ASD/ENSA , surrendered STC to install mounting brackets for VOR antenna and APX-78 radar beacon located in the vertical tail tip of Boeing 747 and 747-200B series aircraft, STC SA697GL
Take a money-losing MRO, add the sudden departure of its CEO and the loss of business, and the rumors start flying like plates at a Greek wedding. Example: the company is up for sale, desperately seeking partners or about to go out of business. Such was case with Montreal-based ExelTech Aerospace, whose CEO Derek Nice resigned this summer as chairman and CEO. Also finding the exit was CFO Roland Blais.
Airline and union representatives are protesting a new Department of Transportation rule that requires “intrusive,” direct observation methods for testing of certain employees for drugs and alcohol. DOT released the new rule June 25, to cut down on the potential for cheating on drug tests.
Certain Pratt & Whitney PW2037 engines should be removed from service for recurring inspections to prevent possible uncontained engine failure, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged in a letter to FAA on Oct. 16. The NTSB recommends FAA enact regulations that: • Require that Pratt & Whitney PW2037 engines be removed from service for inspection of the 2nd stage turbine hubs when they have accumulated significantly fewer hours and/or cycles than the incident engine (10,880 hours and/or 4,392 cycles).
Pratt & Whitney Canada inked an 11-year fleet management program deal with JetSuite, a private jet charter company. P&WC will maintain its charter fleet of PW617F-powered Embraer Phenom 100 aircraft, including scheduled and unscheduled engine maintenance and engine trend condition monitoring.
AeroLogic chose Boeing’s web-based Maintenance Performance Toolbox and Airplane Health Management to support its 777F maintenance documentation. The carrier, a 50/50 joint venture of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, will use AHM to monitor its Boeing 777 freighters. The product is designed to be a real-time fault management tool to identify maintenance needs and communicate with ground teams.
Page AvJet Corp. , surrendered STCs to install a Sperry PRIMUS800 x band color radar system and dual Sperry ADZ800 air data computer system with VN 801 vertical navigation system on Boeing 727-100 series aircraft, STCs SA1655SO and SA1658SO
CORENA Holding named Toralf Johannessen CEO , filling the position after co-founder Steen Hansen decided to step down after almost 30 years in the post. Johannessen formerly was CEO of CORENA Norge.
Hawaiian Airlines hired Dennis Manibusan as VP of maintenance and engineering. Manibusan will report to Charles Nardello, SVP operations. Manibusan fills the position left open when Nardello was promoted. Manibusan most recently was SVP maintenance and engineering for ABX Air.
British company Fire Fighting Enterprises offers a new type of optical beam smoke detector equipped with a motorized auto-alignment feature. The detector can be retrofitted, said Peter Bangham, a press representative for the company. Bangham said that the devices are designed to need minimal wiring compared to normal “point” detectors, since one beam unit can safely cover an area that would need 15 point units. Fire Fighting Enterprises Ltd, 9 Hunting Gate, Hitchin, Herts, U.K. SG4 0TJ
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) ordered 91 additional F110-GE-129C turbofans, costing more than $750 million, to re-engine its F-15S multi-role combat aircraft. This contract follows the 2007 RSAF selection of 65 F110 engines to re-engine 29 F-15S fighters, with a combined value of the 156 F110 powerplants and logistics support package exceeding $750 million. Deliveries will start later this year.
STOL Aviation , reissued STC to modify the powerplant installation, fuselage (other than weld assembly), wing flaps and tail wheel installation to conform to the designs of the corresponding installations, assemblies and components of the Model S-1B2 airplane (Army L-6 XL-6), STC SA622AL
Nomad Aviation picked Inmedius’ S1000D publishing suite management, authoring and publishing modules to manage its technical content and support its S1000D and ATA iSPEC 2200 projects. Contracts
Pratt & Whitney Canada opened a new parts distribution center in Sydney, to serve customers in Australia and New Zealand. Pratt & Whitney Component Solutions also operates centers in Singapore and Amsterdam. The OEM further signed a letter of intent with ITR-Turborreactores, S.A. de CV, to establish the Querétaro, Mexico, MRO provider as a designated service provider center of excellence for Pratt & Whitney JT8D component repair.
O&M: How would you describe Vector today? O’Shea: We have three bases in Canada. In Vancouver, the Richmond facility handles helicopter engines and dynamic components, and Langley does airframes and avionics. On Prince Edward Island we have Atlantic Turbines, a Pratt & Whitney shop for fixed-wing engines, which now has been rebranded to Vector Aerospace Engine Services Atlantic. That said, we always wanted strategic opportunities to grow outside Canada and the U.S., so Europe was the obvious option.
Eurocopter reopened the Cape Town MRO facility operated by its Eurocopter Southern Africa subsidiary on Sept. 18, following ZAR$2 million in expansion and refurbishment. Eurocopter Canada also expanded its Richmond, B.C., facility, which now comprises 11,700 sq. ft. dedicated to technical support, logistics and spare parts for Canadian customers.
An October safety audit found four Indonesian airlines failed to meet minimum safety standards, while four carriers who previously had had their AOCs suspended met the standards and resumed operations. Carriers that failed to meet the audit’s standards are Pura Wisata Baruna, Sampoerna Nusantara, Dabi Air Nusantara and Atlas Deltasatya. They have three months to bring their operations into compliance.
Goodrich and SilkAir signed a long-term flight hour agreement to cover engine nacelle maintenance for the Singapore Airlines-owned regional carrier’s Airbus A320s. The 12-year deal provides for the Goodrich nacelles to be repaired at Goodrich Aerostructures Service Center–Asia (GASCA) in Singapore.
Airbus announced two agreements with members of its MRO network to provide aftermarket services for aircraft leased to Singapore Airlines. A deal inked Sept. 23 with ST Aerospace subsidiary ST Aviation Services Co. Pte Ltd. (SASCO) covers heavy maintenance checks for the 19 A330 aircraft leased to Singapore Airlines. The work is expected to begin in 2015, and should be conducted over 18 months, according to ST Aerospace. SR Technics will manage and repair some 350 components for the 19 A330s.
I am pretty cynical when it comes to airline mergers. I quickly lose patience with all the “wave of consolidation” talk that sweeps through the industry every few years. If all the mergers happened that the “experts” predicted would happen over the past two decades, there’d be maybe a half dozen airlines left in the world.
Jetcraft Avionics installed the first Elbit-Kollsman EVS II for an aftermarket application on a Bombardier Challenger 604. The company expects to receive FAA certification for the installation, which aims to improve situational awareness and make flights safer, by the end of the year.
Learjet , amended STC to install a Honeywell TCAS II on Bombardier CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), 600-2B16 (CL-601-3A), CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3R) and CL-600-2B16 (CL-604) aircraft, STC SA8054NM-D
