation and Hawker.

TurbopropsPilatus 1st for 15 years, or since the TP division was initiated. Overall 2016

score is 8.42 contrasted with 8.32 in 2015. Pilatus earned 1st in compa-ny response time, spares availability, speed in AOG and service satisfaction.Daher TBM is 2nd place in TP support for 8 consecutive years. Overall for 2016 is 8.28 and was 7.96 in 2015. Da-her ranks 1st in tech manuals and tech reps in this year’s survey.Beech retains the 3rd place TP support with 7.61 for 2016, same as 2015. Piper 4th for TPs in 2016. They im-proved in overall score of 7.51 this year from 7.06 in 2015. Piper also 1st in cost of parts – always a sensitive issue among aircraft operators.

PROFESSIONAL PILOT / August 2016 71

Overall ranking


Embraer

Gulfstream

Dassault

•Cessna Citation

Bombardier

•Hawker Beechcraft

Jets

Pilatus

Daher

•Beechcraft

Piper

Turboprops

0 2 4 6 8 10

0 2 4 6 8 100 2 4 6 8 10

8.58 8.42

8.37 8.28

8.12 7.61

7.97

7.69

6.96

7.51

189

260

137

77

283

155

98

20394

45

Jet mfrs rated by 75 or more. Turboprop mfrs rated by 20 or more.

Overall ranking Responses

0 2 4 6 8 10

0 2 4 6 8 10

•Now under Textron

2016/2015 OEM comparison support scores for corporate jets and turboprops

Manufacturers Responses Company response time

Spares availability

Cost of parts Manufacturers Speed in

AOG serviceTech

manuals Tech reps


Overall scores

Jets 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif Jets 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif 2016 2015 Dif

Embraer 98 8.84 8.72 0.12 8.35 8.21 0.14 7.55 7.88 -0.33 Embraer 8.68 8.44 0.24 8.72 8.60 0.12 9.08 8.92 0.16 8.87 8.83 0.04 8.58 8.51 0.07

Gulfstream 283 8.86 8.83 0.03 8.36 8.31 0.05 6.42 6.27 0.15 Gulfstream 8.73 8.68 0.05 8.64 8.50 0.14 8.93 8.91 0.02 8.64 8.61 0.03 8.37 8.30 0.07

Dassault 189 8.48 8.18 0.30 8.32 8.14 0.18 6.29 6.20 0.09 Dassault 8.38 8.15 0.23 8.16 7.94 0.22 8.73 8.57 0.16 8.49 8.13 0.36 8.12 7.90 0.22

Cessna Citation 394 8.38 8.36 0.02 8.14 8.09 0.05 6.43 6.46 -0.03 Cessna Citation 8.18 8.14 0.04 8.11 8.18 -0.07 8.41 8.41 0.00 8.15 8.20 -0.05 7.97 7.98 -0.01

Bombardier 260 7.97 7.87 0.10 7.49 7.55 -0.06 6.32 6.21 0.11 Bombardier 7.82 7.88 -0.06 7.94 8.05 -0.11 8.40 8.54 -0.14 7.90 7.88 0.02 7.69 7.71 -0.02

Hawker Beechcraft 137 7.32 7.35 -0.03 6.46 6.59 -0.13 5.18 5.57 -0.39 Hawker Beechcraft 6.91 6.86 0.05 7.76 7.73 0.03 7.88 7.79 0.09 7.24 7.40 -0.16 6.96 7.04 -0.08

Turboprops Turboprops

Pilatus 77 8.91 8.54 0.37 8.58 8.47 0.11 6.57 6.75 -0.18 Pilatus 8.55 8.51 0.04 8.64 8.52 0.12 8.90 8.77 0.13 8.80 8.70 0.10 8.42 8.32 0.10

Daher 45 8.74 8.34 0.40 8.02 8.02 0.00 6.50 6.00 0.50 Daher 8.40 7.85 0.55 8.73 8.60 0.13 8.93 8.62 0.31 8.61 8.31 0.30 8.28 7.96 0.32

Beechcraft 155 7.95 7.92 0.03 7.79 7.76 0.03 5.89 5.71 0.18 Beechcraft 7.70 7.62 0.08 8.04 8.04 0.00 8.12 8.26 -0.14 7.80 7.93 -0.13 7.61 7.61 0.00

Piper 20 7.68 6.92 0.76 7.16 6.63 0.53 6.58 6.30 0.28 Piper 7.00 6.95 0.05 8.11 7.82 0.29 8.00 7.30 0.70 8.05 7.52 0.53 7.51 7.06 0.45

Cessna Citation Hawker BeechcraftBombardier

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19

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2016 scores by product division for jets and turboprops Manufacturer Responses Company Spares Cost Speed in Tech Tech Service Overall response availability of AOG manuals reps satisfaction average time parts service Jets Bombardier Challenger/Global Express 193 8.00 7.58 6.47 7.76 7.97 8.41 7.98 7.74 Learjet 72 7.94 7.28 6.01 7.96 7.83 8.43 7.69 7.59

Cessna Citation 394 8.38 8.14 6.43 8.18 8.11 8.41 8.15 7.97

Gulfstream GII–V, G300–650 228 8.89 8.45 6.41 8.74 8.66 8.97 8.70 8.40IAI-1125/G100–G280 70 8.79 8.12 6.57 8.81 8.55 8.86 8.50 8.31

Hawker Beechcraft Beechjet 29 7.71 7.21 5.26 7.41 7.72 7.88 7.64 7.26 Hawker 87 7.25 6.42 5.63 6.72 7.67 7.84 7.18 6.96 Premier I 25 7.16 5.80 3.71 7.04 8.05 7.92 7.00 6.67

TurbopropsBeechcraft King Air 155 7.95 7.79 5.89 7.70 8.04 8.12 7.80 7.61

Some respondents rated a single corporate manufacturer with 2 or more models they operate. (eg. Bombardier for a Challenger 604 and Learjet 45). Because of this, there is a small difference between total responses for the overall rankings by type of aircraft rated within the divisions.

