Airbus Helicopters, Inc. (AHI) is a subsidiary of Airbus. Airbus Helicopters manufactures and markets a broad range of civil helicopters. With large facilities in Texas and Mississippi and service centers throughout the country, Airbus Helicopters, Inc. has a U.S. footprint of over 860,000 square feet (79,900 m2) and controls over 50% of the U.S. market.[1]
History
The company's history goes back to the now-defunct LTV Corporation. In 1968, Vought Helicopter Inc. (VHI), a subsidiary of LTV, built a facility at the Grand Prairie Municipal Airport in Grand Prairie, Texas, for the purpose of marketing helicopters to North America built by Aérospatiale, the French helicopter manufacturer. However, six years later Aérospatiale bought out VHI and took over its own marketing; two years later it changed VHI's name to Aérospatiale Helicopter Corporation (AHC). In 1980, AHC built its current Grand Prairie facility.
In 1992, DASA of Germany and Aérospatiale merged to form Eurocopter; AHC would become American Eurocopter.[2]