Comlux Completion Nearly Full For Next Few Years
Comlux Completion’s lucky number is three this year. In the past 12 months, it has received three Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty cabin completion orders, three Airbus A320 VVIP cabin orders and it completed three “maintenance upgrades,” says Richard Gaona, Comlux executive chairman and CEO.
He attributes this strong year to the past 10-15 years of investment the company has made, from technologies and tools, such as 3D design technologies and computer numerical control (CNC) machining, to people.
“When you do a program like the ACJ TwoTwenties, which we do a lot of aircraft cabins, one after the other, once you design for one, if the client selects the same part, you will get the same part from the same computer and from the same CNC machine,” which reduces time and the cost of production, says Gaona.
“We need to stay extremely competitive,” because the ACJ TwoTwenty competes with “high-end” business jets from other companies, and “we compete with them very closely in terms of price, but we offer three times the cabin volume,” he adds.
Right now Comlux’s Indianapolis center is working on one A320 and three A220-100s (the ACJ TwoTwenty).
He also notes that Comlux Completions will soon be taking in a Boeing BBJ from a long-term client.
Looking forward, Comlux Completion, a certified ACJ service center and Boeing BBJ-authorized warranty repair center, is almost full for the next three years. It has completion orders for three ACJ A220s and three A320s.
“We have done the first [Boeing] 737 MAX 8 cabin certified by the FAA,” as well as the first A320neo completions, he adds.
He did not disclose the customers' names.
In addition to the completions, which is its core business, Comlux’s Indianapolis facility also performs light-to-medium maintenance on three to four aircraft per year, or one to two bigger maintenance checks, says Gaona.
The Comlux Group also offers business aircraft transaction and charter services, and Gaona says Comlux also has had “an amazing year” for charter flights, with an especially busy summer.