Kenya Airways awarded IAI’s Bedek Aviation Group a 10-year, $100 million contract for CFM56-3 and -7 engine overhaul and support. The exclusive agreement covers 26 engines that power the airline’s fleet of a dozen Boeing 737-300s and 737NGs.
Austrian inaugurated its Vienna Aviation Campus on Sept. 15, which now co-locates technical, commercial, flight attendant and pilot training. Austrian said training will increase in quality and decrease in cost because of centralized training activities. IT
Innovative Solutions & Support’s primary flight display systems completed two successful flights in July in Royal Netherlands Air Force (K)DC-10s modified by Boeing as part of the RNLAF’s Cockpit Upgrade Program (CUP). Boeing awarded IS&S a contract for its primary flight display systems to be used in the CUP; under it, IS&S developed two 15-in. flat panel display systems, two data concentrator units with display generation capability and two control panels for three RNLAF aircraft. Parts/Components
FedEx selected Enigma’s 3C Platform to streamline maintenance operations for its aircraft fleet. The first phase includes providing customized job card generation and distribution for maintenance activities, and the second phase involves managing maintenance revisions and publishing maintenance service information.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which has spent months under fire for apparent safety lapses and “cozy” relationships with airlines, received a little validation from the latest safety review. An Independent Review Team (IRT) said it was impressed with the strides FAA and the industry have made toward safety and found the agency’s safety staff to be “unambiguously committed to its core mission of safety.”
SR Technics signed an agreement with Avtrade Ltd. to support a range of Honeywell auxiliary power unit (APU) components fitted to various Airbus and Boeing types. Under it, SR Technics will provide maintenance and loan services to Avtrade for the APUs at its Dublin facility, which is equipped to service Honeywell GTCP 85, 131-9A/B, 331-200/250 and -350 series and 660 series APUs. SR Technics also announced a component support agreement with Airbus, covering 19 leased A330s operated by Singapore Airlines.
LONDON—Moving into a well-established market has never been easy, but perseverance is beginning to pay off for Singapore Technologies Aerospace in Europe.
SOURCE: DOT August 2008 Report The Federal Aviation Administration pushed back the timeline slightly for two final rules—the long-awaited rule establishing more parameters on digital flight data recorders (DFDR) installed on Boeing 737 aircraft and a regulation establishing limits and maintenance programs to prevent widespread fatigue damage.
: Boeing announced the successful first flight of a McDonnell Douglas (K)DC-10 enhanced with Boeing’s twin flat-panel Cockpit Upgrade Program (CUP). A flight crew from the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), Boeing and Fokker Services completed the four-hour inaugural sortie of the aircraft at the Fokker facility in Holland on July 22. The RNLAF has a May 2005 contract with Fokker Services and Boeing to upgrade three aircraft: two (K)DC-10 air-refueling tankers and one DC-10 transport. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled this fall.
Jet Repair Anywhere formed a strategic alliance with Blue Star Jets , to help Jet Repair Anywhere clients avoid maintenance-related delays via Blue Star’s fleet of 4,000-plus aircraft.
Northrop Grumman won a firm fixed-price U.S. Air Force contract valued at more than $250 million over four years to provide contractor logistics services to U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps C-20 aircraft. Northrop Grumman and teammates M7 Aerospace, Savannah Air Center and Rolls-Royce North America will provide depot maintenance, contractor operational and maintained base supply, flight line maintenance and field team support of the C-20 at five primary Main Operating Bases (MOBs), both in the U.S. and at overseas locations.
Next-generation aircraft set trends for the interior retrofit market. More space, more comfort, more design, more all-in-one solutions, more connectivity, more entertainment: Business aviation operators and commercial airlines want it all, say many in the interior retrofit business. The only difference is what they’re willing to pay. Slimming down presents a challenge to everyone in the industry, as gas prices remain high. Business operators can afford to keep their interiors luxe while swallowing the cost of fuel.
Mxi Technologies makes sophisticated maintenance planning software that doesn’t use aircraft performance data as such. But the motivation for its technology runs parallel to those that do.
Virgin Blue signed a six-year GE OnPoint agreement to cover the maintenance and overhaul of all CFM56-7B engines it operates, along with those of its international carrier Pacific Blue. The agreement is valued at up to $300 million.
