Shreveport has a way of hiding some of its most interesting stories in plain sight.
We can tell you where to find a good plate lunch, debate our favorite neighborhoods and give directions based on a business that closed 20 years ago. But ask what happens inside Metro Aviation, and plenty of us might need a minute.
Here’s the surprise: Shreveport is home to a company that equips helicopters for specialized missions, operates air medical aircraft across the country and helps train the people who fly them. Metro Aviation’s work reaches well beyond Northwest Louisiana.
And its air medical story started with a familiar local name.
Two Used Helicopters and a Schumpert Connection
Metro Aviation began in 1982 as a helicopter charter, flight training and maintenance operation. In November 1983, it entered the air medical business with two used Hughes 500-D helicopters and an agreement to provide helicopter ambulance service for Schumpert Medical Center in Shreveport.
Two used helicopters. One local hospital.
That is a pretty remarkable opening chapter for a business that would eventually serve hospital programs throughout the United States and complete aircraft for customers around the world.
What Exactly Is a Helicopter “Completion”?
The word sounds like somebody forgot to finish the helicopter.
In aviation, however, a completion is the specialized work that equips an aircraft for its particular job.
Manufacturers such as Airbus build the helicopter. Metro’s team then configures and equips it for the customer’s mission, whether that means air medical transport, law enforcement, utility work or corporate travel. Its capabilities include aircraft modifications, avionics installation, maintenance and painting.
Think of the difference between buying a van and creating a fully equipped ambulance—then add the engineering and approval requirements that come with taking everything into the air.
A medical crew needs room to reach a patient. Equipment needs secure, accessible mounting locations. The interior has to support the work happening inside it.
Suddenly, choosing the upholstery seems like the easy part.
Metro says it holds more than 30 FAA Supplemental Type Certificates—approvals for modifications to an aircraft’s approved design—and completes approximately 35 aircraft annually for American and international customers. Its website describes a 180,000-square-foot Shreveport facility.
That is a substantial amount of aviation expertise tucked into our own backyard.
Yes, There Are Full-Motion Helicopter Simulators Here
Shreveport is also home to Metro’s Helicopter Flight Training Center, where the equipment includes full-motion simulators for the EC135 and EC145 helicopters, along with training devices for other helicopter models.
These are a considerable step up from the flight simulator you once downloaded and immediately crashed into a mountain.
The center gives aviation organizations access to specialized training equipment right here in Northwest Louisiana. So while most of us are navigating traffic on our way to work, someone else in Shreveport may be sharpening helicopter cockpit skills inside a simulator.
Same city. Very different morning commute.
Shreveport Is Helping Shape What Comes Next
This is more than an interesting company history.
On October 27, 2026, Metro unveiled a medical interior concept for Airbus’s new H140 helicopter at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Fort Worth. Developed in collaboration with Airbus and informed by medical crew feedback, the concept includes flexible equipment mounting locations, a central medical console and provisions for a powered stretcher system.
The focus is practical: making better use of cabin space and helping crews access patients and equipment.
There is an important distinction here: the display was an initial concept, with further development ahead. Metro says deliveries of its 12 ordered H140 helicopters are anticipated between 2028 and 2031, subject to Airbus’s production schedule. The company also holds options for 24 more.
In other words, expertise based in Shreveport is helping inform how future air medical helicopters could work.
That deserves a little hometown attention.
A Local Story Worth Looking Up For
Metro Aviation is a reminder that some of Northwest Louisiana’s most interesting businesses do their work outside the everyday spotlight.
This one connects skilled technical work, aviation training and medical transportation—with a local hospital partnership at the beginning and an international reach today.
So the next time someone asks, “What does Shreveport have going for it?” you have another answer.
We help get flying lifelines ready for the job.
And that is a pretty good thing to have happening down the road.
Did you know what Metro Aviation does? If you or someone in your family has worked there, what would you want the rest of Shreveport to know?
Learn more at Metro Aviation, explore its helicopter completion services, or visit the Helicopter Flight Training Center.