By Lisa Gordon | November 25, 2013 Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 5 seconds.
Toronto’s Chartright Air Group, well known for managing and operating a large fleet of private jets, has been busily expanding its rotary-wing department since bringing an AgustaWestland AW109S online in 2010. Today, the company’s Chartright Executive Helicopters division boasts a fleet of four AgustaWestland machines: two 109S Grands; one 119Ke Koala; and the most recent addition, the first Canadian-registered AW109SP GrandNew, officially added to the fleet this month.
In March 2013, it was announced at Heli-Expo that Chartright Executive Helicopters had been appointed as an AgustaWestland authorized service centre for the AW109 Power, Grand, GrandNew, and all variants of the AW119. Simon Lareau, the company’s service centre manager and rotary production manager, told Canadian Skies that the appointment allows the Pearson-based facility to support a growing number of AgustaWestland helicopters located in southern Ontario.
“It’s a win-win for both companies,” said Lareau. “Canada is a big target market for Agusta. That’s really good for us; we can only grow from there as far as bringing on third-party maintenance. The AW139 is another target for us, because of the amount of aircraft we can support in this area. Getting the tooling and infrastructure would be the next step as far as authorizing maintenance for that one; it’s something we’re moving toward.”
Lareau added that Chartright is also hoping to become an authorized parts distributor for AgustaWestland. This will allow the company to store a selection of helicopter parts on site, meaning it will be able to resolve AOG (aircraft on ground) situations more quickly. Currently, all parts and components are shipped from the OEM’s plant in Philadelphia, and must clear customs before being sent to a Canadian operator.
Chartright’s helicopter fleet is used mostly for personal travel, including golf trips and cottage commuting, as well as for a handful of weddings in the summer months. “People are trading in the limousines and spending money on helicopters,” said Justin King, Chartright’s charter sales and service supervisor. “We do the odd corporate trip to cities in southern Ontario as well.” Each machine flies about 100 hours per year.
He added that the company’s AW119 is currently undergoing some modifications and conversions to equip it for aerial firefighting in the 2014 season. “It will be a test case,” said King. “The AW119 has a larger payload and is faster than some of the other helicopters currently fighting fires, so there should be a demand for it. It will be based in northern Ontario, depending on where the fires are.”
Chartright’s AW119 will be equipped according to Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources specifications, but Lareau said it can be adjusted to meet other provincial requirements. “A side benefit of expanding into field and utility work is that we will hopefully attract third-party maintenance work from existing utility operators,” he said.
Chartright’s helicopter division complements the services the company has been providing since 1987 with its fleet of fixed-wing jets. Today, Chartright Air Group operates 31 aircraft, including its four helicopters. The company delivers a full turn-key service for privately-owned aircraft, including providing aircrew, maintenance services, dispatch services, insurance, hangar storage and regulatory compliance services. Besides its Toronto headquarters, the company operates aircraft from bases in Calgary, Vancouver, and Chatham, Ont., with another opening soon in Timmins, Ont.
