After a day to allow the mental dust to settle, I thought I might collate my thoughts about the show. Clearly, the headline story of Heli-Expo 2024 was the announcement of the name change for not only HAI or VAI, as we must now call it, but also the event itself, but let’s park that and return later.
In terms of footfall, the show was a record breaker, with over 15,000 visitors passing through the turnstiles to see the wares of 625 exhibitors. The show is about more than just the exhibition. In tandem, there were more than 100 networking and education events. There was a lot to see and do; just ask anyone who was there for the duration, or more accurately, ask their feet! The phrase of the show? Not ‘Sustainability’. While it is still prominent, it has been knocked off its once-dominant position by the phrase “supply chain,” or to put it more accurately, as “supply chain constraints”, which show no sign of easing any time soon.
Over 400 aircraft commitments
The volume of announcements was impressive, with OEMs revealing orders and framework announcements by the bushel – I haven’t done all the sums yet, but a rule-of-thumb tally puts the total somewhere north of 400, much of it driven by a buying spree by Saudi Arabia’s THC but with plenty of interest from more established players growing and refreshing their fleets. One of the more interesting announcements for me was Leonardo’s appointment of Metro Aviation as its US distributor for the AW09. When it comes to right-sizing helicopter equipment, Stanberry Pere et Fil are masters, and if the men from Shreveport say not only yes but call the aircraft ‘the cat’s meow’ well, then you know that something seismic is in the offing. In the same vein was the announcement by Bell, relatively late in the proceedings, that Equinor has placed an order for 10 525s… it’s all getting real, and should the prediction that certification will, at last, come this year, the big Bell could start to make inroads in the lucrative offshore super medium market. And while we are discussing earth-shaking announcements, another was Sikorsky revealing that it plans to enter the hVTOL market with a family of technology demonstrators, two tilt wing designs, as well as a helicopter – one that looks, in the rendering at least, like an S-76. But regarding current products, Sikorsky remains shy about discussing S-92A+ production resumption, preferring only to speak of “a lot of interest”.
But it’s not just about the airframe OEMs; one measure of the amount of activity is news stories posted (most of which are not about OEM announcements) at RotorHub International. We posted just shy of 70 stories to our news feed over the three core days of the show… that’s a lot.
New name, same goals
So let’s come back to the talk of the show, the re-name. As always, there are two schools: those that embrace change and those who resist it, and the latter are always, in any scenario, the larger group, and so it is with the talk at the show. My own view is that Shakespeare had it right when he observed, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose would smell as sweet by any other”. And so it is with VAI – Vertical Aviation International. We can debate the whys and wherefores as much as we like, but what is important is what comes next.
How does VAI become an effective advocate, not only at the US national level but on the world stage, interacting with ICAO, EASA, and other supernational bodies? Will that be a direct move or via a body like the IFHA? Come to that, how will VAI intersect with EHA and other associations? All big questions to consider. However, one thing I would note is that there is a reason why ACI, IATA, IFALPA, and IFATCA all have their headquarters or representative offices either in or within a couple of blocks of ICAO’s Montreal HQ and which sector of aviation is yet to have a seat at that table? Exactly.
