**CHAPTER VI**

**HELICOPTERS**

Helicopters participate in a wide range of aviation activities, which
are not only important, but contribute to the nation's economy as well.
These activities include aerial observation; sightseeing; agricultural
application; law enforcement; fire fighting; personal transportation;
emergency medical services; trans­porting personnel and supplies to
offshore oil rigs; traffic reporting; electronic news gathering;
corporate or business transportation; and heavy lift for the oil,
utility, and lumber industries.

### REVIEW OF 2001-2002

# SHIPMENTS

##### Preliminary data for calendar year 2002 reported by the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIAA)[^1] indicate that shipments of new U.S. civil helicopters will total 323 units. Compared to the 415 units shipped in 2001, this represents a decrease of 22.2 percent. 

![](media/image1.wmf){width="3.2416666666666667in" height="2.35625in"}

The value of the helicopter shipments totaled \$172 million in 2002, a
decrease of 30.4 percent from billings of \$247 million in 2001.

![](media/image2.wmf){width="3.2416666666666667in" height="2.35625in"}

Over the past 5 years, the average value per helicopter shipped has
ranged from a high of \$694,000 in 1998 to a low of \$533,000 in 2002.
This declining value reflects the shipment of greater numbers of lower
priced piston aircraft. Another factor affecting the sales and shipment
figures reported by AIAA is that they do not include U.S. imports from
foreign manufacturers.

# PILOTS

The total rotorcraft pilot population includes pilots who are
certificated to operate only rotorcraft (helicopters and gyrocopters) as
well as those that may operate rotorcraft as well as other airplanes
and/or gliders. The total number of rotorcraft pilots has increased from
25,849 in 1998 to 28,000 in 2001\--a 3-year increase of 8.3 percent. The
number for 2002 is expected to be about 28,000. The number of pilots who
are certificated to fly [only]{.underline} rotorcraft increased from
7,727 in 2001 to 7,770 in 2002 (up 0.6 percent).

![](media/image3.wmf){width="3.2493055555555554in"
height="2.2944444444444443in"}

**2001**

**GENERAL AVIATION AND**

#### AIR TAXI ACTIVITY

###### SURVEY

The historical rotorcraft active fleet and hours flown discussed in this
chapter are derived from the General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity
Survey (GA Survey). This survey is conducted annually by the FAA
Statistics and Forecast Branch. The fleet and hours flown data are
estimated using a sample of general aviation aircraft from the FAA Civil
Aviation Registry. As in any sample survey, variability can be caused by
traditional sampling errors and by non-sampling errors. With small
groups such as rotorcraft, the estimates are heavily influenced not only
by the number of respondents, but also by who responds. For example, if
a large operator with high utilization rates for a particular aircraft
type elects to respond one year but not the next, the effect would be to
reduce the activity estimates for that particular aircraft type in the
second year. This would occur even if that operator had no change in
activity.

The active rotorcraft fleet and hours flown by aircraft type are
detailed for the period 1996 to 2001 in Chapter V, Tables V-2 and V-3.
The 2001 survey results for active rotorcraft and hours flown are also
listed in Chapter X, Table 33. The 2001 survey results for active
rotorcraft are reported as of December 31, 2001 in the tables. The 2001
survey results for rotorcraft hours flown are reported as calendar year
2001.

# FLEET AND HOURS FLOWN

Based on the 2001 Survey, there were 6,783 active civil rotorcraft in
the United States, a decrease of 5.1 percent from the 7,150 rotorcraft
reported for 2000. However, this still represents a 3.2 percent increase
over the 6,570 rotorcraft reported for 1996. In 2001, the estimate of
the number of active turbine rotorcraft is 4,491---an increase of 0.5
percent from the 2000 estimate, and 9.5 percent more than the estimate
for 1996. In 2001 there were 2,292 active piston rotorcraft, a decrease
of 14.5 percent from the 2000 estimate of 2,680, but up 1.5 percent from
the 1997 estimate of 2,259. It must be noted that the 2,292 figure must
be viewed with some caution; it may be a statistical anomaly.

At the FAA/Transportaion Research Board (TRB) 12^th^ International
Workshop on Future Aviation Activities (held in September 2002), the
Vertical Flight Panel expressed the view that the active helicopter
fleet is greater than the Survey estimates. The panel estimates that the
active rotorcraft fleet totals between 10,500 and 11,900 in 2001,
considerably higher than that suggested by the GA Survey. The TRB
Helicopter Subcommittee, the FAA and others will continue to address the
reconciliation of fleet numbers.

