- What’s going on with the maintenance of police aircraft?
- Problems Also Reported with Fire Service Helicopters
By Paris Karvounopoulos
The decision to outsource the technical maintenance of aircraft belonging to the Armed Forces and Security Services to private companies has proven problematic. This validates the argument that a country like Greece, with its particular operational demands, cannot afford to lack reliable state-run facilities for maintaining these aircraft. Alternatively, the government must ensure that private contractors deliver according to the agreements.
Reports of poor, time-consuming, and costly maintenance have already emerged regarding the Armed Forces’ aircraft. Now, similar issues are surfacing with the Hellenic Police’s helicopters, which, as you may have noticed, have stopped flying over the nation’s skies. Why? The story is compelling, and Data Journalists have uncovered all the behind-the-scenes details. The technical support contract with the private contractor has expired. Despite the problematic cooperation, some insist on continuing it.
Hellenic Police helicopters have not flown for at least two months due to a lack of necessary technical support. This has caused serious problems for various operations, including the aerial monitoring of cannabis plantations across Greece and supporting the activities of the Fire Service.
The story begins in 2009 when Olympic Aviation, responsible for maintaining the Hellenic Police and Fire Service’s helicopters, shut down. New contractors were sought, but related tenders under national law were delayed due to procedural and judicial complications. This resulted in operational dysfunction and the grounding of both police and fire service helicopters.
In 2011, the Hellenic Police sought assistance from the NATO International Organization and the NAMSA Agency to address issues with the technical support of its helicopters. This was possible because the organization has a Helicopter Weapon System Partnership consortium, of which Greece is a member.
The Hellenic Air Force General Staff sent a request to NAMSA, which accepted the proposal. Following an international tender, NATO and its NSPA agency signed a contract with Aeroservices SA to provide technical support services, marking the beginning of a cooperative relationship. Aeroservices SA has been the sole provider of these services since Greece joined the special NATO/NSPA procedures.
The collaboration was relatively smooth in the early years and benefited the Hellenic Police. However, problems began to arise in early 2020 when the NSPA informed the Hellenic Police that the contractor had failed to provide an OEM Authorized Maintenance Certification, which was a mandatory technical specification requirement issued by the helicopter manufacturer, Airbus. Consequently, a new tender was required to secure the services. In February 2020, a ministerial decision was made to assign NATO to conduct a new tender for the period from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2022, with the option to extend for two additional years, ending on May 31, 2024. However, due to the limited timeframe and the inability to complete the tender process by May 31, 2020, the previous ministerial decision was exercised, extending the contract with the same contractor from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021.
As part of the international tender conducted by NATO to gain a clear understanding of the technical condition of the service’s helicopters, the contractor was asked to provide data reflecting the helicopters’ status via their maintenance logs. However, the contractor submitted the data to NSPA and claimed intellectual property rights over it, rendering the information unusable. This delayed the completion of the tender process and, to avoid grounding the helicopters, forced NSPA to exercise the contract extension option for an additional year, until May 31, 2022. The required data was eventually obtained through digitization by a special committee established in collaboration with NSPA personnel.
In the new tender conducted by NSPA in 2022, Aeroservices SA was selected again as the contractor. They submitted the lowest bid, offering an annual fixed fee equal to 25% of the previous contract. This led to the signing of the current contract to support the helicopters of the Hellenic Police and Fire Service under a unified framework.
At the beginning of fulfilling the contractual obligations, specifically those regarding repairs and unscheduled maintenance, the new system outlined in the technical specifications was implemented. Under this system, the contractor charges for these activities based on the hours worked by its specialized technical personnel.
However, this is where the problems – and the Hellenic Police’s complaints – begin. They can be summarized as follows:
- During the first unscheduled maintenance task, the contractor demanded an excessive number of labor hours to repair a routine fault on a police helicopter. Part of the issue had already been addressed, so the Hellenic Police requested warranty coverage. The repairs were completed on September 19, 2022, with a revised estimate, yet the contractor again demanded an unreasonably high number of labor hours.
