Polish MRO and maintenance training organization ALL4JETS has expanded its capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic to cater to changing customer demand. In addition to implementing online training and distance examinations, it has launched a borescope inspections subsidiary and increased staff for its Part 21 Design Organization and Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO).
The MRO began looking into online training solutions in 2019 and when the pandemic hit, it immediately applied for and received approval to deliver online training from EASA and the Polish Civil Aviation Authority. It also received temporary approval to deliver distance examinations online through July 2021, which it is hoping to extend due to continued travel restrictions. It says it is the only Part 147 provider in Europe to have this approval so far.
While the customer base for ALL4JETS’s maintenance training organization was previously more focused on large MROs, the ability to offer distance training and examinations has opened new doors.
“The customer profile completely changed what we saw from before COVID compared to now,” says Bart Matusewicz, vice president of sales at ALL4JETS. “Before COVID we had customers like airlines, MROs and lessors, but not so many individuals. Currently, most of the training is delivered to individual students. We can gather all the students into one training and they can be sitting in Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Poland and Spain, and we just have to appropriately plan the timing for everyone [to participate].”
Matusewicz notes that in addition to enabling better global reach, online training and exams may be the most efficient way to get maintenance technicians back to work as aircraft re-enter service. Moving forward, ALL4JETS is also looking to implement 3D-based technology into its training program, which he says will provide time and cost saving benefits for customers.
While augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) cannot fully replace in-person training, Matusewicz says ALL4JETS is hoping to replace some elements to cut down on time and provide more effective ways of teaching. “When you have to squeeze 5-10 students into a cockpit it’s impossible, but with very good quality 3D images and even with a little bit of AR, you can do it virtually much better than on the aircraft,” he says.
In 2020 ALL4JETS also established a new subsidiary called 4THRUST, which is an EASA certified Part 145 organization focused on delivering aircraft engine borescope inspections. Based at ALL4JETS’s Warsaw headquarters, the 4THRUST teams travel to customer locations to perform borescope inspections on a wide range of engines from CFM, GE, IAE, Pratt & Whitney, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Rolls-Royce. Matusewicz says that during COVID-related travel restrictions, the teams have been able to deliver services without quarantine challenges by flying to customer locations via both general and commercial jets. 4THRUST also offers CF34 family engine thrust modifications and FADEC upgrades.
Aside from the new staff added with 4THRUST, ALL4JETS has added more staff to its CAMO, Part 21 and training teams to meet increased demand. While the pandemic led to reduced demand for heavy checks and big modifications, Matusewicz says there has been higher demand for CAMO and airworthiness services to keep aircraft in storage. It has also seen an increase in demand for aircraft redelivery services, such as paint, service bulletins, placards and kits. ALL4JETS plans to expand its offerings this year to include cabin interior modifications for internal placards, equipment and textiles.
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