This is the 26th year Pro Pilot has used a paper questionnaire to ask corpo-

rate turbine aircraft operators to rate the quality of aftersale service provided by aircraft manufacturers. For the 15th year jet and turboprop aircraft support has been rated in different divisions. There are 7 categories listed on the survey form—company response time, spares availability, cost of parts, speed in AOG

Methodology

service, tech manuals, tech reps and ser-vice satisfaction.

During Apr 2016 a target mailing of 8674 survey forms was mailed out to a random selections of corporate opera-tors from the Pro Pilot subscription list. A supplemental mailing of 719 was sent to other turbine aircraft operators.

A total of 1901 survey forms, repre-senting a 20.2% return, came back to the

Pro Pilot office before July 26 cutoff date. A total of 1408 were properly filled out, providing a total of 1730 line evaluations with 1399 for the jet division and 331 for the turboprop division. A total of 493 survey forms were disqualified due to inconsistencies, errors, duplications or lateness.

On March 14, 2014 Textron acquired Beech Holdings LLC, the parent com-pany of Beechcraft Corp, and it brought together Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft under one entity, Textron Aviation. Re-sponsibility for Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker is now under Textron. Pro Pilot’s policy is to rate newly-acquired product lines separately for 3 years. Therefore Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft are being rated separately this year.

Pro Pilot rules for this 2016 survey required a minimum of 75 evaluations to rank in the jet division. There were 6 manufacturers that met the criteria and therefore were rated in this division—Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream and Hawker Beechcraft. Other manufacturers who received eval-uations but did not tally enough returns to rank in the survey were Airbus (2 evaluations), Boeing (25), Dornier (1), Eclipse (4), Sabreliner (2) and Worthing-ton Aviation/Westwind (4). For the tur-boprop division manufacturers needed a minimum requirement of 20 evaluations to be ranked. Only 4 TP aircraft manu-facturers met the criteria—Beechcraft, Daher, Pilatus and Piper. There were 6 manufacturers that received some eval-uation but not enough for ranking—Aero Commander (8 evaluations), Cessna TP (12), Mitsubishi (7), Fairchild/Swearin-gen (3), Piaggio (2) and Viking (2).

Respondents were asked to rate corpo-rate aircraft OEMs on a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) within each of the 7 categories. Conklin & de Decker of Or-leans MA acted as research agent and performed independent data analysis.


20

00

*1

99

91

99

8

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

12

20

13

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

03

20

04

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

12

20

13

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

03

20

02

20

04

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

12

20

13

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

03

20

02

20

04

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

12

20

13

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

Turboprops

7.4

1 7.9

4

7.6

2 8.4

67

.77

8.1

28

.23

8.0

58

.25

8.3

78

.16

7.7

48

.02

7.7

18

.20

8.0

78

.32

8.4

2

7.1

66

.89

7.3

27

.44

7.1

77

.33

7.5

57

.54

7.4

77

.44

7.3

27

.38

7.6

17

.61

7.6

1

7.4

67

.33 8.0

57

.01

7.1

37

.49

7.6

87

.60

7.6

57

.59

7.9

18

.01

7.9

68

.28

6.3

85

.61

6.1

05

.78

6.0

16

.01

5.7

76

.30

6.1

76

.21

6.3

16

.57

6.7

37

.06

7.5

1

Pilatus* 1991 through 1997 & 2000

Beechcraft* 1991 through 2001

Daher* 1991 through 2002

Piper* 1991 through 2001

Comparison of overall average scores

10

8

6

4

2

0

*no rating for years indicated

PROFESSIONAL PILOT / August 2016 73

Kudos to Scott Kalister, Embraer sr vp of customer support & svcs. Having

worked with him for over 12 years his selection to head up Embraer’s support and services is well deserved! I would also like to salute Ashok Kapadia as one of the most knowledgeable tech reps in North America.

David Regan ATP. Legacy 600Dir of AviationQ3 Capital ServicesPalm City FL

Super product support from Embraer for our fine-flying Phenom 300. The

company has a strong network of high-ly qualified field service reps as well as company owned service centers in addition to an impressive network of authorized service centers.

Jim McIrvin ATP/CFII. Phenom 300Chief Pilot McIrvin AviationWarrenton VA

Both flight characteristics of our Phenom 100 and company sup-

port continue to be fantastic. This is a nice flying, reliable and extremely well supported aircraft. We’re now in our 6th year of ownership and it seems that both the reliability and speed of service have improved. Support from Embraer is amazing! Sean Peterson (Ops Mgr-CT), Tony Janicki (customer mx support rep) and all the folks at the Bradley service center at Windsor Locks CT are so good that it’s really like having personal mechanics. Em-braer maintains excellent relationships with its customers and is strongly in-volved in a growing Embraer aircraft owners association.

Tiron Pechet ATP/CFII. Phenom 100Owner & PilotBedford JetFlightCambridge MA

Embraer

JETS Near perfect is the way I’d score both the robust Phenom 300 we fly as

well as the outstanding OEM support we receive from Embraer. We’re very happy with both the aircraft and the company backup.

David O’Maley ATP. Phenom 300Pilot & Company MemberN583KD Flight Dept LLCCincinnati OH

This is a good solid airplane that has been super reliable. For any is-

sues that might arise for correction on our Phenom 300, we have the repairs currently covered without cost by Em-braer because our aircraft is still under warranty.

