American Airlines intends to bring CFM56-5B engine maintenance services in-house from October 2018, David Seymour, the airlines’ senior vice president-integrated operations told Lee Ann Shay last November. The carrier's Tulsa, Oklahoma facility will carry out the the work and projects 45 CFM56-5B engine inputs per annually after it sets up the capability.
AeroMexico Brings 787 Heavy MRO In-House
Credit: AeroMexico
Having outsourced the first five C-checks on its Boeing 787 fleet to Boeing Shanghai, AeroMexico decided to bring the capability in-house and set about investing in tooling and equipment. The airline told Aviation Week in February 2018 that it estimates a 49% saving in completing C-checks for 11 of its aircraft, taking into account the cost to ground one of the aircraft along with tooling, ferry costs, on-site team living expenses, material markups and manpower.
Interjet Seeking Insource Opportunities
Another Mexican carrier looking to insource some of its MRO is low-cost carrier Interjet. The airline takes a largely in-house approach to maintenance and told MRO-Network.com in November 2017 that it is looking for more third-party work from other airlines.
Copa Airlines Insourcing More MRO
Credit: Copa Airlines
Panama's Copa Airlines has steadily brought airframe MRO capabilities in-house over the past five years. In 2015, it brought the heaviest of its heavy checks back into the business. However, when speaking to Inside MRO last year, Ahmad Zamany, the airline's vice president of technical operations, said it had no plans to insource any engine repairs while 90% of its component repairs are outsourced.
EasyJet Gradually Insourcing Maintenance
Credit: EasyJet
Despite outsourcing around 90% of its maintenance value, EasyJet is gradually insourcing more maintenance capabilities gradually, according to its head of engineering Gary Smith. "We are evaluating mixed policies around partnering arrangements similar to the one we’ve had in place at London Gatwick Airport with Lufthansa Technik since 2016, covering light base maintenance and aircraft-on-ground hangar support," he told Inside MRO in May 2018.
While merely at the planning stages, Brazilian carrier Azul said earlier this year that it may bring Airbus A320 and Embraer C-checks in-house once its new hangar located at Viracopos opens for business in the next 12-18 months.
As Aviation Week's MRO Editor EMEA, James Pozzi covers the latest industry news from the European region and beyond. He also writes in-depth features on the commercial aftermarket for Inside MRO.
