Development of the Airbus A330P2F passenger-to-freighter conversion, announced in 2012, is well underway and its preliminary design review (PDR) was scheduled to be concluded in April. EADS EFW, now owned by the Airbus Group and ST Aerospace, plans to ramp up annual production to 20 in 2020. The price point—$30 million for a converted passenger aircraft aged 15-20 years, versus more than $200 million at list price for a newly produced A330-200F freighter—is key for cargo operators, which have a much lower utilization than passenger carriers.
Another kind of investment relates to but is not the same as investment in new-model support. LHT recently announced it will put €200 million ($276 million) into innovation and research over the next four years. The commitment should improve LHT’s overall capabilities on both legacy aircraft that show up in shops more frequently than new models and on new types that pose novel challenges.
Partnerships bring opportunities to invest, but how do you start the conversation with potential candidates? What are best practices? One of the workshops during our MRO Americas Conference last month focused on partnerships, so I will share some of the executives’ insights. They are natural supplements to Henry Canaday’s article on page MRO4, which evaluates how and when MROs invest in new capabilities.
Many maintenance organizations struggle with tool control. It is not a hardware problem—it is a people problem, resulting from human error, forgetfulness and distraction. And while it can be solved with the right technology, even the best solutions demand a shift in culture and mindset that must be considered and addressed to solve the problem.
1. Driving Screws with a Wrist Twist Supplier: Dewalt Offering: The latest professional-grade screwdriver from Dewalt features gyroscopic technology to make screwdriving and conduit-reaming easier for professional electricians. The new 8V Max Gyroscopic Screwdriver with conduit-reamer is a portable and compact tool that electricians can operate with a turn of the wrist. It builds on last year’s battery-powered gyroscopic screwdriver.
As more European airlines add Boeing 787s and more foreign carriers deploy them to European airports, small- and medium-sized maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies are seeking to profit by expanding their capabilities to include Dreamliner services.
Having flown more than 35,000 mi. in the past month between North America, South America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific—on aircraft including an Embraer 190 within Brazil to a Boeing 777-300ER from Dubai to Singapore—how could airline operations not have occupied my mind? As the world becomes more connected, and as airlines in regions such as Southeast Asia expand into sizes where aftermarket volumes support developing local services, partnerships flourish. I witnessed it on each continent.
A European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) draft rule tackles several ambiguities around aircraft technical records, including how long certain records should be kept, and how new technology—such as digitized records—should be accommodated.
1. Electronics for All Markets Company: Esterline CMC Electronics Services: Located in Montreal, Esterline CMC Electronics focuses equally on its business, commercial and military aviation markets, with a wide product line including FMS/GPS, enhanced vision system sensors, satellite communications antennas and cockpit systems integration. The company recently certified its CMA-9000 FMS for retrofit on the Airbus A310, offering operators a replacement for older FMS components with more limited memory capacity.
For successful young MRO providers, economy is essential and growth is a constant goal. “Effective energy- consumption management is one of our main priorities,” says CEO Zilvinas Lapinskas of FL Technics, based in Lithuania. All FL hangars and repair shops have integrated energy-control systems that monitor and automatically change electricity and heating.
Washington Considering that some form of new mandate was unavoidable, the vast majority of those affected by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) long-awaited repair station security rule couldn't be more pleased.
For Southwest Airlines, there are no replacement plans—at least for now—for the electromechanical cockpits on the 130 Boeing 737-300s and -500s it still flies. “We are always evaluating the future of our 737-300s and -500s, which includes possible cockpit modifications as fleet planning warrants,” says Kent Horton, Southwest's director of engineering.
The last year has provided some much-needed positive news for Airbus's A380 program, including a milestone 100th delivery and a major deal that pushed the program's languishing orderbook beyond 300. Whether the solid run is a precursor of things to come or an anomalous blip on a radar screen full of challenges is up for debate.
Washington A recently released audit lauds the FAA's Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (Asias) effort for its growth, but urges the agency to boost the program's effectiveness by putting more of its data into the hands of safety inspectors. The FAA, straddling a fine line, says it is trying.
Last year was a good year for the commercial aftermarket, which saw an uptick “as the period of spares destocking and maintenance deferral by the airlines draws to a close,” according to RBC Capital Market analysts.
Europe The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has proposed beefed-up standards and maintenance practices for aircraft flight and data recorders. Among the changes: Cockpit voice recorders (CVR) on large aircraft—having a maximum takeoff weight of at least 27,000 kg—would need recording durations of 15 hr. by January 2019. EASA also proposed that, by 2020, CVRs and flight data recorders have underwater location devices that broadcast for at least 90 days.
Europe A U.K. Aviation Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) call to have Boeing 777 interior lighting crashworthiness improved has been rejected by the U.S. FAA, but Boeing addressed the matter well before an accident brought the issue to light, AAIB's latest annual safety report reveals.
