PARIS, France - Sikorsky’s S-92^® helicopter achieved an average availability rate of 96% for the offshore oil operators’ fleet during the month of April, demonstrating a trend over the last few years that the aircraft are increasingly reliable for customers worldwide. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).

The S-92 offshore fleet has flown more than 290,000 flight hours, with 83 aircraft in the offshore mission. The April 2011 milestone in offshore aircraft availability was reached after a steady increase in aircraft availability from 92% in 2009 to 94% in 2010.

“It is clear that the S-92 helicopter continues to operate at high levels of performance and capability,” said David Adler, president, Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS). “Sikorsky places a high value on providing exemplary customer service, and it is the combination of capability, service and customer insight with which they fly and maintain the aircraft.”

The improvement in availability is due to a combination of customer support initiatives by Helicopter Support Inc. (HSI), a division of Sikorsky Aerospace Services, to balance spare parts inventory levels geographically, improve repair turnaround times, and expedite parts around the world to minimize customer downtime. In addition, Sikorsky has continued to offer product improvements to prolong component time in service. These product improvements have the added benefit of reducing customer maintenance cost per flight hour. Partnerships with offshore operators to provide specific operational performance data have enabled this availability increase.

“The S-92 helicopter program has a strong focus on reliability improvement, which has resulted in more than 20 projects certified in 2010 designed to expand mission capability and increase aircraft availability,” said Spencer Elani, S-92 helicopter program manager. 

S-92 helicopters perform search and rescue (SAR) mission as well as a variety of transportation missions for VIPs including Heads of State, offshore oil and gas crews, utility and airline passengers. The worldwide fleet of 137 S-92 helicopters has accumulated more than 320,000 flight hours since deliveries began in 2004.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Conn., USA, is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture, and service. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., USA, provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.

Please visit www.utcaero.com for Sikorsky and United Technologies news at the Paris Air Show 2011.