Bell Helicopter Announces Commercial Product Lineup to be featured at LABACE 2015

Fort Worth, Texas (August 10, 2015) – Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today its joint participation with sister company Textron Aviation at the 12thannual Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (LABACE) held August 11-13 at Aeroporto de Congonhas at São Paulo, Brazil.

Subject matter experts from Bell Helicopter and Textron Aviation will be available in chalet 5112 to discuss their product lineup, customizable aircraft offerings, as well as continued investments in the region and much more.

Bell Helicopter will headline the show with the Bell 429WLG, the Bell 407GX and the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X mockup in parapublic configuration, which will all be on static display.

Demand for the Bell 505 is intensifying around the world, with nearly 350 letters of intent (LOI) worldwide and 35 LOI from customers throughout Brazil. Interest also continues for the Bell 429 with nearly 60 aircraft performing missions in Latin America, while the Bell 407GX has more than 200 aircraft in the region configured for a range of operations including corporate, parapublic and general/utility.

“Bell Helicopter is a major player in the Latin American region, and we continue to make investments to support our current and future customers,” said Jay Ortiz, Bell Helicopter’s vice president of commercial sales in Latin America. “Our commitment to this market is evident by our growing local presence of personnel.”

Bell Helicopter has a strong sales and service footprint supporting customer’s needs, with more than 100 Bell Helicopter authorized Customer Service Facilities worldwide, two of which are located in Brazil, that offer full service maintenance options including component repair and overhaul for current production commercial aircraft and most out-of-production aircraft.

“We have a superior product lineup with customizable options for a wide range of mission sets and our customers have taken notice,” added Ortiz. “LABACE gives us a great opportunity to engage with the business aviation community in Brazil and throughout Latin America.”

Bell Helicopter entered the Latin American market more than 60 years ago and today has an installed fleet of more than 1680 helicopters making it the second largest Bell Helicopter fleet in the world. 

LABACE, the largest business aviation event in Latin America, brings together Brazilian and international companies to inform the public on the latest sector products while also reinforcing the importance of aviation and strengthening the connection between all regions of the vast country of Brazil.

The Bell 429WLG delivers exceptional speed, ranger, and hover performance combined with the added feature of retractable landing gear, which provides the capability for operations requiring ground taxiing. The Bell 407GX provides the same excellent performance reliability characteristics of the Bell 407 with enhanced safety and situational awareness capabilities to adapt to any mission. The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X is on a mission to redefine the short light single product class of helicopters as illustrated by its fully integrated glass flight deck providing unparalleled crew situational awareness, enhanced safety levels, and reduced pilot workload.

Press Contact:

LINDSEY VIOTTO

About Bell Helicopter

Bell Helicopter, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., is an industry-leading producer of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical-lift aircraft and the pioneer of the revolutionary tiltrotor aircraft. Globally recognized for world-class customer service, innovation and superior quality, Bell's global workforce serves customers flying Bell aircraft in more than 120 countries.

About Textron Inc.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information visit: www.textron.com.

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