Schweizer has announced Craig Nielsen’s promotion to vice president of operations. Nielsen most recently served as Schweizer’s director of quality.

In his new role, Nielsen is responsible for new helicopter production, sub-assembly production, and Schweizer’s Part 145 Repair Station certification and operation.

“Craig’s skill and dedication has been exceptionally valuable from the day we started rebuilding the company,” said David Horton, president and CEO of Schweizer.
“He exemplifies strong leadership skills and was instrumental in many of our FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] certifications, vendor partnerships, and the success of our now strong spare parts inventory. In his new position, I have no doubt he’ll propel Schweizer’s operational capabilities to world class.”

Nielsen brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and leadership acumen to his new position. Prior to joining the Schweizer team, he served close to 10 years at Bell in quality assurance, including as a quality assurance manager.

After joining Schweizer in 2018, Nielsen oversaw manufacturing line development, FAA production certificate approvals, FAA Part 21 aircraft assembly operation, and spare parts manufacturing.

“Schweizer has been working hard to accomplish some major milestones over the past few years in our effort to get these iconic aircraft back into production,” said Nielsen.

“Now, with our full Production Certificate recently issued by the Fort Worth MIDO (FAA) and the recent certification of our crash resistant fuel system from the Fort Worth ACO (FAA), this leadership adjustment allows us to be laser focused on continuing ramping up our production efforts to build and deliver new 300 series aircraft around the globe and here at home in the United States.”