In a December 8 ceremony outside the company's V-22 tilt rotor hangar in Amarillo, Texas, Bell Helicopter CEO Michael Redenbaugh broke ground on a 113,000 sq ft assembly facility extension for AH-1Z/UH-1Y remanufacture. The state-of-the-art assembly and integration facility will be completed by October 2004, and the first of 180 AH-1Z attack and 100 UH-1Y utility helicopters will be delivered to the US Marine Corps in March 2006.

The V-22 facility on the southeast corner of Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport now includes a 170,000 sq ft assembly building and 72,000 sq ft flight hangar. The assembly building expansion will provide space for both the H-1 upgrade and full-rate V-22 production. A new H-1 flight operations hangar will be opened in February 2006. At peak production, the Amarillo complex will deliver around 100 aircraft per year. The facility is also the planned site of BA609 tilt rotor assembly, and it may host the US101, AB139 and other Bell Helicopter programs.

The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation owns and leases the land and buildings to Bell Helicopter under an innovative partnership that scales lease payments to the level of local hiring. The V-22 operation now has around 740 workers, and employment is expected to top 1,700 with the introduction of the H-1 and other programs. Trained by the Bell Employment Training Alliance including the manufacturer, the Texas Workforce Commission, and local universities, the Amarillo workforce has achieved productivity figures about a third better than those typically associated with aerospace manufacturing.

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