> According to the 2001 GA Survey estimates, rotorcraft flew over 2.1
> million hours in 2001, a decrease of 7.2 percent from 2000. Turbine
> rotorcraft hours (1.6 million), which account for approximately 73
> percent of total rotorcraft hours, decreased 12.3 percent in 2001.
> Hours flown by piston rotorcraft totaled 582,606\--an increase of 9.7
> percent from 2000.

In 2001, the rotorcraft fleet flew an average of 315.7 hours per active
aircraft---347.0 hours for turbine rotorcraft and 254.2 hours for piston
rotorcraft. The data indicate a decrease in the average utilization of
the helicopter fleet of 7.1 hours or 2.2 percent. Turbine rotorcraft
utilization decreased 12.7 percent\--down from 397.5 hours in 2000,
while piston rotorcraft utilization increased 28.3 percent\--up from
198.1 hours in 2000. The year-to-year fluctuations in these rates could
be caused by the size and/or type of businesses of the helicopter
owners/operators responding to the survey in any particular year.

# FUEL CONSUMED

In 2001, fuel consumed by rotorcraft was estimated to be 54.4 million
gallons, a decrease of 8.1 percent from the 2000 level of 59.2 million
gallons. Jet fuel consumption declined 10.9 percent in 2001 while
aviation gasoline consumption was up 10 percent. The overall decrease in
fuel consumption by rotorcraft reflects the decreases in both the number
of active rotorcraft and hours flown by those rotorcraft.

####### FUTURE ISSUES

Issues facing the rotorcraft industry include availability of
infrastructure, improved safety image, price-to-performance ratio, the
maturing of the offshore oil and air medical markets, and environmental
impact. Expanding infrastructure faces both public and local government
resistance because of safety and environmental concerns. Security
restrictions imposed on general aviation and rotorcraft, in particular,
has had an impact on the use of helicopters in news gathering and
traffic reporting. Even with falling prices and improved operating
performance, the demand for rotorcraft could be dampened by the lack of
adequate landing facilities. Helicopters are seen as one option to
transporting passengers or cargo from airports into the city or urban
sites; however, operators often find themselves unable to convince
communities that a heliport can be a good neighbor.

TECHNOLOGY

Technological advances could stimulate helicopter usage. The Global
Positioning System (GPS) and other free flight enabling technologies
offer the promise of freeing all aircraft, including helicopters, to use
efficient direct routing to their destinations. These technologies may
also enable helicopters to fly routes less noticeable to persons on the
ground, increasing community acceptance and further enhancing the
utility of helicopter operations.

Another major technological advance is the civil tilt-rotor, which
combines the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of a helicopter
with the speed and range of a turboprop aircraft. Other innovative
rotorcraft configurations that have been discussed and may benefit from
advanced (vertical) flight research include quad tilt rotor, ducted
coaxial rotor, folding prop-rotor, and canard rotor/wing. Intelligent
rotorcraft systems and efficient active rotor systems may also compete
with the above revolutionary systems for research funding---from both
NASA and the FAA.

MARKET FACTORS

Factors increasing the demand for helicopters include economic growth,
the aging of the fleet, and the availability of new more efficient
models. New models stimulate demand due to improvements in performance
and cost of operation. Factors that may slow the demand for new products
include lower levels of petroleum extraction in the United States (one
of the primary use of helicopter services) at least in the short-term
and limitations relating to supporting infrastructure.

According to the FAA/TRB Vertical Flight Panel, strong growth is
expected in the next several years for the corporate/private fleet and
the law enforcement fleets. The air medical market for helicopters is
maturing. In the near-term, the air medical helicopter fleet is expected
to decline in major metropolitan areas as hospital management becomes
increasingly aware and concerned about the cost of their rotorcraft
operations. However, this decline may be offset by growth in locations
outside major cities.

The softness in oil prices during the late 1990's has had an impact on
helicopter activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on data collected by
the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference (HSAC), the total helicopter
fleet in the Gulf has fluctuated between 540 in 1996 and 581 in 2000,
peaking at 636 in 1997.

Government regulation and harmonization initiatives may also influence
market demand. Aviation regulations could enlarge or reduce the market
for aircraft services, depending on whether particular regulations
permit or prohibit operations for which a market demand exists.
Harmonization is the process of reducing substantive differences between
U.S. regulations and those of other nations. Harmonization of aircraft
certification requirements helps open international markets to aircraft
manufacturers located in participating nations.

A rapidly growing segment of general aviation is fractional ownership.
Several companies have expressed interest in offering fractional
ownership of helicopters. For a variety of reasons, including speed and
operating range, fractional ownership of helicopters will need to be
configured differently than it is for business jets. It is yet to be
seen whether it can capture the attention of potential users, as the
programs have in the corporate jet market.