Phillip ScheelComm-Multi-Inst. Phenom 300Chief PilotBedrock AviationGrass Lake MI

On my survey questionnaire I give Embraer 10s across the board be-

cause the company provides outstand-ing service for our Phenom 100 here in Brazil.

Sabino Freire ATP. Phenom 100CaptainUsibrás-Usina Brasileira De Óleos

De CastanhaFortaleza CE, Brazil

Here in Indonesia we operate an Legacy 600. I was impressed

when techs from Embraer came to our base to see our aircraft and quickly fix an AOG. Embraer doesn’t forget us as a customer even though we’re way out in Southeast Asia. If we send e-mails to the factory, helpful response comes in less than 12 hours.

Yoyo Soebiyanto ATP. Legacy 600Lead PilotMayapada GroupBekasi, Indonesia

Embraer is a great company, produc-ing superior products and providing

super service from people who really care. Our initial Embraer service for our Phenom 100 at the Hartford CT facto-ry service center was so good I couldn’t help but wonder if they were trying ex-tra hard to make a good first impression. However, we just completed 72 months of use on our Phenom 100, and our cur-rent service experience is even better!

William Midon ATP. Phenom 100Chairman & CEOIntervest IntlConcord MA

Happy to say that product support from Embraer for our Phenom

300 has been outstanding. And this is easily the best airplane we have ever owned. It’s a joy to fly and backup is right there when you need it.

Jay Obernolte ATP. Phenom 300PresidentFarSight TechnologiesBig Bear Lake CA

Embraer makes a real commitment to achieving customer satisfaction.

They’ve developed a unified approach to product support in a team concept. The customer is made to feel that Em-braer really cares and that the factory support will be there with the custom-er to meet all his operational require-ments. And for sure Embraer customer support doesn’t end when the warran-ty expires.

Robert Hutto ATP/CFI. Legacy 600 Av Dept ManagerNew Macau Landmark MgmtMacau, China

Company response time is excellent and the Embraer’s attention in lis-

tening to their aircraft owners is simply the best. We had an outstanding tech rep who we enjoyed working with un-til last year but unfortunately he was replaced.

Guilherme SchmidtATP. Phenom 300Chief PilotBravo Bravo InvestmentsEdina MN

Glad to report we’re pleased with the support provided by Embraer

tech reps serving us. However, when it comes to parts availability we’ve had problems. That’s because needed parts for our Embraer aircraft have been in short supply and prices for them are high.

Ryan Isaacs ATP. Legacy 600/Phenom 300CaptainLeon AirPembroke FL

In my 40 years of aircraft ownership I have never experienced this high

level of product support. Embraer has exceeded my expectations in ev-ery way.

Keith Christensen Comm-Multi-Inst. Phenom 100PresidentChristensen IndustriesSalt Lake City UT

Embraer Senior VP Customer Support and Services Worldwide Scott Kalister with more than 15 years experience at Embraer Customer Support and Services. Scott can be

reached at 321-751-5100 or via e-mail at [email protected].


As DOM for our company I’m re-sponsible for the overall mainte-

nance of our G550. And I can report that it’s a pleasure to work with Gulfst-ream since the customer is foremost in their thoughts. We receive world-class support.

Daniel Fitzpatrick A&P. Gulfstream G550Dir of MaintenanceThermo Fisher ScientificPortsmouth NH

Our Gulfstream IV is extremely reli-able. We’ve never missed a flight

due to an aircraft maintenance prob-lem. I’m sure this is because we have a well-designed and strongly built busi-ness jet backed by unquestionably fine product support.

Ron Buccarelli ATP/CFII. Gulfstream IVPresidentPrecious Metal EngineeringHollywood FL

Gulfstream has never failed us. We have a great airplane plus we have

excellent service all around. Thomas Frank A&P. Gulfstream VSPDir of MaintenanceDebartolo AviationTampa FL

Response from Gulfstream with their FAST team has been outstanding.

We needed help on 2 different oc-casions for our G650. In both events we received quick on-the-scene as-sistance from highly qualified per-sonnel with short time solving of our problems. Also I find Gulfstream tech publications including PlaneBook and PlaneBalance to be very useful tools that are easy to use and I can tie them into my iPad for instant accessibility.

Darren Paul ATP/CFII/A&P. Gulfstream G650 & Global ExpressCaptainExecutive Jet ManagementGranada Hills CA

The aftersale service received from Gulfstream is simply the best.

When our G550 was first delivered we had some issues but Gulfstream went above and beyond what we could normally expect to make sure that our G550 was perfect in all respects. Our flight ops now are very trouble-free.

Matthew PetryATP. Gulfstream G550CaptainExecutive Jet ManagementCement City MI

We know from the experience we’ve had with our G450 that

Gulfstream is the unique “step up” aircraft company that prizes the cus-tomer and is attentive to his needs. We have a super reliable airplane but on occasions when we’ve needed Gulfst-ream to solve issues, especially on a rare AOG problem, support has been outstanding.

Kevin Flood A&P. Gulfstream G450Aircraft Maintenance MgrAmerican FamilyMadison WI

Need to say we’re very pleased with Gulfstream’s product support and

their solid parts network. And our Se-nior FSR Mark Solomon is absolutely phenomenal. We couldn’t be happier with our business jets G550/G450 and Gulfstream’s product support system.

Anson Mount Comm-Multi-Inst/A&P. Gulfstream G550/G450 & King Air 300Flight Engineer & Crew Chief Abbott LabsArlington Heights IL

I fly a G550 internationally for our company. In Hong Kong the Gulfst-

ream Tech Service Rep Eli Gaultney is one of the best I have ever dealt with.

