As fire seasons lengthen and wildland fires become increasingly destructive, the availability of airborne assets is becoming more critical. For Neptune Aviation, assuring the readiness of its aerial tankers has resulted in one of the most comprehensive in-house maintenance capabilities, specifically focused on the total support of a unique, aging aircraft.
Airbus added Mexicana MRO Services to its MRO network, effective Feb. 27. The Mexico City-based carrier joins 14 other MRO providers that provide maintenance and repair services for Airbus aircraft and work with Airbus in its Flight Hour Services offering.
With near record numbers of aircraft parked in the desert and airline passenger and cargo traffic flat or down sharply, the worldwide commercial jet transport MRO market grew by just 1.4% over the past year to $45.7 billion, according to the annual MRO Forecast produced for O&M by TeamSAI and Ascend.
Heroux-Devtek will overhaul the landing gear of the U.S. Navy’s P-3 patrol aircraft under a contract signed on March 12. The two-year agreement guarantees a certain number of component repairs and includes a three-year extension option. If the option is exercised, the work would be worth C$37 million to Heroux-Devtek. The U.S. Navy operates 170 Lockheed Martin P-3C aircraft.
EMTEQ ENGINEERING, to install an EMTEQ seat warmer system in Hawker Beechcraft B200, B200C, B300, B300C, 200, 200C, 200CT, 200T, B200CT, B200T, 300 and 300LW series aircraft, STC SA03669AT
TUIfly Nordic picked the Panasonic eFX inflight entertainment system for three Boeing 767 aircraft. With entry into service slated for this month, Panasonic says the Stockholm-based carrier will become the first charter airline in the Nordic region to equip aircraft with full in-seat audio and video on demand. Parts/Components
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center 402nd Maintenance Wing won the 2008 Secretary of Defense Maintenance Effectiveness Award in the Depot category for its work from Oct. 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2008, including its response to the worldwide grounding of the F-15 fleet in the fall of 2007. Airframes
Trimble designed its new, all-in-one tablet computer to be rugged and fully functional in any setting. The Yuma can be used as a hand-carried computer, mounted on a pole or tripod for data collection, secured in a vehicle-mount or connected to an office docking station with external monitor, printer and other desk peripherals.
Virgin America appointed Rick Wysong SVP technical operations. Wysong is the third person to hold the senior tech ops post since the startup began flying in 2007. Guy Borowski had the job when the airline launched operations. He was succeeded in January 2008 by Tom Anderson, who had been part of the original startup team at JetBlue. Anderson left Virgin America late last year, after less than 12 months in San Francisco, to take a job as SVP of Airbus North America Customer Services. Wysong most recently was VP engineering, materials and planning at United.
Shannon Aerospace completed D checks on a pair of Croatia Airlines’ Airbus A319s in 24 days each, a milestone in the MRO’s implementation of Lean. Redelivery of the first aircraft to Croatia on Feb. 6 marked the first such turnaround for the company. It completed the D1-check plus sampling (which SAL says is the most comprehensive check possible on a 1998 aircraft), in 17 days. A seven-day paint job took the number of days to 24, which was ahead of the contracted time, SAL said. It achieved an identical timeframe with the second aircraft.
Federal Aviation Administration Acting Administrator Lynne A. Osmus made several personnel changes in early March. Peggy Gilligan became the new associate administrator for aviation safety. Gilligan had served as deputy assistant administrator for aviation safety since July 1995, and has served as chief of staff for four FAA administrators among other posts. John Hickey, director of FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service since 2000, replaced Gilligan as deputy assistant administrator for aviation safety.
Two Boeing 757-200s operated by the RNZAF for ministerial and government passenger transport since 2003 have undergone extensive conversions and upgrades. Recently completed by Singapore Technologies Aerospace, these include conversion to quick-change passenger/freight transports. The 757s also have new digital avionics and glass cockpits to operate in civil as well as military air space.
Goodrich will provide MRO services for TransAsia Airways’ fleet of seven Airbus A320 family aircraft under a three-year initial period, flight hour-based support agreement that includes Goodrich sensors, actuation, engine control and electrical power products. Most of the work for the Taipei-based carrier will take place at Goodrich facilities in Singapore, Xiamen and Sydney. Joint Ventures/Acquisitions
LONDON—There can’t be many occasions when new regulations stimulate business, but that seems to be the situation with EASA Part M. Since the original compliance deadline of Sept. 28, 2008, demand for sub-part G approvals for Continuous Airworthiness Management Organizations (CAMO) has surged, and so has interest in IT systems that provide the data necessary for complying with continuous airworthiness regulations.
Leigh Sargent of ACE Applied Composites Engineering saw his company’s need for turnaround time-focused service as an opportunity for growth. ACE repairs radomes for a variety of aircraft, and before returning these to customers, it used to send the large components to other service providers for tests. If the third party couldn’t return the radome quickly enough, then it impacted ACE’s TAT. ACE decided to take the matter into its own hands: the Indianapolis-based company built its own radome test cell, focused on speed and quality.
EAGLE HELICOPTERS, amended STC to install a SAGEM ICDS 2000 electronic flight instrument system on various Eurocopter France AS-350 and EC 130 helicopters, STC SR01665SE
The Flight Safety Foundation expanded its Pacific region operations by adding a regional base in Melbourne, Australia. It absorbed the operations of the Aviation Safety Foundation Australasia, Flight Safety Foundation President Bill Voss announced at the Avalon Air Show in Victoria, Australia, on March 12. FSF aims to improve access to its technical programs in Asia-Pacific and to increase its activities in the region.