- On June 23, 2022, the contractor demanded information about how the Hellenic Police were using their helicopters. The contractor then grounded two of the helicopters, citing a breach of contract terms. During a training exercise, the Hellenic Police conducted training flights with a trainee pilot. The contractor argued that they should have been informed of the specific nature of these flights and claimed that a fault had occurred, which was allegedly concealed. The contractor sent a letter to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) and grounded the two helicopters until the HCAA completed the requested inspection. After conducting its review, the HCAA rejected the contractor’s claims. The Hellenic Police informed the contractor and requested immediate action, yet the helicopters remained grounded. Following a joint meeting, the HCAA issued a new directive to the contractor, instructing it to return the helicopters to service. When the company failed to act appropriately, NSPA sent another letter to the HCAA on July 20, 2022, requesting action. On July 22, 2022, the HCAA issued a further order calling on the company to restore the helicopters’ airworthiness. The contractor responded, citing an inability to provide updates “due to illness,” and denied that it had grounded the helicopters.
The airworthiness of one helicopter was restored on July 28, 2022. However, the second helicopter remained non-operational due to the need for additional scheduled maintenance. These were not the only problems, however; there were more serious ones.
According to the contract and standard practice, the company is obligated to accept technical personnel from the Hellenic Police so they can participate in maintenance tasks, saving resources and gaining hands-on experience while maintaining existing certifications and retaining direct operational insight. However, from the outset, the company refused to allow six technicians with only a basic diploma to participate, permitting only two technicians with additional helicopter-type certification and formal authorization from the company.
The contract stipulates that, within two months of a relevant request, the contractor must submit proposals regarding the training of pilots and technicians. To address immediate training needs for pilots and additional certification requirements for technicians, the Hellenic Police submitted a request to the NSPA on August 12, 2022. At a joint meeting on May 24, 2023, the company promised to submit its proposals by the end of June but insisted on compensation for doing so, which was not stipulated in the contract. Ultimately, NSPA suggested compensating the company based on an hourly rate, but the contractor refused to accept this arrangement.
Problems with Spare Parts
Issues also arose regarding spare parts. The contract required specialized “end-of-life” management support, specifically obsolescence analysis. Under this support, the contractor was supposed to present a comprehensive management system. However, the contractor only submitted a short list of certain spare parts. Any requests for more complete coverage were ignored. This inadequate provision has led to—and continues to lead to—unforeseen delays in maintenance work, causing serious operational disruptions. However, these delays are still considered contractually acceptable due to the alleged unavailability of spare parts.
The NSPA Office of Greek Liaisons was fully briefed on all these issues. It was decided that the company would be summoned to the organization’s headquarters to provide explanations. Additionally, the NSPA would prepare a new tender with stricter contractor selection criteria. The head of the Greek Liaison Office escalated the matter to higher levels within the organization. In a letter dated September 18, 2023, he reported that the Hellenic Police’s position was universally accepted and confirmed. He also stated that the organization should consider terminating the contract early if the contractor fails to comply with its contractual obligations.
Ironically, despite the Hellenic Police and the Fire Service sending Aeroservices S.A. an official document through NSPA to extend the agreement under the existing tender’s option by one more year, with the same quality and financial terms, the company refused to sign the binding extension. Instead, the company requested a renegotiation of the financial conditions.
As a result, the Hellenic Police remain inactive since no active technical support contract exists for their helicopters, in accordance with NSPA’s directive. Meanwhile, the Fire Service is operating under “free” informal technical support from Aeroservices S.A., which does not legally cover its obligations to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).
Meanwhile, after the Hellenic Police’s aircraft had been inactive for a month, a certified NSPA partner who had participated in the 2022–2025 tender but was not awarded the contract for financial reasons submitted a proposal. The partner stated that they could provide technical support under the same financial terms as the previous tender until a new one is conducted, as Aeroservices S.A. has refused to sign the contract extension and is demanding new financial terms.
The leadership of the Hellenic Police and the Ministry of Public Order are fully aware of these issues. The recommendations clearly do not support continuing the partnership. However, certain “circles” within the Ministry of Public Order are pushing for an extension of the partnership with the current contractor, who is now demanding new financial terms. One thing is certain: a decision must be made immediately to resolve the problem and legally return the Police and Fire Service aircraft to the air.
