Type: | Subsidiary |
Foundation: | 1969 |
Location City: | Grand Prairie, Texas |
Location Country: | United States |
Key People: | Romain Trapp, President of Airbus Helicopters, Inc. and Head of the North America Region |
Industry: | Aerospace |
Products: | Helicopters |
Num Employees: | 780 |
Parent: | Airbus Americas, Inc. |
Homepage: | http://airbushelicoptersinc.com |
Airbus Helicopters, Inc. (AHI) is a subsidiary of Airbus Americas, Inc., the United States subsidiary of Airbus SAS, itself a subsidiary of the Dutch company Airbus SE. Airbus Helicopters manufactures and markets a broad range of civil helicopters. With large facilities in Texas and Mississippi and service centers throughout the country, Airbus Helicopters, Inc. has a U.S. footprint of over 860,000 square feet (79,900 m2) and controls over 50% of the U.S. market.[1]
The company's history goes back to the now-defunct LTV Corporation. In 1968, Vought Helicopter Inc. (VHI), a subsidiary of LTV, built a facility at the Grand Prairie Municipal Airport in Grand Prairie, Texas, for the purpose of marketing helicopters to North America built by Aérospatiale, the French helicopter manufacturer. However, six years later Aérospatiale bought out VHI and took over its own marketing; two years later it changed VHI's name to Aérospatiale Helicopter Corporation (AHC). In 1980, AHC built its current Grand Prairie facility.
In 1992, DASA of Germany and Aérospatiale merged to form Eurocopter; AHC would become American Eurocopter.[2]
In 2004, the facility in Columbus, Mississippi was opened and in 2006, became the manufacturing facility and home for the U.S. Army's UH-72A Lakota helicopter. The company was renamed Airbus Helicopters, Inc. on January 2, 2014.[3]
Airbus Helicopters produces helicopters at two production plants in the US.