A state-of-the-art, new helicopter is landing in Philadelphia. AgustaWestland Philadelphia will add a new production line to manufacture the AW169 helicopter starting in May 2014. The plant, located at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, employs over 560.
“The arrival of the AW 169 production line will secure and create jobs here in Philadelphia,” CEO William Hunt said in a statement. “We have been in Philadelphia for over 30 years and have realized tremendous growth in servicing and supporting the commercial helicopter market over the past 10 years.”
AgustaWestland is an Anglo-Italian helicopter company owned by Italy’s Finmeccanica. The Philadelphia facility includes assembly lines for two other helicopters, a parts supply depot for the Americas and a repair station. AgustaWestland Philadelphia also performs helicopter customization and provides maintenance for customer aircraft in the area out of its 275,000-square-foot facility on 39 acres at the airport.
AgustaWestland says it already has orders for more than 80 of the new helicopters, a versatile, new-generation, twin-engine helicopter that can seat 10 passengers. The first Philadelphia-built AW169 will be delivered in early 2015 and the new production line will ramp up to about 20 aircraft a year by 2017.
The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that the Philadelphia unit has been growing steadily over the past seven years, with revenues growing from $217 million in 2005 to $771 million last year. The workforce has increased from 100 to 560 and the number of aircraft made in Philadelphia annually has risen from 23 to 48. Nearly half the aircraft it makes are exported.
Source: AgustaWestland, Philadelphia Business Journal
Writer: Elise Vider