New Zealand's Spidertracks has scored a major win, with the world's largest helicopter tourism operator choosing its aircraft tracking system for its flight following.
Nevada-based helicopter sightseeing company Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters signed off on the deal at the recent Heli-Expo 2011 exposition in Florida.
The Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters fleet of 43 aircraft flies an estimated 40,000 flight hours annually over popular sights including the Las Vegas strip, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon.
Papillon Director of operations, John Becker, said the company needed a tracking system that would enable them to keep in contact with their aircraft wherever they were flying, and that they chose Spidertracks after testing a number of other systems.
“Many of our contracts cause us to be operating remotely and we also have aircraft descending into the Grand Canyon, where providing positive radio contact can be a challenge,” Becker said. “Finding a tracking system that would suit our operation was essential to improve the safety of our fleet and passengers. Spidertracks meets that need and has proven to be extremely reliable – we find spidertracks to be extremely accurate, locating our aircraft wherever they are to within a few feet.
“Spidertracks proved to be the most reliable for our application. We find Spidertracks to have easy web access and we especially like the ability to track our aircraft utilising the iPhone application. The system also has a maintenance and alert function that has already proved itself useful.”
Spidertracks Sales Director Bruce Bartley said they are extremely pleased to have Papillon on board.
“To have a prestigious company like Papillon invest in Spidertracks sends a very positive signal to the rest of the industry that this technology is now the norm,” he said.
Papillon will initially install 30 Spidetracks units into their helicopter fleet, with a further 20 being installed in sister company Grand Canyon Airlines’ Twin Otters, Caravans and Cessna 207s.
(Spidertracks)
