Austrian Airlines Group will launch a wholly owned subsidiary that will offer third-party MRO work at its 1,200-employee maintenance facility. "Our primary goal is to make better use of our quite expensive resources at the base in Vienna," CEO Alfred Oetsch told ATWOnline. Currently, AAG is doing work for Lufthansa and a few other carriers. Oetsch said Austrian Technik can compete in the tough MRO business. Further details about the project will be available in September.

Travel almost anywhere in the Asia/Pacific region and you will see Indian aircraft engineers and technicians at work at airlines and maintenance outfits. Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Gulf Air also employ a large number of expatriate engineers poached from Indian Airlines and Air India.

Cathay Pacific Airways signed a $1 billion, 20-year OnPoint Solutions service agreement with GE covering MRO of 40 GE90-115B engines on 777-300ERs. It has ordered 18 of the type, the first of which is scheduled to enter service in September 2007 (ATWOnline, Dec. 16, 2005).

Maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations are investing millions of dollars in IT systems to manage their operations. Those facilities equipped with the latest software are far more likely to get the work than those without IT.

When Boeing begins delivering 787s to airlines in 2008, it expects to deliver something else as well: A total maintenance and supply chain solution that will permit operators to focus entirely on flying the airplane. GoldCare, the name of the product, will provide carriers with comprehensive line and base maintenance support, as well as supply chain management, on a cost-per-flight-hr. basis.

Qantas opened its A$55 million ($39.4 million), 17,500-sq.-ft. Material and Logistics Distribution Center in Mascot outside Sydney yesterday. Executive GM-Qantas Engineering David Cox said the project is part of a larger investment in the airline's domestic MRO capabilities, which includes an $85 million facility in Brisbane and a $20 million upgrade to its Rolls-Royce Engine Maintenance Center of Excellence. The Mascot center is anchored by a Miniload Automated Storage and Retrieval System comprising four stacker cranes moving at up to 24 m. per sec.

Lufthansa Technik Group, which saw its operating profit climb 26% to €258 million in 2005 (ATWOnline, March 24), said growth should slow in 2006 as the competitive environment heats up. LHT Executive Board Member August Wilhelm Henningsen said at a press briefing that he expects 4%-5% growth in business this year, all of which should come from outside Lufthansa Group. Last year, 58% of LHT's work came from third-party clients as it increased its total global customer base by 4%. To compensate for the decline, it will continue to target cost savings.

Qantas confirmed yesterday the closure of its 747 heavy MRO operations in Sydney after 55 years in service, resulting in the loss of approximately 480 jobs although up to 140 employees may be transferred elsewhere in the company, CEO Geoff Dixon said. The airline, which has been considering the move since October as part of the restructuring of its maintenance and engineering operations, said it would make an effort to keep the work in Australia but is looking at securing a cost base that will ensure profitability with oil costing more than $60 per barrel.