American Eurocopter will close its company-owned and -operated Long Beach, Calif. service center by the end of June. The center opened in November 2007 at the Daugherty Skyharbor Complex. When it opened, Eurocopter said the center was designed to support more than 200 client aircraft that are based in the region by stocking a large parts supply, employing based and traveling maintenance technicians, and providing pilot and maintenance training. Larry Roberts, American Eurocopter vice president of sales, marketing and customer support, said the company was “rethinking” its prior strategy of establishing a nationwide chain of owned and operated service centers.

“This does not mean that we would not want to get into a relationship with another provider or even ourselves to establish regional support centers around the country” in the future, Roberts said. However, for now, it appears that American Eurocopter will work with current authorized centers “to get them to be more productive service providers to our customers.” Roberts said part of this strategy involves service center agreements that were recently renegotiated and completed.