Boeing’s San Antonio military aircraft maintenance, modification and upgrade facility earned an ISO 14001 certification, and is the company’s first Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) site in 2008 to validate its environmental management system. Boeing is working to have all of its major manufacturing facilities certified to the ISO 14001 standard by the end of the year. Four other Boeing facilities—Exmouth in Australia; Everett, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; and Salt Lake City—already have achieved the certification.
technologies do not progress in lock-step. Even complementary components can evolve at different rates, so that some promising products languish and others die. So it may not be unusual that, to date, the existing methods for collecting and storing aircraft performance data have outstripped the ability to harness this bounty. The issue—less a nagging problem than a nagging opportunity—can be summed up in the slogan: So much data, so little value (so far).
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.
A new ultrasound tool from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies marks an addition to its in-development Rhythm inspection software suite. Rhythm UT is the first element of the software suite dedicated to ultrasound testing, GE says. It should allow users to conduct more precise analysis, and better share and store data collected during inspections more easily.
328 Support Services delivered a Dornier 328 to Austrian air charter/ business VIP, scheduled service and air ambulance provider Welcome Air. The aircraft underwent three months of work, including new exterior paint, at 328’s Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, facility, where it is to return for long-range fuel tank installation and further interior modifications in November.
ExelTech Aerospace founding CEO Derek Nice resigned from the company in early September, and was replaced on an indefinite interim basis by veteran MRO executive Robin Wohnsigl. Nice was chairman and CEO at the time of his resignation, and he previously had been president and CEO, as well as a director. He founded the company in March 2000 in a management buyout of the maintenance business of InterCanadian Airlines. CFO Roland Blais also planned to leave ExcelTech at the end of September.
Honeywell and LOM PRAHA of the Czech Republic forged an agreement to provide Mi-8/Mi-17 operators with overhaul and maintenance, inspection, part supply chain management, pilot training. The maintenance operations will be at the LOM PRAHA facilities at Air Base Kbely near Prague, said Paul Strebel, regional director, Honeywell Defense & Space Eastern Europe. Pilot training will be at the flight training center in Pardubice, Czech Republic.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Bombardier Aerospace appointed Brad Tolbard director, business development, for the Bombardier Service Center Network. Tolbard will be responsible for the service center network’s strategy regarding the interior market. He has held similar positions at Bombardier Flexjet, JetCorp and most recently Atlantic Aero.
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.
SAN DIEGO— F/A-18s roar down the runway as pilots test the systems after major maintenance. Music from a local oldies radio station resonates through an aircraft maintenance hangar, interrupted by the whining of rivet guns and drum beats of hammers. About a mile away, water slaps against a sailboat in the harbor as a Navy frigate passes by.
Air carriers may achieve additional aircraft weight reductions by considering lighter-weight unit load devices (ULD) for shipping purposes. Teleflex Aerospace company Nordisk Aviation Products offers the Nordisk Ultralite cargo container, which features extrusions and panels made from DuPont Kevlar fiber for maximum strength without additional weight. Nordisk said the Ultralite container weighs 136 lbs., compared to the industry average of 185 lbs. for similar aluminum containers.
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.
ExelTech Aerospace opened a new regional aircraft MRO facility at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport. The C$19 million ($18.2 million) 153,000-sq.-ft. facility, which replaces an older building at the same airport, can accommodate up to 10 regional jets and features advanced technical support capabilities, including the maintenance of composite materials, metallic structures, avionics and electronic systems and non-destructive testing. [See item about personnel on p. 9]
myTECHNIC received Turkish Civil Aviation Authority/EASA approval to perform aircraft maintenance at its 46,000-sq.-m., three-floor facility at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International Airport. The MRO is certified to perform line to heavy maintenance and modifications on MD-80, Airbus A300 and Boeing 737 Classic aircraft registered in Turkey and in the EU. myTECHNIC also is certified to overhaul GE CF6 engines.
Northstar Network received a follow-on order from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for 28 shipsets under the P-3 Service Life Extension Program, supplementing the initial award for six ship sets for the six Norwegian Planes. Northstar says the follow-on award will be worth about $4 million in additional revenue over the next year.
The Aviation Suppliers Association added Luis Giacoman, director, supply chain, for El Salvador-based Aeroman, an Aveos group company, to its board of directors. Aveos formerly was known as ACTS.
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
