Bell builds the Osprey and just announced sizeable layoffs. Curious.
They make more than the Osprey. Helicopter sales overall are down.
Textron profit, revenue miss estimates as helicopter sales drop
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/28/us-textron-results-idUSKBN0NJ15320150428
Apr 28, 2015
Textron Inc, maker of Beechcraft and Cessna airplanes and Bell helicopters, reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit as helicopter division sales declined.
Revenue in Textron’s Bell division, which accounted for 31 percent of total revenue in 2014, dropped 13.2 percent to $315 million in the first quarter ended April 4.
As a result of weak market conditions, the company said on Tuesday that it would cut production and take additional steps to cut costs in its Bell division.
Textron shares fell 3.8 percent to $42 in premarket trading.
Sales of military helicopters have been weak for some time due to budget cuts, particularly in the United States, but sales of civilian machines were also soft in the latest quarter.
Bell has rested on its laurels as far as civilian helicopter development goes. They have coasted for 40 or 50 years by ‘putting tailfins and chrome’ on the basic Vietnam era Huey and the Jet Ranger.
Aerospatiale has been doing far more development work on civilian helos. In response to the AS-350 from Aerospatiale, Bell announced an wider cockpit, flat floor, improved Jet Ranger at the HAI convention in 1982. That aircraft, the 505, is supposed to begin deliveries this year....
Correction:
“The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X will be assembled at a new facility in Lafayette, La. Construction of the 82,300-square-foot production plant began last August, and assembly operations are expected to begin in 2016.”
http://www.verticalmag.com/news/article/Bellprovidesanupdateon505JetRangerXdevelopment