MD Helicopters promotes Ryan Weeks to the role of president

MD Helicopters' aircraft fly law enforcement, utility and VIP missions in addition to military applications.

Light rotary manufacturer MD Helicopters has promoted Ryan Weeks to the role of president with immediate effective. Brad Pedersen will continue to serve as CEO working on strategic initiatives with the board of directors.

MD Helicopters (MDH) has made significant improvements in the past two years in supporting its fielded fleet with increases in spares volume, repair and overhaul volume and AOG (aircraft-on-ground) shipments, claims the manufacturer. Based in Mesa, Arizona, the company said it is committed to achieving a 95% fulfilment rate from order placement to shipment within 48 hours.

“MD Helicopters continues to be deeply committed to strengthening our support for our customers around the world,” said Ed Dolanski, board chairman. “In a short two years, Ryan and Brad have drastically improved our Aftermarket Operations and we aim to continue to ensure the fielded fleet is the strongest it’s ever been.”

In addition to improving spare parts and repair and overhaul availability, MDH’s global network of service centres and parts retailers has seen major improvement, said the company. The network is currently 40 members in size and selected to support the MDH fleet worldwide. Fielded fleet upgrades including the Super N, Super D and Super E are in the works and expected to be available next year.

Weeks, who previously held the position of vice president, aftermarket service and support, said: “I am honoured for the opportunity to build upon the improvements we made under Brad’s leadership over the past 21 months. We still have a lot of room for improvement, but our network and operators are saying MDH is making progress.”

The new president joined MD Helicopters after working for Bell/Textron for more than 25 years in various roles, including as the leader of aftermarket product support and aftermarket business optimisation for Bell Helicopter and as chief engineer for all Bell Commercial Products. Weeks also led Honeywell Aerospace’s Marketing and Product Management, Avionics. He holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University and an MBA from Wayne State University.

Ryan Weeks has been promoted to the role of president, MD Helicopters. (Photo credits: MDH).