Dallas Airmotive has reinforced its reach in the Western U.S., bringing on board rotorcraft engine maintenance veteran Charles "Chuck" Hagen. With 25 years of maintenance experience, Hagen was last year’s HAI Rolls-Royce Excellence in Helicopter Maintenance Award recipient, recognizing his accomplishment in managing and supporting helicopter maintenance operators around the world. 

He had spent more than 20 years of his time with AeroMaritime. The jump to Dallas Airmotive shifts his territories more toward the Western half of the U.S. Hagen formerly handled a lot of business on the East Coast, but for Dallas Airmotive, his focus is on the southwest U.S., along with states in the Mountain region and Alaska.

Mark Stubbs, chief commercial officer of BBA’s Global Engines Services, which includes Dallas Airmotive plus H+S Aviation, praised Hagen’s dedication to solution-based services for operators.

For Hagen, the move to Dallas Airmotive enables him to expand his support for customers. He noted that Dallas Airmotive’s breadth of services across multiple engine platforms enables him to serve as a single point of contact for customers that operate a range of aircraft, as well as continue to support the single-aircraft operator.

Along with accommodating a wider variety of engines models, he said he is able to offer more extensive services, such as an array of inspections, and particularly important to operators is the asset resources on hand, such as engine rentals, that will reduce downtime.

Hagen is optimistic about the opportunities for growth as helicopters have begun flying more, particularly has the firefighting season has lengthened. “The work is coming back and people are flying again,” he said, adding this has increased the need for maintenance. This is not just in firefighting, but other sectors such as air tour, he added.

Hagen joins Dallas Airmotive as it recently completed a consolidation that brought four locations together into a single 220,000-sq-ft engine maintenance and testing facility at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The location employs more than 400 and houses a half-dozen test cells and extensive testing equipment.