Paul SternbergATP. Gulfstream G550CaptainTravel Space Van Nuys CA

For product support you can’t beat Gulfstream. We have 3 fine-flying

Gulfstreams and I rate the company very high on service satisfaction. But it seems to me that the cost for need-ed spare parts have been increasing. In fact I think parts prices are now going through the roof.

Paul Stiling ATP. Gulfstream G550/V/IIIAsst Dir Flt OpsFranklin TempletonAlameda CA

Based on my experiences I can re-port that Gulfstream does a superb

job supporting both our G450 and G280. Technical help is flawless and I appreciate the attitude of the Gulfst-ream techs who demonstrate friendly personal relationships. As a Gulfst-ream customer I enjoy communicating with my FSR and working with him as well as the service center to achieve a satisfying maintenance experience.

John LederA&P. Gulfstream G450/G280Mgr Av MaintenanceDominion ResourcesAmelia Court House VA

Yes, there have been a few mainte-nance issues with our Gulfstream

G280. But they’ve been minor and Gulfstream has handled them quickly and professionally to our complete sat-isfaction.

Richard Ford ATP. Gulfstream G280CaptainCox EnterprisesDecatur GA

Gulfstream Product Support President Derek Zimmerman can be reached at 912-395-0856, fax 912-963-6092 or via e-mail at derek.zimmerman@ gulfstream.com.

Gulfstream

2016 Pro Pilot Corporate Aircraft

Product Support Survey

Job titles of survey respondents

Owner, Chief Executive, President, VP, General Mgr or other corporate officer

546

206

566

90

Captain, Line Captain, First Officer or other pilot

Aviation Dept Mgr, Chief Pilot, Dir of Aviation, Flight Ops Mgr or VP Operations

Maintenance Chief, Maintenance Mgr or Mechanic


Based on the attention we have re-ceived from Dassault in customer

support during the past few years, I can report a definite and strong im-provement.

Christophe Michaux ATP. Falcon 900EASyCaptainVipJetMougins, France

Dassault has dramatically improved their AOG support for operators

through the establishment of their Fal-con Command Center and the new Airborne Support Program.

Marty Grier A&P. Falcon 900EX/2000LXSSr Mgr MaintenanceHome Depot Av DeptAtlanta GA

For us with our fleet of 3 Falcons the Dassault customer service has been

incredible. All we have to do is reach out to them with our issue and their knowledgeable service techs go to work for us until our concern is fully resolved.

George Afordakos A&P. Falcon 2000EX/2000/900Dir of MaintenanceComcastPhiladelphia PA

I fly a Falcon 7X for our company. Das-sault has great products and an out-

standing customer support program. I am very happy because Dassault ser-vice takes good care of our Falcon.

Peter LaurinATP. Falcon 7XCaptainBAA CoStaefa, Switzerland

We operate 90% in and out of the USA in a Falcon 7X that was one

of the earlier models of this aircraft. At the start we had some problems. But Dassault took very good care of us and has continued to give us excellent support. Now we have great reliability with this aircraft. We’ve logged a lot of hours and are looking forward to com-pleting our C-check.

Anthony Complo ATP/CFII. Falcon 7XCaptainFlying LionHollywood FL

We’ve been a Dassault operator since 1996. We now have both

a 7X and a 2000EASy and they are both joys to fly with fabulous flight-decks. But also the product support has zoomed up to be better than any customer service we had before. At-tention we’re now receiving is out-standing. Praise is coming from us and other Dassault operators throughout the business aviation industry. Das-sault’s latest effort in creating an air-borne parts/technical services Falcon Response delivery system has proven its value to our operation as well as for countless others. Timeliness in solving operator problems is what it’s all about.

Mitchell Vuernick ATP. Falcon 7X/2000EASyDir of AviationCignaWindsor Locks CT

No doubt that Dassault’s product support has improved immensely.

The company has always designed and built great flying aircraft with superb quality. But now it’s evident that at-tention from the top has been focused on customer service with the goal of being the best in backup. Behind Das-sault products and service are knowl-edgeable people who show in their prompt responses that they care for their customers.

Jorge Lara ATP. Falcon 2000LXDir Flt OpsCorbantrade CiaQuito, Ecuador

0 2 4 6 8 10

Company response time

Jet m

frs

rate

d by

75

or m

ore.

Tur

bopr

op m

frs

rate

d by

20

or m

ore.

Bombardier

Embraer

Pilatus

Gulfstream

Cessna Citation

Jets

Dassault

Daher

Hawker Beechcraft

Piper

Beechcraft

8.86

8.84

8.48

8.38

7.97

7.32

8.91

8.74

7.95

7.68


Turboprops

0 2 4 6 8 10

Spares availability

Jet m

frs

rate

d by

75

or m

ore.

Tur

bopr

op m

frs

rate

d by

20

or m

ore.

Bombardier

Embraer

Pilatus

Gulfstream

Cessna Citation

Jets

Dassault

Daher

Hawker Beechcraft

Piper

Beechcraft

8.36

8.35

8.32

8.14

7.49

6.46

8.58

8.02

7.79

7.16


Turboprops

Dassault Senior VP for Worldwide Customer Service Jacques Chauvet is based in Saint-Cloud, France. Falcon support personnel are positioned around the globe to provide Falcon

operators with 24/7 AOG, technical, ops and spare parts services. Chauvet can be contacted by phone at 3314-711-6194, by fax at 3314-711-6554 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Dassault


Cessna’s customer service has im-proved over the years and has, in

my opinion, earned this company the leading position in aircraft product support. No one likes to experience an AOG but Cessna is prepared, ready and able to do the right thing in taking care of operators on any aftersale ser-vice need but especially very quickly when an AOG event occurs. Because of their backup, I have peace of mind in flying our Cessna Citations.

