The aerospace industry in Greater Montreal received a boost today as Transport Canada certified a new model of helicopter from Mirabel manufacturer Bell Helicopters.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced at Bell's Mirabel plant on Wednesday morning that the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X chopper is safe to fly, posing with Bell execs as they proudly held up the certificate.
Garneau congratulated Bell for its work.
"Sincere congratulations for this significant accomplishment and their ongoing contribution to Canada's thriving aerospace industry."
According to Bell Helicopters CEO Mitch Snyder, the chopper has a wide range of uses, from tourism to personal transport - and that has led to widespread interest in the aircraft.
Snyder said that the company had over 400 interested customers for the helicopter, which will come with a price tag around one million dollars.
The company wasn't able to take orders and start building until it had been certified, but Snyder said that presuming that interest translates into purchases, it's boost for the company - and employment in the area.
"We're had a really down market and what we wanted to do is make sure to maintain as manyas the employees as we can. So getting the 505 here, we can now go out and sell these and begin producing these aricraft, which will help stabilize this workforce. So as we start ramping this, there's potential to add employees later on."
Transport Canada provided support in the certification, and Garneau justified that, saying that it would help the industry to get more money flowing.
"We provided a lot of the 23,000 man hours to do that certification process so we can come out today with this great announcement and say that this is now certified to fly," explained Garneau.
It has been seven years since Bell last designed and certified a new helicopter.