Bombardier plans to open a U.S. nacelle component repair station for Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies in Dallas. The manufacturer expects the facility to be open in 2009, and said it will function as an expansion of third-party product repair work already conducted at a facility in Belfast, North Ireland.
As the airlines continue to be roiled by high fuel prices and a slowing world economy, parts support has been cited, by an increasingly lean industry, as one of the few remaining places where there still may be fat to trim. Increasingly, that means off-loading more, if not all, of the parts management business onto OEMs, parts houses and third-party logistics services providers.
Rolls-Royce is to supply Asiana Airlines with Trent XWB engines for 30 firm and 10 option Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, covered by a long-term TotalCare deal. Asiana will be the first Korean customer for the Trent engine. Rolls also announced total care agreements with Qatar Airways and Jet Airways to support their Rolls-powered Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft (respectively.)
SkyBOOKS, a Bell Helicopter and Textron company, signed multi-year service contracts with Houston-based Gulf Coast Aviation, RVA Air Charter in Fort Worth, Texas, Atlanta-based Helicopter Express and the Jacksonville, Fla., sheriff’s office to provide its electronic-based system for maintenance programs, flight and pilot logs and other tracking systems, including warranty tracking capabilities.
Lufthansa Technik is to provide Aer Lingus with component support for its fleet of 34 Airbus A320 family aircraft and nine A330s under a 10-year agreement covering almost all aircraft components. The fleet is expected to grow to 54 aircraft by 2013. An LHT representative in Dublin will manage services, set to begin Nov. 1. The Hamburg-based MRO says the contract’s volume exceeds €90 million.
Bill Burchell, O&M’s European Editor (Commercial) raises some interesting questions about accountability in his Viewpoint on p.104. The French government is holding several individuals, including a mechanic, accountable for the July 2000 crash of a Concorde outside Paris by charging them with criminal offenses.
The warehouse often is the last link in the supply chain. But what goes on inside the four walls can determine the success of repair operations. Three years ago, helicopter engine manufacturer Turbomeca USA began implementing Lean processes in its maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in Grand Prairie, Texas. As the company improved the shop floor processes directly related to engine repair, it noticed that its warehousing and logistics processes weren’t keeping pace. That, in turn, was slowing progress in Turbomeca’s push for improvement.
AeroTurbine Aviation Suppliers Association Boeing ELG Metals Europe Aviation GJD Services Honeywell Aerospace Trading Magellan Group Pratt & Whitney Rolls-Royce Snecma Southern California Aviation The Green Airliner Volvo Aero Services Washington Aviation Group *As of Aug. 19
Airbus created a three-phase approach to manage its end-of-life aircraft—develop a sustainable aircraft dismantling process, set up an aircraft decommissioning center that incorporates these environmentally friendly techniques, and establish a network of authorized end-of-life centers around the world.
Aero Precision Industries and Dermond Defense & Aerospace formed a strategic alliance, combining their capabilities and sales teams to support international military customers in expanded territories, said API representative Ertugrul Turhal. API, a stocking distributor of aircraft OEM parts, hopes to gain from DDA’s logistical support experience, while DDA says it aims to benefit from API’s knowledge of global military markets.
The Aviation Suppliers Association appointed Robert V. Hogan to its board of directors. Hogan is director of commercial serviceable assets and customer solutions, part of Pratt & Whitney’s Global Service Partners network.
TURKEY Northrop Grumman has been selected by the Turkish Air Force to provide its integrated fiber-optic gyro inertial navigation system, the LN-260, for use on Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft. The LN-260 inertial navigation system provides platform navigation and low-noise navigation inputs to steady radar pictures, precisely direct communications antennas or guide sensors to enable highly accurate positions for ground and aerial targets.
FRANCE The French Defense Ministry’s SIMMAD (Structure Intégrée de Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle des Matériels Aéronautiques de la Défense) department notified Sabena technics in June that it had been attributed four/five-year maintenance in operational condition contracts for several l’Armée de l’Air (AdlA) transport and support aircraft. These include five light turboprop DHC-6 Twin Otters and nine twin-turbofan Dassault Mystère XXs, plus an NTI 3 maintenance and component repair contract for Aéronavale’s 41-strong Embraer EMB-121AN Xingu fleet.
AMT’s Flightman Fuel Performance Analysis module became available in mid-July. The module, which has been implemented by bmi, collects, records and analyzes fuel uplift and usage data and can be installed as an add-on to the Flightman suite or as a standalone application.
Indonesia’s transport ministry in early June definitively suspended the air operator certificate (AOC) of Adam Sky Connection Airlines. It also suspended the AOCs of five other carriers due to failure to meet minimum safety standards, according to a statement issued by the Departemen Perhubungan.
Pratt & Whitney Canada appointed Atlantic Turbines International , a wholly owned subsidiary of Vector Aerospace Corp. based in Fleetlands, Gosport, England, a designated overhaul facility for PW307A, PW308A and PW308C engines.
IAI Bedek is to convert four Boeing 737-400s owned by an affiliate of leasing company Aircastle into special freighter aircraft under a new contract. Work on the first of these is slated to begin in the third quarter of this year. Bedek additionally is under contract to convert two 747-400s for Aircastle.
A long-life replacement reading lamp for Airbus aircraft from Welch Allyn Lighting Products claims to offer 2.5 times the life of current equipment. The lamp, P/N 998502-18, has received U.S. FAA PMA approval for Airbus models A319, A320, A321, A330 and A340 aircraft as a replacement for P/N 8GH005678-06.
United Airlines named Jim Keenan SVP of United Services . Keenan returns to United after six years at Pratt & Whitney, where he was VP and general manager of Pratt & Whitney Global Services Partners. Keenan, who previously spent 14 years at United, will report to SVP Operations Joe Kolshak. United also named Timothy Canavan VP of maintenance and aircraft appearance, responsible for its line maintenance and aircraft appearance teams.
FINLAND Maintenance of Finnish Air Force Fokker F.27 and EADS CASA CN-295 turboprop transport aircraft has begun at Patria’s facilities, including a new operations hangar at Jyväskylä Airport in Tikkakoski, due to open in the fall. Patria is a defense and aerospace group owned by the Finnish government and EADS. Patria also provides Finnish Air Force elementary flight training in Tikkakoski, plus support of its Vinka and Redigo aircraft.
Northstar plans to add 70 machinists and support staff at three of its North American sites in support of its CH-47 Chinook helicopter and Rolls-Royce programs. The increase in numbers comes at a time when some of the industry is cutting back headcount. The additional staff will aid in ramping up production of gears, components and spare parts at its Anderson, Ind., Chicago, Ill., and Windsor, Ontario, sites.
A new stainless steel pump from Binks is designed for high-flow circulation systems that require moderate pressure and maximum durability. The Excel pump should work with water-borne and solvent-borne fluids, catalyzed coatings, high solids coatings, abrasive materials and moisture-sensitive materials. Binks says it is ideal for use with highly filled abrasive and tough-to-pump thixotrophic and shear sensitive materials.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract worth £43.9 million ($86.57 million) in May to ensure the RAF’s VC-10 tanker/transport fleet front-line availability to meet operational requirements. Under the incentivized contract, BAE Systems will take responsibility for much of the on-base VC-10 engineering, logistics and technical support, including Serco-managed engineering bays at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.
