20
GA
/ Vol. 5 / No. 3 / MARCH 2013
Daher-Socata's
TBM
D
uring February this year
DAHER-SOCATA announced
that the worldwide TBM 700
and TBM 850 fleet has surpassed the
milestone of 1 million flight hours.
With more than 620 TBM very
fast turboprop business aircraft
produced to date, the overall fleet
usage now averages in excess of
120,000 flight hours annually.
"Surpassing this milestone
confirms the TBM 850 as the
keystone of DAHER-SOCATA's
strategy," said Stéphane Mayer,
Chairman and CEO of DAHER-
SOCATA, the aerospace and defense
activity of the DAHER Group.
"This highlights the synergy
between manufacturing and
services that offers our customers
high dispatch reliability, while
also underscoring our excellent
partnership with Pratt & Whitney
Canada which manufactures the
TBM's PT6A engine. With the
first million flight hours now a
reality, I look forward to the next
million -hour achievement."
Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice
President of the DAHER-SOCATA
Airplane Division, added the 1
million flight hour achievement
demonstrates that a manufacturer's
aircraft product line has come of age.
"The extensive experience
accumulated during 20 years of
operations has proven the TBM's
airframe design and validated
its reliability," he explained.
"Reaching this flight-hour
achievement also highlights the
efficiency of our service network,
which can maintain TBM aircraft
from the busiest airports in the U.S.
Very fast turboprop aircraft fleet
surpassed the 1 million flight hour milestone