A vivid red Bell 407GXP helicopter stood proudly as centerpiece at the 2016 Chengdu Business Jet Parking Bay Joint Operations Summit. The eye-catching reminder of southwest China’s aviation prowess was delivered by Leader Mutual Freight (LMF) as a special door-to-door mission after three months of preplanning and navigating contingencies.

In June 2016, China Sichuan Xiangyun General Aviation Corporation (Xiangyun G.A.) launched a procurement bid for the secure transportation of a newly purchased Bell 407GXP helicopter from the United States to Daocheng County, Sichuan Province. By consulting with LMF’s global offices on their respective helicopter-transportation experiences and revising the proposal according to Xiangyun G.A.’s needs, LMF Chengdu successfully won the contract over a dozen or so competitors.

A dedicated transportation unit was convened for this operation, which was complicated by miscommunication issues between the client and the helicopter maker. The first disagreement arose over the supplier’s refusal to provide the equipment for packing, unloading, and stabilizing the aircraft during transport.

Negotiations with suppliers through the LMF Dallas branch resolved this issue, only for the mission to be faced with yet another trial — the shipping line booked for the job suddenly cancelled its door-to-port container transportation services, likely due to the high value of the cargo. CEO Allen Cheng rose to the challenge, researching the company’s list of trucking partners in the greater Dallas area, and securing the optimal candidate to complete the port delivery.

A new message arrived after the port delivery. Xiangyun G.A. had decided to showcase its new purchase at the 2016 Chengdu Business Jet Parking Bay Joint Operations Summit, and to make the Sept. 19 deadline, the helicopter had to be rerouted to a different port with a closer docking date, from Shenzhen’s Shekuo port to Yantian port. Moreover, while the vessel was still en route to China, new orders stipulat