Stinger,
I missed that since, at the time of the handover in 2011, AW was insisting that it was "fully committed to rapidly proceed with the AW609 programme development," with "FAA/EASA certification...planned in 2015."
Why so suspicious, you ask? How can you
not be suspicious after 15 years of repeated assurances from various CEOs that the program was 'on track for certification in 20XX'?
'Re-baselining' sounds cool, but is it not simply the inevitable obsolescence management required after 15 years of delays? Certainly some of the figures mentioned last week sounded familiar: per a BAAC "BA609 Presentation" from May 1999, 750 nm was the
original range goal of the program (before being trimmed to "over 700 nm" and then "over 600 nm"), and the "higher weight" option (e.g. 17,500 lb or above, for 1,000+ nm range) was also always planned from day 1 (i.e. for STOL ops).
The Bristow tie-up is interesting, but I'm sure your own contacts have already explained to you the 'long-term' nature of this strategic move (the kind of blocking that would make Jim Brown proud
), and
Guardia di Finanza aside, the NGCTR surely remains the more likely success story?
The 609 is neat tech, but her cabin is
so small! And you've only got to look at the mixed fortunes of the bizjet OEMs to see that "bigger is better" when it comes to cabin selection by corporate and HNW customers right now.
I/C