Phoenix Heliparts wins Korean Army service contract

Phoenix Heliparts of Mesa, Arizona, has been named as an MD Helicopter Authorized Service Center to support a sizable contract with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army. The company has secured several contracts with the ROK for service, repair and overhaul of its fleet of MD 500D helicopters.

The contracts cover all MD500Ds in the ROK Army fleet of more than 250, and are expected to run for three years. To date, Phoenix Heliparts has received multi-million contracts from the ROK in basic ordering agreements (BOA).

Behind this major win was the significant upgrading of Phoenix Heliparts by its principals, Darin and Tina Cannon, and principals of parent company Heli-Mart, Don Nichols and Ed Brown. California Aero Components is also a significant part of the Heli-Mart family specialising in component overhaul for the MD 500.

“We knew our strength and success lay in building a full-service, all-under-one-roof company, focused on MD500 helicopters,” said Tina Cannon, Phoenix co-owner and president. “Partnering with the strengths of a company such as Heli-Mart, that has been servicing the MD market for over 35 years, was paramount.

“So we bit the bullet and established ourselves as unique in the helicopter R&O business. This keeps our customers’ cost and lead times down, resulting in better quality service and better efficiency at every stage. Our motto is Your Total-Support Solution, and we live by that added-value promise every day, for each of our customers,” Cannon added.

The Korean Army contract extends to tip-to-tail service on airframe, rotors, avionics and systems, including the supply and quarantined inventory of spare parts. “We are enthused by these contracts and expect them to encourage further large contracts of this kind,” Cannon said. “We are ready for the future, and are excited by the regained strength that MD Helicopters has exhibited in the market.”