Mark Wray ATP. Citation X/Sovereign/BravoAv Dept MgrSchweitzer Engineering Pullman WA

In my opinion Cessna shows tremen-dous commitment to their customers.

However their systems and process-es often hamper that commitment. They’re increasingly realizing they

need to improve their services and so they’ve recently reorganized to provide better product support. Their non-aircraft deliverables to customers such as manuals and software need to get better. And I’m convinced their de-sire to improve is sincere. Cessna is a great company to deal with.

Marc Dulude ATP. Citation M2Chief PilotMild AirBluffton SC

The Cessna Mobile Service Units (MSUs) are great and when they

come they bring us excellent product support for our Citation Excel. I’m also pleased with their technicians who are very knowledgeable and highly skilled.

Ben Bagnall ATP/A&P. Citation ExcelChief PilotArizona-Kentucky LLCPortsmouth OH

We’re the happy operators of a Citation XLS+ and are pleased

with both the performance of the air-plane and the product support from Cessna. Let me give a special salute to Senior VP for Customer Service Brad Thress and his Citation support team as they do a great job for us.

Richard AbernathyATP/CFII/A&P. Citation XLS+Pilot & DOMCommerce BankKansas City MO

0 2 4 6 8 10

Cost of parts

Jet m

frs

rate

d by

75

or m

ore.

Tur

bopr

op m

frs

rate

d by

20

or m

ore.

Bombardier

Embraer

Pilatus

Gulfstream

Cessna Citation

Jets

Dassault

Daher

Hawker Beechcraft

Piper

Beechcraft

7.55

6.43

6.42

6.32

6.29

5.18

6.58

6.57

6.50

5.89


Turboprops

0 2 4 6 8 10

Speed in AOG service

Jet m

frs

rate

d by

75

or m

ore.

Tur

bopr

op m

frs

rate

d by

20

or m

ore.

Bombardier

Embraer

Pilatus

Gulfstream

Cessna Citation

Jets

Dassault

Daher

Hawker Beechcraft

Piper

Beechcraft

8.73

8.68

8.38

8.18

7.82

6.91

8.55

8.40

7.70

7.00


Turboprops

The achievement from Dassault to provide customers with the air-

borne Falcon Response Team to solve AOGs and also speed passengers on their way is excellent. Product support from Dassault is the best.

David Mari ATP/Helo. Falcon 7X, Airbus EC135T3 & MD520NChief PilotValkyrieSeattle WA

Evidently Dassault has made an im-portant commitment to become the

benchmark for a customer centric cul-ture. Our recent use of their FalconRe-sponse Team proved to be a satisfying experience with complete and pleasant problem solving. And while we were AOG there was a steady flow of con-tact maintained from their command center ensuring we’d have all help and resources needed to get back in the air.

Stephen Perlini A&P. Falcon 2000S/2000EX EASyDir of MaintenanceAllstate Insurance Wheeling IL

As the DOM for a Falcon 2000EX I can report that this aircraft is in-

credibly reliable. And what makes it the best over all the rest is Dassault’s unequaled customer support.

Drew Oetjen A&P. Falcon 2000EX/2000S/LXSMgr of Aircraft MaintenanceUnion Pacific RailroadOmaha NE

Textron Aviation Senior VP for Customer Service Brad Thress is responsible for all aftermarket service and support for the 3 aircraft lines of Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker. He can be

reached at 316-517-0349 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Cessna Citation (now Textron Aviation)


Primarily I deal with Citation Service Center at SAT for the maintenance

and parts for our CJ1. I’m delighted with this center’s service. They do such a great job!

Willy Carroll ATP. Citation CJ1Chief PilotLDB CorpKerrville TX

Although Cessna’s aftersale product support has been constantly im-

proving I find their cost of spare parts to still be very high.

Thomas White ATP/Helo/CFII. Citation SovereignChief PilotRio Vista AviationCibolo TX

Our flight dept operates a Cita-tion Ultra. I find it to be a very

reliable aircraft. It’s a great perform-er in all respects and it can get in and out of fairly short runways. We can operate it in and out of 4000 ft. And I find all the aircraft systems to be well thought out. In my opinion it’s the best airplane in the sky. Hats off to Cessna!

Daniel Carrigan ATP/CFII/A&P. Citation UltraChief PilotMikal C WattsSan Antonio TX

Great service! We’re always well treated when we bring our

CJ2 to the Citation Service Center at IWA (Mesa AZ). Our CJ/CE525 series is so popular that you can find qualified A&P mechs who can competently work on them at many FBOs. And our CJ2 has been so re-liable that we’ve never experienced an AOG. Of course we take good care of our CJ2 and make sure it’s always properly maintained and correctly operated.

John Keller ATP/Helo/CFI. Citation CJ2Owner & Chief Pilot Keller Aviation Services IntlCave Creek AZ

Following the acquisition of Hawk-er Beechcraft by Textron with the

Cessna Citation Service Centers becoming Textron Aviation Ser-vice Centers, I was worried that the product support for our Citation CJ3 would suffer. But I was pleasantly wrong. I now think that our backup service has gotten better as a whole. Good job Mesa Service Center!

Sean Gast ATP. Citation CJ3Chief PilotPacific Intl MarketingCastroville CA

Pro Parts for Cessna Citations is a wonderful program that we find

invaluable for budgeting our main-tenance costs. And we also save time in not having to shop elsewhere for spares.

