Plan Support for MEGHAS Avionics on Eurocopter Fleet
By ANN Correspondent Juan Jimènez
Mssr. Gil Michielin, Thales Avionics Vice
President and General Manager of the Helicopter Avionics division,
announced at HAI that a support agreement has been signed
with American Eurocopter and Eurocopter Canada, Ltd. Eurocopter
Mexico SA will also be signing the agreement within the next two
weeks.
The purpose of the agreement is to provide a
support infrastructure to Eurocopter aircraft owners operating the
MEGHAS avionics suite that Thales manufactures. The new agreement
states that operators of two or fewer Eurocopter products will
receive their MEGHAS support from Eurocopter, and operators with
fleets of three or more aircraft will receive their support from
Thales Avionics. Nevertheless, the agreement is flexible enough so
that it permits the operator to obtain support from the source with
which the operator feels most comfortable and which best fits
operational needs.
The new agreement divides the planet into areas of support
responsibility, some of which are the responsibility of Thales
Avionics, some fall under Eurocopter's responsibility, and some are
shared. Such is the case of USA and Canada, as well as some areas
in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
According to Michielin, the primary benefits for the
Eurocopter/MEGHAS operators will be better worldwide coverage,
faster AOG deliveries due to optimized local inventory stocks,
helicopter-level support contracts which will include the MEGHAS
avionics suite, and a single pricing policy.
A new worldwide AOG inventory network will be established at the
Edison, Singapore and Paris locations for all MEGHAS operators. A
new facility in Seattle will also open this month to service MEGHAS
and conventional instruments with a staff of eighty.
New online forum:
Finally, an online customer forum on the Web is now available,
which provides a number of services through any browser and a
connection to the Internet. This service makes sure that Thales
maintains direct contact with all operators. It also gives full
information on spares prices and availability, provides an
interface to make AOG requests, and allows operators to monitor
repair order and purchase order status. The on line system has
access to 18,500 part numbers and 1,290 conventional LRU (line
replaceable unit) part numbers, including all MEGHAS LRUs. Customer
profiles can be created and stored for personalized messaging,
special discounts, technical information and other individual
services.