Paris Le Bourget Airshow

Ah, Ah, Ah Paree! Paris Le Bourget 2009, celebrating 100 years of flight, felt more like ‘the recession air show’ than a real celebration. Lutz Bertling of Eurocopter even admitted that things were not going well with sales of Eurocopter helicopters, and that he expected 2010 to be a worse year for helicopters generally and the company in particular, although he looked forward to a reprieve in 2011 and 2012. Sikorsky apparently felt so down that there were no press conferences (although there was a signing), and AgustaWestland’s conference was only part of Finmeccanica’s, even though they were displaying the AW149 mock-up. The one exception to all this gloom, however, was Bell Textron Helicopters. There, and amazingly, considering that they were simultaneously dealing with a union strike, there was a surge of energy, and a very apparent desire to regain their former place in the helicopter market...