Leslie Briggs ATP/CFII. Citation CJ4Chief PilotOverland WestOgden UT

Robert “Bob” Wilson, son of Kemmons Wilson, founder and chairman of the Holiday Inn chain, is president of the award-winning Wilson Air Center FBOs at MEM (HQ), CLT, HOU, CHA. Bob Wilson is an ardent pilot who flies various models. He has over 15,000 logged flight hrs. Here he rates 2 of his favorite airplanes – Citation CJ3+ and Pilatus PC12 – for product support. And he gives them both 10s across the board. This Pro Pilot survey received a total of 1901 survey forms from top execs, flight dept mgrs, pilots and mx mgrs.


Bombardier has made real strides in putting the customer first. Tech Rep

Chris Richard from Bombardier works closely with us as though he’s a regular staff member in our flight dept.

Jamie Stember ATP. Challenger 605Aviation Dept MgrCP ManagementGlen Burnie MD

Learjets are good airplanes. They’re well designed, sweet to fly and easy

to service with Bombardier’s backup. But with the old Learjet 25 we operate, it does become increasingly difficult to receive service and parts. However, Bombardier has been very helpful in keeping us flying.

Charles MotzATP. Learjet 25/35 & Gulfstream G100Dir of Ops & Chief PilotPierce AirlinesSandy UT

As a contract pilot who does a lot of flying in a Challenger 605 I can

attest to the fact that Bombardier has made great improvements in backup service during the last few years.

Chris Parker ATP. Challenger 605Contract PilotChallengercrew.comTorrance CA

We recently retrieved our Chal-lenger 300 following its 2000 hr

check from the Bombardier ICT facili-ty. Well-qualified techs completed the work on time and our lead mechanic was satisfied.

Wendy O’Malley ATP. Challenger 300CaptainExecutive Jet MgmtAlameda CA

Clear to see Bombardier is making real progress in customer service.

We appreciate the support we receive from our FSR Chris Richard. Also Syl-vain Cote from the Montreal-based Bombardier Customer Support Team has helped us out on several occa-sions. All our interactions with Bom-bardier tech personnel in their various locations have been pleasant. And we really enjoy flying our Global.

Frank Mattioli A&P. Global ExpressDir of MaintenanceRoute 66 VenturesDulles VA

I think the biggest asset for us in oper-ating our Learjet 45 is the backup we

get from the Bombardier service team. In particular Dean Eechaute is our “go-to” guy to solve any problem we might have with our Learjet. We have yet to stump him with an issue. Count on Dean to keep working on a problem until it’s resolved. And he always an-swers his phone, too! Great job Dean!

Keith Cook ATP/CFII. Learjet 45Chief PilotBasler ElectricWorden IL

During the past several months we’ve had noticeably better support from

Bombardier. However, I’d sure like to see costs of parts come down to more realistic levels. Currently the spares we order carry high price tags.

Lane Clayson ATP. Global 5000Chief PilotIdaho InvestmentsRigby ID

My experience with Bombardier service has been quite good. We

have tough aircraft that don’t break but they still need looking after. So I’m im-pressed with the attention we receive from Bombardier in product support.

Michael Curtis ATP/CFII. Challenger 650STraining CaptainNetJetsReno NV

BombardierBusiness Aircraft VP & Gen Mgr Customer Services Andy Nureddin can be reached by phone at 514-855-8307, fax 514-855-7818, or use his e-mail of

[email protected].

Bombardier

0 2 4 6 8 10

Tech manuals

Jet m

frs

rate

d by

75

or m

ore.

Tur

bopr

op m

frs

rate

d by

20

or m

ore.

Bombardier

Embraer

Pilatus

Gulfstream

Cessna Citation

Jets

Dassault

Daher

Hawker Beechcraft

Piper

Beechcraft

8.72

8.64

8.16

8.11

7.94

7.76

8.73

8.64

8.11

8.04


Turboprops

0 2 4 6 8 10

Tech reps

Jet m

frs

rate

d by

75

or m

ore.

Tur

bopr

op m

frs

rate

d by

20

or m

ore.

Bombardier

Embraer

Pilatus

Gulfstream

Cessna Citation

Jets

Dassault

Daher

Hawker Beechcraft

Piper

Beechcraft

9.08

8.93

8.73

8.41

8.40

7.88

8.93

8.90

8.12

8.00


Turboprops


Our company is flying a Learjet LR45XR. We’re pleased with the

airplane and the technical knowledge and problem-solving service we re-ceive from our Bombardier tech rep Eric Gunderson.

Roger Reed Comm-Multi-Inst/A&P.

Learjet 45XR & Falcon 50EXDir of MaintenancePilot CorporationAlcoa TN

Quicker response from Bombardier has been the order of the day with

faster answers to questions, faster de-livery of needed parts and welcome on-site tech service. Overall mainte-nance assistance from Bombardier has been great with a super FSR team we can depend on.

Emil St Hilaire ATP. Global Express/Challenger 604

& Gulfstream G200Lead CaptainDCAFDubai, United Arab Emirates

Our Challenger 605s – 3 of them – have a high 99.9% dispatch

reliability record. We’re extremely pleased with our 605s for being solid-ly built aircraft with fine product sup-port. The 604s we formerly operated gave us similar great performance and backup service.

Dan WolfeATP/CFII. Challenger 605Aviation VP & Gen MgrNationwide Insurance CoColumbus OH

Hawker Beechcraft provides excel-lent product support even for their

out-of-production aircraft. Attention and care from their well-trained pro-fessional team does everything for our Hawker 850XP and they do it right the first time.

Timothy Richter ATP/CFII. Hawker 850XPCaptainINPOAcworth GA

We’ve had such a good reliability in the operation of our Hawk-

er 800XP that mx needs have been rare. So it’s hard for me to judge fac-tory-sponsored product support. But I know we’ve been pleased with the HBC service we’ve received during the few occasions when it’s been required.

Shawn McQuade ATP. Hawker 800XPPilotAarons Gainesville GA

Parts for our Premier IA are becom-ing increasingly more difficult to

obtain. I need the parts but I find that along with the scarcity the prices for spares are continually increasing.