AeroMech, amended STC for group Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum approval for Israel Aircraft Industries 1125 Westwind Astra aircraft, STC ST01141SE Aero Union, amended and reissued STCs to install a 2,000-gallon fire retardant system on Erickson Air-Crane S-65E, S-64E and CH-54A helicopters, STCs SR01192LA and SR01192LA Aircraft Technical Development dba Aerocon Engineering, to install a cabin interior noise reduction kit on Boeing 757-200 series aircraft, STC ST02157LA
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Aug. 1 of a possible foreign military sale to Australia of follow-on support for Boeing F/A-18E/F combat aircraft, plus associated equipment and services. Total value, with all options exercised, could reach $1.5 billion.
An enhanced memorandum of understanding signed in late August by the civil aviation authorities of Hong Kong and Singapore will allow for mutual recognition and approval of aircraft and engine maintenance. A previous MoU signed in December 2004 recognized aircraft component maintenance. The two authorities estimate more than 75 MRO companies will benefit from the enhanced agreement.
In 1902, the Wright Brothers approached nearly a dozen automobile and gasoline engine manufacturers looking for help building an engine for the first powered airplane. Orville and Wilbur Wright, however, were rebuffed. The brothers then turned to Charles Taylor, the mechanic who ran their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. Taylor took on the task and provided the engine that opened a new chapter in history—controlled flight.
Tactair Fluid Controls received a $3 million U.S. government contract to provide Self Displacing Accumulators (SDA) to retrofit C-5A Galaxy aircraft. The Tactair SDA, a piston-type hydraulic accumulator that does not require a gas precharge, is used in military applications where its Kevlar wrapping protects it from projectiles and in emergency situations to provide auxiliary hydraulic pressure to the flight control system. Tactair was the original equipment supplier for the SDA on all C-5B model aircraft and continues to provide field support.
Three Lockheed Martin C-5M Super Galaxy RERP test aircraft successfully completed developmental flight tests, which paves the way for redelivering the three aircraft (one former C-5A and two C-5Bs) to the U.S. Air Force in support of operational test and evaluation, due to begin in late 2009. The three heavy-lift transports participating in the U.S. Air Force’s Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) underwent tests for performance verification of the propulsion system, utilities and sub-systems, flight controls, airframe and avionics systems.
For shipping share parts and other valuable mobile assets, Storopack developed FOAMplus, an integrated system that produces custom-sized, protective foam packing material. The system’s central machine, the FOAMplus Bager, measures about 80 cm-by-80 cm at its base and is 200 cm tall. It attaches to two 200-liter metal barrels, which contain polyol and an isocyanate. The machine can be preprogrammed so that the dose of foam components it dispenses fits perfectly into a film bag.
General Dynamics plans to acquire Jet Aviation for $2.25 billion. The companies expect to close the deal by the end of the year. General Dynamics plans to retain the Jet Aviation and Midcoast Aviation brands, and operate them, at least initially, as a third prong of its aerospace business (the others being Gulfstream Aerospace and General Dynamics Aviation Services).
Goodrich Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Marshall O. Larsen talked about the company’s proposed joint venture with Rolls-Royce on engine controls and other aftermarket business issues during a wide-ranging interview with AVIATION WEEK Senior Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo at the company’s Charlotte, N.C. headquarters. Excerpts follow.
LONDON—Soaring oil prices might be taking a huge toll on airlines, but, according to Mark King, president of civil aerospace at Rolls-Royce, they also present opportunities for engine maintenance providers to really add value to a customer’s fleet through engine MRO. The high price of oil will have a huge impact on the trade-off between maintenance costs, fuel burn and engine time-on-wing, King said, which is why Rolls has started to develop additions to its TotalCare packages to be “more and more focused on a world of high oil prices.”
Greenwich AeroGroup named Gerald Goguen EVP in mid-September. Goguen will be responsible for developing and implementing the company’s strategic initiatives, both in the U.S. and internationally, to drive organic growth and acquisitions. He joins Greenwich from Dassault Falcon, where he most recently served as SVP of global customer relations and business strategy.