### HELICOPTER

### FORECASTS

The forecasts of the rotorcraft fleet and flight hours discussed in this
section are presented in tabular form in Chapter X, Table 33. Many of
the assumptions used to develop these forecasts were derived from
discussions with industry experts---including consultants and
association officials\--and from reports presented at meetings of the
TRB subcommittee on Civil Helicopter Aviation and the 12^th^ FAA/TRB
International Workshop.

The rotorcraft forecasts for active fleet, utilization, hours flown, and
fuel consumed use data from the 2001 GA Survey as the base year.
Therefore, the forecast period for these activity measures goes from
2001 through 2014. The average annual growth rates for the forecast
period include 13 years (2001-2014). Certificated pilot forecasts are
based on 2001 data from the airmen certification records kept at the FAA
Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. For pilots, references to average
annual growth rates include 12 years (2002-2014).

# 

# ACTIVE FLEET

The active rotorcraft fleet is expected to grow from 6,783 in 2001 to
7,390 in 2014, an average annual increase of about 0.7 percent in the
active rotorcraft fleet over the 13-year forecast period.

The number of turbine rotorcraft is forecast to total 4,590 by 2014\--an
increase of less than 100 rotorcraft over the 2001 level. The turbine
rotorcraft fleet is expected to decrease by 3.1 percent in 2002, remain
the same level in 2003, and then increase an average of 0.5 percent per
year from 2004 to 2014. Turbine powered rotorcraft are expected to
account for approximately 62.1 percent of the rotorcraft fleet in 2014,
down from 66.2 percent in 2001.

The piston rotorcraft fleet is expected to increase 6.9 percent in 2002
and then grow approximately 1.0 percent per year for the rest of the
forecast. The piston fleet totals 2,800 by 2014\--an annual increase of
1.6 percent over the 13-year period.

UTILIZATION

The annual utilization rate for all rotorcraft declined from 322.8 hours
in 2000 to 315.7 hours in 2001, a decline of 2.2 percent. However, this
relatively small decline conceals the fact that the piston utilization
rate increased 28.4 percent while the turbine rotorcraft rate declined
by 12.7 percent.[^2] Both the piston and turbine rates diverge from past
year estimates and are assumed to be one-year anomalies. As such, the
2000 utilization rates have been used as the base year for the forecasts
and references to the average annual growth rates include 13 years
(200-2014).

Utilization rates for all rotorcraft are expected to increase from 310.3
hours in 2002 to 330.9 in 2014, an annual increase of 0.6 percent.
Turbine-powered helicopter utilization is forecast to increase by 0.6
percent annually, from 372.4 hours in 2002 to 399.8 hours in 2014.

![](media/image4.wmf){width="3.2493055555555554in" height="2.29375in"}

Piston-powered rotorcraft utilization increases 0.7 percent annually
from 200 hours in 2002 to 217.9 hours in 2014.

![](media/image5.wmf){width="3.2493055555555554in" height="2.29375in"}

FLIGHT HOURS

Total rotorcraft hours flown are forecast to increase from 2.1 million
in 2002 to 2.4 million in 2014, an average annual increase of
1.2 percent. Total flight hours for turbine-powered rotorcraft are
projected to increase by 1.0 percent annually, from 1.6 million in 2002
to 1.8 million in 2014. Flight hours for the piston powered portion of
the rotorcraft fleet are expected to increase from 490,000 hours in 2002
to 610,000 hours in 2014, an average annual increase of 1.8 percent.

# HELICOPTER PILOTS

The number of rotorcraft [only]{.underline} pilots is expected to
increase at an annual rate of 0.8 percent over the 12-year period,
rising from 7,770 in 2002 to 8,600 in 2015. This is below the 1.4
percent

annual rate of increase expected for the overall pilot population and
reflects the relatively slow growth projected for the rotorcraft fleet.

# FUEL CONSUMED

In 2001, rotorcraft fuel consumption was estimated at 54.4 million
gallons\--8.8 million gallons by piston powered helicopters and
45.6 million gallons by turbine powered helicopters. Total fuel
consumption by rotorcraft is projected to be 63.3 million gallons in
2014, 16.3 percent higher than the 2001 level. This represents an
average annual growth of 1.2 percent during the forecast period. Fuel
consumed by turbine-powered helicopters is forecast to be 54.1 million
gallons by 2014, an average annual growth rate of 1.3 percent. Fuel
consumed by piston-powered helicopters is expected to reach 9.2 million
gallons by 2014, an average annual increase of 0.3 percent.

[^1]: 2002 Year-End Review and 2003 Forecast---An Analysis, Aerospace
    Industries Association of America, December 2002.

[^2]: The 2001 rotorcraft data may be considered a statistical anomaly.
    Therefore, the forecast assumes a return to levels shown prior to
    2001.