Tommy Freeze ATP. Premier IAChief PilotJRC InvestmentsWilkesboro NC

Aftersale service from Beechcraft has always been great for our

400A. It’s especially good to know they have a large supply of parts for our aircraft so we don’t experience unscheduled downtime. Beech parts prices aren’t cheap but when you need a part you have to have it and they maintain a good inventory along with having knowledgeable techs.

Corey Lynch ATP/CFII. Beechjet 400AAv Dept MgrAlden Aviation ManagementBartlett TN

Our Hawker 800 is a very depend-able aircraft. When the need

arises we use Hawker Beechcraft service. Their maintenance capa-bilities are excellent. And we know from interface with other operators that Hawker Beechcraft continues to do an outstanding job of supporting all Hawker aircraft that are still in the business fleet.

R Risher ATP/Helo/CFII. Hawker 800Chief PilotZenith NationalPoway CA

The Premier I we fly has been dis-continued from production. And

now effective factory product support for our Premier I has become difficult to receive. It appears to me as a Pre-mier I operator that since Textron took over control of Hawker Beech service that a significant number of the expe-rienced personnel have left or have been shifted. I note that Textron has made significant price increases for spare parts. We are now depending more for support from our local main-tenance activity.

Thomas Schaad ATP. Premier ICEODiamair LtdBiberist, Switzerland

My main concern with factory service is the ability to obtain

needed parts for our out-of-produc-tion aircraft from Hawker Beech. I worry about that and believe there is a lot of uncertainty from other opera-tors as well concerning the future of parts as well as service from Hawk-er Beech for older Hawkers such as our 800A.

Tim Bamford ATP/CFII. Hawker 800ACaptainGoseeHartly DE

Hawker-Beechcraft (now Textron Aviation)

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Turboprops


Have been in the Pilatus program since 1995. My current PC12 is

the 3rd Pilatus aircraft that I’ve owned. And in 21 years of both business and pleasure flying I might have had 3 or 4 mx issues that caused a cancelation. But with help from Pilatus product support those issues were corrected within a brief time frame. In 39 years of flying many aircraft I can report that nothing beats the PC12.

Aaron Henschel Comm-Multi-Inst. Pilatus PC12OwnerHS AirEnglewood NJ

Pilatus does an outstanding job of both building a fine aircraft as well

as giving it great support. Also Epps Aviation being a Pilatus authorized service center provides excellent maintenance work for our PC12NG.

Jeff Babin ATP. Pilatus PC12NGChief PilotCentury AircraftHuntsville AL

Our PC12NG has been bulletproof in the 3 yrs we’ve been owners. It

has given us 100% dispatch reliability.Christopher Anderson ATP/CFI. Pilatus PC12NGAv Dept Mgr & Chief PilotSky Lodge AirIndianapolis IN

I fly an older Pilatus PC12/45. I had the panel upgraded with Garmin avi-

onics. My Pilatus has been extremely reliable with only 1 or 2 AOG prob-lems in 13 years of operation. It still looks and performs like new. Our PC12/45 has been scrupulously main-tained by Atlas Aircraft Center at PSM (Portsmouth NH), a Pilatus authorized

service center. Parts have never been a problem since Pilatus Business Aircraft at BJC and Atlas both stock substantial parts inventories at their facilities. I commend Pilatus also for developing a number of pilot friendly apps for the PC12 and for posting a variety of use-ful publications on their website for easy download to ForeFlight and other aviation connectivity sites.

Daniel Muller Comm-Multi-Inst/CFII. PC12/45PresidentJKL InternationalFar Hills NJ

Recently we purchased our 3rd new PC12 for the company. There’s a tes-

timonial right there for what we think of this airplane. And I have to say that Pilatus continues to impress us both with the aircraft’s performance and the company’s outstanding backup service. I believe that the Pilatus PC12 is with-out competition in its workhorse single engine turboprop niche.

Joey Larrabee ATP/CFII/A&P. Pilatus PC12NGChief PilotJohnston EnterpriseEnid OK

Nothing but praise for the flight char-acteristics of our Legacy PC12/47

along with the support from Pilatus from the factory as well as from autho-rized service centers. We’ve had an-other year of 100% dispatch reliability with both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance addressed in an expedi-tions manner. All people involved with Pilatus show a pride in their workman-ship that’s easy to see and always ap-preciated by us as a customer.

Tommy Jernejcic ATP/CFII. Pilatus PC12/47Chief PilotTriple G AirGoodyear AZ

KCAC Aviation at OJC (Olathe KS) is what Pilatus is all about. We

go there for service for our PC12 and we’re certainly very satisfied with their technical attention. KCAC is a Pilatus authorized service center and provides great maintenance and support for our aircraft. Their professional techs are always willing to go above and beyond to keep our PC12 in perfect shape.

Grant Bartow ATP. Pilatus PC12Chief PilotShottenkirk HoldingsBurlington IA

I’ve owned Cessna, Beechcraft and other aircraft over the years. And

Daher TBM is by far the best aircraft I’ve flown with the additional ca-pability of this fine turboprop being backed up with excellent product support. I happily give Daher a series of solid 10+ scores in all categories on our survey.

Ralph Ragland Comm-Multi-Inst/Helo/CFII. Daher TBM 850OwnerRagland AviationFredericksburg TX

Daher continues to bring out ad-vancements to make their air-

craft faster, safer and in various areas better for TBM operators. And at the same time they make available some of these advancements for retrofit for older TBM models such as the 700 that I fly.

