In order to understand how Aermeccanica was born it is necessary to tell the story of the father of the two founders: Giacomo Pinza. Giacomo was born in 1897 and from the age of 12 he started working in a famous aeronautical company of the time: the Caproni of Vizzola Ticino operating as a light aircraft operator between 1909 and 1918.
During the First World War he was transferred to the United States to assist in the maintenance work the Italian pilots who had the task of teaching the Americans the operation of the aircraft produced by Caproni. On returning from the American experience he did other jobs until he opened a car repair shop in 1930 with an attached fuel pump.
The love for aeronautics, however, was not extinguished and even before the foundation of Aermeccanica inside the workshop, flanked by two sons, began to perform some processing of components and aeronautical parts. When Giacomo died in 1970, the two sons Sergio and Aldo, following the teachings of his father, increased the aeronautical workings until in 1972 they founded Aermeccanica completely divesting other works.
The two brothers worked on the maintenance of helicopters, seaplanes and light aircraft; Sergio, in particular, specialized on engines, while Aldo on engine accessories and non-destructive tests. In 1985 they increased the maintenance capacity by adding also the generator starter for turbine engines. But it is with the late eighties that Aldo and Sergio with the help of the latter’s son, Gianluca, increased the services offered with the introduction of maintenance on wheels, brakes, slide raft, life vest, batteries and assemblies cylinders for passenger transport aircraft, thus shifting the company’s core business to commercial aviation. In these years, Aermeccanica has been able to grow to become a leading company in its field that offers quality support to airlines, aircraft and helicopter manufacturers, but also to brokers with highly specialized personnel with long experience in aeronautics.
Aermeccanica with its strategic position near the international airport of Malpensa is a point of reference as MRO in Italy but also in the whole EMEA area. After 50 years since the foundation Aermeccanica is in continuous expansion thanks to the arrival of the fourth generation of the Pinza family that continues the tradition born since the early 1900s by the progenitor Giacomo.
