Able Aerospace Services employees know — and live by — their company’s mission: To safely reduce aircraft operating costs by providing resourceful component repair, overhaul and approved replacement parts solutions.
“Uncovering our customers’ biggest challenges, and finding solutions to those challenges, is what Able was founded on. It is always top of mind,” said Heidi McNary, senior vice president of operations at Able Aerospace Services. “When you remain fixed on what your customers need, you grow.”
And grow it has. Since its founding decades ago, Able has become a world-leading supplier of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, with more than 450 employees and a state-of-the-art, 200,000-square-foot headquarters and maintenance facility located on the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona. From this location, Able supports more than 1,000 commercial and military fixed- and rotary-wing aviation customers in more than 60 countries. By completing more than 99 percent of its work on-site, costs are kept low while also maintaining high quality, which are both passed on to customers.
“Today’s operators need quick, out-of-the-box solutions,” said Gabriel Massey, director of strategy for Able Aerospace Services. “We’ve built our facility and our mindset around moving at the speed of the customer. That requires developing innovative ways to work not only with customers, but also with airworthiness authorities and even our own in-house departments. Our commitment is to solve problems and create solutions as quick as the customer needs them–across a whole variety of products and platforms.”
Able can do this because of its very broad team of internal experts, ranging from mechanics and customer service representatives to operations professionals and a staff of more than 40 engineers, including designated engineering representative (DER) specialists. Together, this group provides extensive in-house capabilities including electroplating, chemical processing, machining, grinding, non-destructive testing, painting, bearing repair, component overhaul and hydraulic services, just to name a few.
They also operate under several airworthiness certifications including those from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), Department of Civil Aviation Thailand (DCAT), and National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC).
Able has always worked with a benchmark capabilities platform for Bell Helicopter. That platform gained a major boost in January 2016, when Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, acquired Able.
“It opens the door to new networks and new efficiencies for our Bell Helicopter customers,” said Massey. “With more technical data and expertise, we can move even faster and with greater impact. So looking to the future, we have a strong focus on taking our strengths in technology, repair and overhaul solutions, and applying them to a broader line of Bell’s platform.”
Six months after the acquisition, Able also completed a significant expansion with the official opening of its Able Maintenance Center (AMC). The AMC grows the company’s industry presence with a full suite of rotorcraft airframe services that make it a one-stop helicopter maintenance center and solutions hub for local and international customers.
The AMC was launched with a focus on Bell helicopters, but has plans to expand those capabilities to serve Airbus AS350 aircraft. It is now serving some of the largest rotary wing operators in North America with solutions that include the installation of mission-specific equipment, upgrades to Garmin glass cockpits, HeliSAS autopilot systems and new aircraft completions. The AMC is also completing customer upgrades to meet the regulatory requirements deadline for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and helicopter terrain awareness and warning systems (HTAWS).
Dedicated AMC team members provide specialized services including periodic maintenance and inspections, airframe repair, airframe completions, avionics upgrades, component exchanges and full paint services.
“The AMC hit its stride this year,” said McNary. “Since its inception, it has delivered more than 90 aircraft with an avionics upgrade that combines increased functionality with improved situational awareness and the HTAWS mandate.” That level of capability helps meet many of the challenges operators face today, she said.
“With big shifts in natural resource exploration and emergency medical providers operations, many rotary-wing operators are adjusting their strategic plans so that they are positioned efficiently for the future,” said McNary.
It is at times like this that Able shines, working to identify –and get ahead of– its customers’ challenges with innovative solutions that help companies excel at a level they might not be able to on their own. In this way, Able is striving to be the go-to name that comes to operators’ minds when they have a big problem ahead of them.
“If it’s a cost issue, a performance issue, a reliability issue, we want the industry to say, ‘Let’s go see Able,'” said Massey. “We can act quickly to overcome many macroeconomic pressures, including mandates for safety enhancements from regulatory agencies. These can cause challenges for operators trying to maintain high availability with their fleets.”
In each of these cases, Able’s solutions are win-win … driven by the fact that, when customers are greatly impacted, Able is impacted, too.
“Unique full-service, comprehensive programs like Able’s firm-fixed pricing for component MRO or Bell’s new Customer Advantage Plans (CAP) are also excellent ways for companies to manage risk and avoid budget surprises,” said Massey. “The CAP program, for example, is gaining great popularity among customers who are ready to entrust their supply chain management, inventory management, and the repair and overhaul of parts, to the Able-Bell team.”
Looking to the future, Able continues to seek underserved segments of the market and support customers in a shifting industry.
“Being part of Textron has certainly been hugely beneficial on that front,” said McNary. “But it has always been part of our DNA, and that mindset will lead us into the future.”
This goes back to the one thing at Able that won’t change: a founding mission that encourages problem solving and remains committed to reducing operating costs through safe and innovative solutions.
If you would like to see your company featured in Insight, contact Derek Kast at derek@mhmpub.com.