Ian Runge Comm-Multi-Inst. Daher TBM 700PresidentRunge Aviation PTYBreckenridge CO

Very impressed by Daher’s fine product support. They make their

tech manuals available online at no charge. And any time I’ve e-mailed my requests they’ve replied in min-utes. Parts are expensive though. However Daher will do a price re-view when required. I’ve used this feature successfully whenever I’ve needed it.

David Kaplan ATP. Daher TBM 850VP & PartnerCloverleaf Cold StorageSioux City IA

Piotr “Pete” Wolak is Pilatus VP for customer service. Wolak welcomes calls from Pilatus customers. Operators can reach him at his office by calling 303-410-2720. Wolak’s cell

phone is 720-201-3765 and his e-mail is [email protected].

TURBOPROPS

Pilatus Daher VP Customer Support Charles Holomek is located in Pompano Beach FL and can be reached at 954-893-1408 or by e-mail, [email protected].

Daher Customer Support always enjoys hearing from their TBM ownersand operators.

Daher


Textron’s 1Call is a great addition to their product support capabil-

ities. It allows customers like us who have both a KA350 and a Citation Ex-cel to have a single point of contact for our maintenance needs regardless of whether the aircraft we operate is a Beech, Citation or Hawker. Net result is better service.

Shannon Jackson ATP. King Air 350 & Citation ExcelFlt Ops MgrNovant HealthClemmons NC

Our local factory-authorized main-tenance facility has provided us

with superb service. But these days we don’t deal directly with the manufac-turer and it seems to me that our old-er King Air doesn’t receive the same attention as newer models. I’ve also noticed that since Textron acquired Hawker Beechcraft the pricing for spares has increased.

Allen Lambert ATP. King Air 200Chief PilotAllen Lambert Pilot ServiceRoanoke VA

Seems to me that backup service on our King Air has improved since

the Textron takeover. Certainly qual-ity control has gotten better. We’ve experienced various improvements in all aspects of the maintenance provided for our King Air 200 at the Hawker Beechcraft facilities. We’re happy with the better backup we’re now receiving.

Paul Bradham ATP/CFI. King Air 200 & Gulfstream G150Flt Dept Mgr & Chief PilotPerdue FarmsSalisbury MD

Very pleased with the product sup-port we’ve received from Beech-

craft to assist us with maintenance needs for our King Air 350.

Jonathan Carden ATP. King Air 350Mgr of Flight OpsMurray EnergyCarlinville IL

Product support and parts availabil-ity for our King air 90 have been

poor. I’d like to see better service from Hawker Beech.

Dallas Chopping ATP. King Air 90PilotA and E CoCasper WY

Piper Aircraft VP of Sales, Marketing and Customer Support Drew McEwen can be reached at 772-299-2884. Additional contact information is available online at www.piper.com.

Contact your nearest Piper dealer for product support and service questions.

Piper

Hawker Beechcraft IND has provid-ed us with product support since

1972. They’ve always done exception-al maintenance service with qualified technicians who clearly demonstrate their willingness to accommodate to our needs.

William King Comm-Multi-Inst. King Air 90Chief PilotOmni CompanyHuntingburg IN

As operators of a very old King Air B90 we’ve logged a lot of hours

and have proven the value of this air-craft. We continue to need this air-plane to serve us regularly and reli-ably. I’m happy to report that Hawker Beechcraft at both the factory and at our authorized service center here in San Juan take very good care of us.

Thomas Rivera ATP. King Air B90President, CEO & OwnerATR RealtySan Juan PR

I think our King Air 350 is the king of turboprops in the industry. It has it

all. It gives us the speed we need, the cabin capacity, range. You name it and we’ve got it with our KA350. And of course this fine turboprop is backed up by Beechcraft’s attentive aftersale support.

Kenneth Smith ATP. King Air 350 OwnerKLS Aviation ServicesLake Wales FL

Our company operates a King Air 350 and for maintenance I

deal with Beechcraft service centers in both Wilmington and Tampa. I’ve found both facilities to be extremely competent with knowledgeable and experienced techs who can handle any issues with airframes, avionics or powerplants. These centers also work closely with Beechcraft in Wichita for factory support and that has been helpful for us as well. Hence, I can re-port that I have total confidence in any repair they perform on our KA350 and after service I leave their facilities with an extremely high comfort level.

Chaz Harris ATP. King Air 350Flt Dept MgrPolar BeveragesWorcester MA

Very happy with the Piper Meridian I own. I fly it extensively through-

out Europe. Almost no parts have been needed. And product support received for our aircraft from Piper when re-quired has been very good.

Andre Mueller Comm-Multi-Inst. Piper MeridianOwner & PilotMullairWeggis, Switzerland

As the operator of a Piper Cheyenne IIIA I like the aircraft but one must

find a shop that specializes in Chey-ennes in order to have this twin turbo-prop maintained properly. It’s a good airplane but it’s been out of production for a long time so that Piper does not provide much in the way of factory service.

John Thompson Pvt-Multi-Inst. Cheyenne IIIAChief PilotThompson TravelWest Columbia SC

I have operated my Piper Meridian for the past 8 years without any major

problems. Since the Meridian is such a good aircraft there has been very little need for Piper factory support.

Ronald Ziller ATP. Piper MeridianPresidentAirworthy ServicesPompano Beach FL

Even though our Meridian had some problems this year parts were avail-

able and downtime was minimal. We’re very pleased with Piper’s after-sale product support.

Kevin Stewart Comm-Multi-Inst/CFII. MeridianChief PilotThe FreemanMorehead KY

Beechcraft King Air (now Textron Aviation)

AIN’s Part I: Aircraft PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY Part I: Aircraft...Embraer leads for jets,...

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Transcript of AIN’s Part I: Aircraft PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY Part I: Aircraft...Embraer leads for jets,...