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A total of 955 respondents participated in this year’s survey. Of that total, 887 respondents completed the airframe survey, with Robinson achieving the No. 1 spot; 655 respondents completed the engine survey, with Pratt & Whitney Canada coming out on top. MHM Photo

Vertical announces results of 2018 helicopter industry survey

MHM Publishing Press Release | June 7, 2018

Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 36 seconds.

Robinson Helicopter Company and Pratt & Whitney Canada took top honors in Vertical Magazine’s annual survey of customer satisfaction among civil helicopter operators.

The full results of Vertical’s 2018 Helicopter and Engine Manufacturers Survey appear in the June-July issue of Vertical, which is now available to read online and will be arriving in mailboxes soon.

A total of 955 respondents participated in this year's survey. Of that total, 887 respondents completed the airframe survey, with Robinson achieving the No. 1 spot; 655 respondents completed the engine survey, with Pratt & Whitney Canada coming out on top. MHM Photo
A total of 955 respondents participated in this year’s survey. Of that total, 887 respondents completed the airframe survey, with Robinson achieving the No. 1 spot; 655 respondents completed the engine survey, with Pratt & Whitney Canada coming out on top. MHM Photo

New this year, the survey combined Vertical’s fourth annual Helicopter Manufacturers Survey with our second Helicopter Engine Survey, providing the industry’s most comprehensive picture of customer support. Nearly 1,000 members of the helicopter industry took part in the airframe survey, engine survey, or both this year, with more than 1,500 surveys completed in total.

“Once again, our respondents brought an incredible amount of experience and insight to the survey,” said Vertical publisher Mike Reyno. “Nearly half of them have been employed in the helicopter industry for more than 20 years. We value what our respondents have to say and know that the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are listening, too.”

This year, Robinson recorded significant gains across a number of measures of customer satisfaction to earn the No. 1 ranking in the Helicopter Manufacturers Survey. Bell, which held the top spot in our first three surveys, finished a close second.

Pratt & Whitney Canada reprised its outstanding performance in our first Helicopter Engine Survey to rank first in customer satisfaction among the engine OEMs, although it received strong competition this year from Safran Helicopter Engines and GE Aviation.

But the Vertical Helicopter and Engine Manufacturers Survey is more than just scores and rankings. Our respondents also had specific comments for each manufacturer, and as part of the survey, we asked each OEM to address their customers’ most frequent complaints. The manufacturers’ detailed responses appear alongside the survey data in the June-July issue.

As Reyno acknowledged, “These criticisms aren’t always easy for the OEMs to hear. But we believe that honest feedback plays a vital role in making our industry better and safer. We appreciate that the OEMs continue to take our respondents’ concerns seriously as they look for ways to improve their products and services.”

This year’s survey was once again conducted by PMG Intelligence, an independent market research and data analysis consulting company based in Waterloo, Ontario. Full details on the survey methodology can be found here.

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