Steve Estill, Chief Marketing Officer, World Sales and Vice President, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation outlines his companies strengths and elaborates on plans for the Indian market in reply to queries put forth by SP’s Aviation.

SP’s Aviation (SP’s): The history of the Sikorsky endeavor is almost as old as history of viation itself. Can you trace for us the important milestones in the growth of your company?

Steve Estill (Estill): Our founder, Igor Sikorsky, designed and flew the first successful fourengine aircraft in aviation history (nicknamed the Grand) less than 10 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight. After the Russian revolution in late-1917, Igor feared his life was in danger, and immigrated to the US in 1919. In 1923, he founded Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation, which became a subsidiary of United Aircraft in 1929. United Aircraft later evolved into United Technologies Corporation, which today is a Fortune 50 company and remains Sikorsky’s parent company. Since its founding, Sikorsky Aircraft is known for designing and building, among other aircraft, the famed Pan-Am ClipperShips. In early 1939, Igor Sikorsky designed and developed the VS-300, the first helicopter that proved the concept of the single-main rotor and anti-torque tail rotor. More than 95 percent of the world’s helicopters manufactured today use the same single-main rotor concept perfected by Igor Sikorsky. Today, Sikorsky produces what is arguably the best known helicopter in military history, the BLACK HAWK, and the very successful S-76® and S-92® commercial helicopters, among others.

SP’s: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation has been described as world leader in the design, manufacture and service of military and commercial helicopters. How does your company compare with other global players in this regime both in the US and outside?

Estill: With the BLACK HAWK, SEAHAWK®, and CH53 helicopters, Sikorsky Aircraft is a leader in the military sector. In the commercial markets, Sikorsky’s S-92 and S-76 helicopters are leaders in several sectors including offshore oil crew transport and Head of State transportation. Sikorsky Aircraft offers an unmatched blend of rotorcraft expertise, manufacturing know-how, and global product support. Sikorsky technology gave the world its first stable, controllable helicopter in 1939. Subsequent Sikorsky helicopters were the first to make hoist rescues, the first to use dipping sonar, and the first to refuel from aerial tankers. The UH-60 BLACK HAWK in the 1970’s set new standards for combat survivability in utility transport helicopters. The Comanche successfully demonstrated fly-by-wire flight controls and large composite structures in the 1990s. Since then, the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter earned the prestigious Collier Trophy for the greatest achievement in aerospace, based on the aircraft’s flaw tolerant design, crashworthiness, and other safety innovations unmatched by past-generation aircraft. Today, Sikorsky continues to set ground breaking enhanced design standards with the H-92 SUPERHAWK® and the UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopters. Sikorsky continues to advance vertical flight technology with the development of the X2 TECHNOLOGY™ Demonstrator aircraft due for first flight later this year. This mission changing technology includes an integrated suite of technologies that improves the performance of co-axial helicopters with intended benefits of roughly twice the speed and twice the range of conventional helicopters without impacting its hovering capabilities that make the helicopter unique.

SP’s: What is the level of competition from other helicopter manufacturers in the class in which your company has a stronghold in the medium to heavy class of machines? Are you price competitive in the class of machines you specialise in?

Estill: Sikorsky produces only the highest quality products, and our customers recognize this as evidenced by the current $12 billion backlog. We work very hard to delight our customers, and to differentiate ourselves from our competitors not only by the quality of our products but also by our innovations in aftermarket support to give our customers high aircraft availability while reducing the cost of ownership. We believe we offer our customers the best value over the life of the helicopter and lower cost of ownership including the best resale value.

SP’s: In the general and corporate aviation markets, the potential buyer would like to insist on ‘business-sense’ factor i.e. a blend of the best machine and the best price. How do you offset your level of pricing which understandably remains higher than that of your competitions?

Estill: As I have mentioned above, we offer the best value as we believe that a customer should look at the total cost of ownership and not just the acquisition cost. These include direct operating costs, ease and cost of maintenance, the cost of insurance, crews etc., and resale value. The commercial customer can get this information from standard industry reports such as Conklin & De Decker. For example, when it comes to cost-effective performance, Sikorsky’s S-76C++™ helicopter delivers low direct operating costs – the best in its class.