Japan Airlines has decided to equip its 40 in-service Boeing 777s with Boeing's Class 3 electronic flight bag (EFB). It began testing the EFB on two 777 aircraft last June. Retrofit installation for JAL's remaining 777s is scheduled to begin in April 2009, with installation across the fleet finished by the end of 2011. Three 777-300ERs JAL is scheduled to receive this year will be delivered with the EFB. Boeing says about 80% of 777 customers have selected the EFB option in production and then retrofitted their existing fleets.
Stretch panels and color-coding are designed to increase the comfort and safety of Kimberly-Clark's new lines of protective apparel and particulate respirators.
Barco received TSO-C113 and ETSO-C113 authorization for its 15-in. primary flight display, signaling it meets both U.S. FAA and EASA airworthiness standards. Barco's 10-in. and 15-in. PFDs are marketed by Honeywell as KDU-1080 and KDU-1500 and are integrated into Honeywell's Primus Apex integrated flight deck.
Although FAA wouldn't talk with O&M about the wiring issue in May or June, at AVIATION WEEK's MRO Conference & Exhibition in April, the agency said it found a 99% compliance rate with the first phase of its audit of airworthiness directives, but "it's the 1% that keeps us focused and soul searching" for what went wrong, said Jim Ballough, FAA director of Flight Standards.
Nippon Cargo Airlines took delivery in June of its first high-pressure turbine upgrade GE CF6-80C2 engines, installed on the first of four new Boeing 747-400F aircraft it ordered. GE's Tech CF6 upgrade program incorporates new HPT technologies now standard on CF6-80C2 production engines, including airfoil-cooling advancements to enhance operational availability and improve fuel burn retention.
United Services Senior Vice President Bill Norman has left the company. The announcement was made in June in conjunction with United's decision to cut its 94 Boeing 737s and six of its 747s in addition to disbanding Ted, its low-fare carrier. United will reduce its mainline domestic capacity by 17% by the end of 2009, and, overall, it plans to reduce its employee roster by 1,400 or 1,500.
Cascade Aerospace landed a three-year contract to perform heavy checks on WestJet's fleet of Boeing 737NGs. Cascade expects to complete 32 heavy checks for WestJet by the end of 2010. WestJet's fleet currently comprises 75 Boeing 737-600s, -700s and -800s, and the airline has another 33 -700s and -800s on order, according to Ascend's CASE database.
Bump a catering truck into the fuselage and you will put a dent in a metal airframe. The damage will be visible, and the consequences clear. Not so with composites. A low-velocity impact that would produce easily detectable surface damage on a metal aircraft could wreak invisible havoc inside a composite structure. Increasing use of the new materials in exposed primary structures such as fuselages is making detecting such damage more crucial. (See this month's Viewpoint, p. 80, for more on composite damage.)
Current halon-based fire suppression systems only are designed for use in cargo compartments because the chemical is harmful to humans. To increase passenger safety, Life Mist Technologies and Pacific Scientific HTL/ Kin-Tech Division have developed an acoustic water mist/nitrogen technology to replace existing aircraft fire suppression systems with a solution that is more people- and environment-friendly.
Honeywell secured an agreement with AirAsia to supply its 131-9A auxiliary power unit and APU maintenance for the Malaysian carrier's recent order of up to 125 Airbus A320s. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2009 through 2013. The 131-9A, which is an option on all of the A320 family aircraft, is in use on more than 1,400 aircraft operated by 90 customers, according to Honeywell.
CFM International won a firm fixed price contract for $22.6 million to manufacture F108 turbine rotors, at a quantity of 44 each. All funds have been obligated. Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., was responsible for the contracting activity.
Pemco World Air Services named Kevin Casey president of the company. He previously was president of its cargo conversions division. Patrick Stewart, previously with Texas Aero Engine Services and American Airlines, was named COO. In addition, VP of commercial operations in Dothan, Ala., Dennis Johnson, assumed the same VP position at Pemco's new Tampa facility. Shane King will take Johnson's place as director of production- Dothan.
SR Technics extended its existing agreement with Air Arabia to continue providing component support for its 13 Airbus A320 aircraft for six more years. The integrated component solutions contract covers component exchange, maintenance, repair and logistics for Air Arabia's A320 fleet, which is set to grow to 30 aircraft over the contractual period. It further includes setting up a dedicated component consignment stock in Sharjah, UAE.
People attending the Farnborough International Airshow can see what aircraft recycling is all about, thanks to a big demonstration project organized by the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) and members Air Salvage International, P3 Aviation and WINGNet. Witness Air Salvage disassembling the fuselage -- from removing the interiors, recycling the plastics and tagging the reusable parts. See the harvested parts at P3 Aviation's parts management display.
April 17 marked the opening of a component repair business by Boeing Australia Ltd, a wholly owned Boeing subsidiary, in a new AUS$10 million ($9.583 million) facility at Melbourne Airport, Victoria. The new business will maintain, repair and overhaul a wide range of components for commercial and military aircraft, ranging from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A/B Hornets.
The dynamics of the helicopter MRO industry are changing. As more operators deploy their equipment for longer stretches at increasingly greater distances from home bases, the focus of maintenance is shifting increasingly to field repairs.
Honeywell Aerospace plans to sell its Consumable Solutions (HCS) unit to Florida-based B/E Aerospace in a $1.05 billion cash and stock deal announced June 9. Rob Gillette, Honeywell president and CEO, said in a statement that the consumables unit, formerly known as the Hardware Products Group, no longer fits with Honeywell's strategic focus on more advanced technologies.
BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul added Martin Maly as regional sales manager for its international sales team, which represents Dallas Airmotive, H+S Aviation and Premier Turbines. Maly is to represent ERO's OEM-authorized service on 21 product lines, covering central and Eastern Europe and Russia.
An Airbus A320-233 operated by El Salvadorian carrier TACA International Airlines overshot the runway at Honduras' Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport on May 30, crossing onto a busy street and slamming into an embankment. TACA Flight 390 was en route from San Salvador to Miami, and was making an intermediate shop at Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the country's capital.
Executive Jet Management's Michelle Schopp, director of technical services, received the U.S. FAA's "Good Friend" award, honoring her ground-breaking work on the electronic flight bag program.
Rockwell Collins announced Denny Helgeson, vice president and general manager, Business and Regional Systems since 2002, will retire this fall. Greg Irmen, formerly senior director, Boeing programs, was appointed Helgeson's successor. effective May 19. Hegelson has been with the company for more than 33 years and will continue to report to Kelly Ortberg, executive vice president and COO of Commercial Systems, as vice president and general manager-special assistant until September.
Eaton Aerospace Operations named Eric Alden director, customer support. Prior to joining Eaton, he was regional aftermarket director for Honeywell for Europe/Middle East /Africa.
Flight Safety Foundation and AviAssist Foundation will work together on improving aviation safety and security in the East and Southern Africa region. Maintenance and engineering issues could be included. The agreement gives AviAssist access to Flight Safety Foundation's aviation safety information, including best practices and materials, and AviAssist brings 10 years of security expertise to the partnership.
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has introduced a bill in the Senate that, if approved, would greatly increase FAA oversight of foreign repair stations specifically and of outsourced maintenance generally. Co-sponsors of the bill, The Safe Aviation Facilities Ensures Aircraft Integrity and Reliability Act (SAFE AIR) of 2008, or simply S.3090, include Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
