Landing gear overhaul opportunities in 2012 will again be led by short-haul narrowbody aircraft, especially the Airbus A320 family. Data from Aviation Week's MRO Prospector shows that 1,378 landing gear overhauls were scheduled for 2011. In 2012, that total number is expected to drop slightly to 1,224. That number could dip even lower depending on the retirements of MD-80s and other legacy aircraft models.
The latest news on FAA's NextGen air traffic control system is hopeful but worrisome. Progress has been made, conceptually and practically. The equipment for future ATC techniques is not terribly expensive but must be funded by many airlines and some governments that are themselves financially weak.
MRO Prospector predicts the GE90 will only generate 157 engine overhauls this year, but less than 15% of the -115B fleet has experienced a shop visit. This compares to the GE90-94B—all of which have gone in for a visit, says Steve Shaknaitis, GE90 MRO leader. He says a typical first run is 25,000-35,000 hours, and “GE provides MRO services and support to about 70% of the GE90 fleet.”
The International Federation of Airworthiness awarded its Whittle Safety Award to Dr. William Johnson, chief scientific and technical advisor for human factors in aviation maintenance for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The federation cites Dr. Johnson's experience working with labor, management, industry consortiums and government to impact training and procedures for maintenance human factors.
Spairliners, a JV between Air France and Lufthansa Technik, appointed Oliver Mazzucchelli as its new CEO managing director. Mazzucchelli comes to the position after serving as sales director, regional fleets for AFI KLM E&M.
Are your employees engaged? No, this isn't a question about marital status, it's a question about workplace commitment. It's about whether your employees are active, enthusiastic, contributing members of a team. If you suspect they aren't, this is an area worth your attention. Research by Gallup finds that businesses in the top quartile of their employee engagement studies experience 49% fewer safety incidents than bottom quartile organizations. In other words, by honing in on some key engagement criteria, organizations can potentially slice their incident rate in half.
The narrowbody airframe MRO market continues to show signs of recovery from the worst points of the economic downturn, when even relatively young aircraft were parked to defray operational expenses and defer maintenance costs. The narrowbody airframe MRO market value grew slightly less in 2011 (which exhibited a rate of 0.6%) than it did in 2010, when market value increased by 1.4%. However, it continues the generally positive reversal from the same 12-month period in 2009–10, when the market value for narrowbody airframe MRO services contracted by 12.6%.
Mubadala Aerospace has formed a new senior leadership team to manage its MRO companies, Zurich-based SR Technics and Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT). The United Arab Emirates-based company says it will use the new executive team to create synergies between the two MROs. However, both SR Technics and ADAT will remain separate legal entities. The new leadership appointments are Homaid Al Shemmari, chairman of the MRO network; Jeremy Chan executive vice chairman; and James Stewart group CEO.
Super98 issued STC to installation of modifications to improve the airplane cruise performance of Boeing DC-9-81 (MD-81), DC-9-82 (MD-82), DC-9-83 (MD-83), DC-9-87 (MD-87) and MD-88 aircraft, STC ST02372LA
Sabena Technics has signed a three-year agreement with ULS Airlines Cargo for component repair on its fleet of three Airbus A300-B4 and three Airbus A310-300 aircraft. Both companies have collaborated on repair management for some years.
Kelowna Flightcraft operates heavy maintenance facilities in Kelowna, B.C., Canada and Hamilton, Ont., Canada. Kelowna is a preferred vendor for Aviation Partners Boeing winglets and undertook the task of installing the prototype winglets for the Boeing 757-300. Overall, Kelowna has installed more than 70 sets of both Aviation Partners and Quiet Wing winglets and specializes in installing winglets on both provisioned and non-provisioned aircraft.
For months the Transportation Security Administration's final rulemaking to impose new security rules for repair stations in the U.S. and abroad has appeared imminent. TSA issued the notice of proposed rulemaking in 2009 for new security requirements, including a mandate for all repair stations to have security programs in place.
StandardAero announced that it has appointed Jeffrey Wood as senior VP of its airlines and fleet business, which is the largest of the company's six business sectors. Wood will take over for interim leader Jennifer McNeill, who is returning to her former role as VP sales, marketing and business development for airlines and fleets. Airframes
Timco Aerosystems opened its new 120,000 sq. ft. aircraft interiors manufacturing facility in Wallburg, N.C. in November. The facility will add capacity to Timco's manufacturing operations in Pacoima, Calif., including assembly of its FeatherWeight seats. Training
Azra (dba AeroTech Services) reissued STC to modify wing inboard and outboard aft trailing edge flaps on Boeing 737-200, -200C, -300 and -400 series aircraft, STC ST01625LA
Whether the radome conventionally has a honeycomb or foam core, testing for moisture ingress involves the use of either a thermal imaging system or a moisture meter. Thermal imaging requires the radome to be heated to detect moisture. In contrast, technicians simply hold a moisture meter that relies on eddy currents against the radome to detect moisture—making it the more common method.
Turkish Technic has signed a landing gear maintenance services agreement for five Airbus A320 family aircraft with IzAir. The work, which includes landing gear removal and installation as well as overhaul activities, will be carried out at Turkish Technic's Istanbul facility. It plans to complete the overhaul of five sets of landing gear in June 2013. IT
Forrest Gump once quipped “Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get.” The same can be said for the business of repairing aircraft on ground, or AOG. When the phone rings, AOG professionals never know what kind of repair they're going to get or where they're going to go—or whether customs will even let them into the country.
Ametek Ameron (dba Mass Systems) reissued STCs to replace Kidde fire extinguisher and Pacific Scientific fire extinguisher cartridges in fire extinguisher bottles on various transport category aircraft, including ATR, Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Eurocopter, Fokker, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas and Saab aircraft, STCs ST00952LA and ST00885LA
