Business jet owners, who historically are low-utilization operators, are starting to look at fuel savings technologies thanks to high priced fuel. To address this market, Aviation Partners, separate from its Boeing joint venture, certified STCs for its blended winglets on the Hawker 800 and the in-production Hawker 800XP, respectively, in July and December 2004.
In 1995, airlines operating their own maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) complexes viewed them as a source of pride; low cost carriers were few, and maintenance outsourcing was in a start-up phase. At the same time, nobody could have anticipated Sept. 11, and how that, along with a worldwide economic downturn, would profoundly change the airline business and the MRO industry.
