Bell was the first to break the sound barrier and to certify a commercial helicopter. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas – as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., – they have strategic locations around the globe. The company’s talented employees come from more than 90 countries to serve customers spanning across six continents. All to deliver exceptional aircraft experiences. Efficiently. Reliably. And, above all, safely.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company? / What’s the news about new products?
BELL: The company is committed to enhancing our current commercial products to deliver the most technologically advanced and capable aircraft to our customers.
Bell is investing in technologies and newly certified onboard equipment to deliver the most reliable, operationally cost competitive aircraft to market.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
BELL: Bell’s Commercial Business portfolio includes the Bell 505, Bell 407, Bell 429, Bell 412, and the Bell 525. The aircraft can support a variety of missions including Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), Parapublic and Law Enforcement, Corporate or VIP travel, and utility and pilot training.
Bell has five Military Business products including the Bell AH-1Z, Bell UH-1Y, Bell-Boeing V-22, Bell V-280 Valor and the Bell 360 Invictus.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
BELL: Bell continues to see strong demand and solid order activity from domestic and international corporate, private, utility and HEMS operators. In the EMEA region Bell recently delivered three Bell 505s to the Royal Bahrain Air Force, the first Bell 505 in West Africa, a Bell 429 to Caverton Helicopters in Africa and the third Bell 429 to Kuwait International Aircraft Leasing company.
Also, in EMEA, Bell announced purchase agreements for Bell 429s to customers in Spain and Africa and Bell 407GXis to UK customers and the Polish National Police.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
BELL: At Bell, we have been taking actions to ensure a sustainable future for our products and our customers. In our own operations, we announced in March 2021 that we were incorporating the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel for the Bell Training Academy and demonstration fleet. The Bell 525 completed its first flight with sustainable aviation fuel later that year. Recently, the Bell 505 completed its first flight with 100% sustainable aviation fuel, as the world’s first single-engine helicopter to achieve this feat.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
BELL: We’re also exploring new technologies to support our world-class commercial products, enhancing our helicopters to benefit our global customer base, developing for cleaner, more advanced solutions. Products like the Bell 525 integrate Fly-By-Wire technology and the latest on-board equipment to ease pilot workload.
The Bell 505 is the only helicopter in its class that truly combines an affordable price point with low operating costs and advanced technology usually only seen in larger aircraft – all essential factors for operators seeking a modern training aircraft. With technology such as the dual channel FADEC and the latest Garmin avionics suite, students are not only better prepared to transition to larger aircraft, but their reduced pilot workload enables more time for decisions and improves situational awareness.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2023?
BELL: Bell will continue to host great customer engagements in-region to highlight the benefits of our products and explore new technology to support our customers and their missions.
