Nick,
Mission/Market: I think a larger and maybe equally important group to approach for input would be the clients and customers. After all, they are the end user who dictates where and how they need to go, along with what equipment we need aboard, plus more importantly they pay all the bills. We spend enough time and effort now trying to put round plugs in square holes to ensure they have self-deployable liferafts, Skywatch, or where to mount a Life Pac 10. Maybe these clients could let you know what they might want in the future, so this could be addressed now instead later. And don’t forget there a several clients starting to mention using Part 29 certified aircraft only.
Maintainability: With everything moving to the digital side, put all the diagnostic tools on-board and have it accessible/viewable through the installed screens. Also make the interface software user friendly so that anybody can work their way through a problem. Reducing the time to troubleshoot problems using an on-board system would greatly enhance the availability numbers and reduce downtime. But that will not happen if we have to continue to using the same software the engineers used to design system. It can be frustrating to download the fault files only to realize that you need 2 numbers out of the 20,000 in the file to figure out what’s wrong.
Support: Ideally if the aircraft does not break then we are good to go. However, since there is a chance that it might break – if I need a part have it in stock or at least deliverable within a realistic time frame. This is where you and Bell can really make some headway over the competition. I know it is strictly a business decision on how many spares to keep around, but it is also our business decision on which aircraft we can operate at a profit. I’ll pay more for service, but the service needs to be there.
There are probably a couple dozen other items I could list, but since you only wanted three items for now …. Personally, if I had my way I would maintain a fleet of 205’s or 212’s, with a couple L3’s and maybe a Lama or two. But I know this is just wishful thinking on my part. I think if Bell is going to survive they need to really get on the ball and fast, otherwise there will not be a slot for them to fit into. I hope the 429 will bridge the gap until you can get the XworKs to put out something revolutionary – and not just a 212 made from carbon fiber.
Good luck.
W1