Mesa-based MD Helicopters Inc. has turned over the keys for 14 high-performance helicopters to the Kurdistan Regional Government in what officials called a “milestone” deal for both parties.
For MD Helicopters — nearly left for dead less than a decade ago before financier Lynn Tilton stepped in to revive production — the sale capped off a series of manufacturing successes and further cemented its position as an exporter to foreign markets.
For Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq, the purchase means additional law-enforcement, firefighting and medical-evacuation support as it solidifies its developing democracy.
“All too often, we think of exports as having to be gigantic and huge and mass quantities,” Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said at the delivery ceremony. “In the scheme of things, this is a small piece but an incredibly important piece.”
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Assembled at MD Helicopters’ Falcon Field facility near Greenfield and McDowell roads, the helicopters represent more than $50 million in revenue.
The 12 MD 530F helicopters were designed to perform at high altitudes, in hot temperatures and in confined spaces, critical features when navigating Kurdistan’s terrain.
The two MD 902 Explorer helicopters, which will transport senior government officials, have weather radar, lightning-strike protection and a corrosion-resistant airframe.
Tilton, who swooped in to save the company in 2005 with her $8 billion private-equity firm Patriarch Partners, called MD Helicopters her “baby” and “true love” despite owning 75 companies and running seven of them.
“When I bought this company ... there was no manufacturing going on, no supply chain. The fact that we’ve delivered fleets of helicopters to the U.S. Army, to the Saudi National Guard and now to the Kurdistan Regional Government just shows the sort of future and vibrancy of this company,” she said.
“The best part of what we do are the customers we serve: the U.S. military, foreign military, EMS (emergency medical services) workers, police forces around the world.”
That rebound came despite persistent pressure to cut costs through outsourcing, Tilton said.
“I fought the wind at my face and kept things in America, because I built the business around giving people dignity ... the dignity of work,” she said. “I kept saying, ‘You can’t put 150 million Americans to work without being the maker of things.’ ”
U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., applauded MD Helicopters’ simultaneous dedication to keeping jobs local while creatively pursuing new opportunities and alliances abroad.
“Arizona has started to realize that homebuilding is a good thing, but we’ve got to diversify that economic-development portfolio. We’ve got to do more international trade here in Arizona,” Salmon said. “We’ve got to become easier to do business with, and exports, I think, are the key to our success on into the future.”
Touting the MD Helicopters deal as a triumph, Kurdistan’s Minister of the Interior Karim Sinjari said the region would welcome other American companies wanting to pursue similar arrangements “with open arms” as it works to bolster its expanding economy.
“Kurdistan Region is open for business,” he said.
