The Federal Aviation Administration has been preparing airworthiness directives that would require replacement of the windshield heater terminal block on thousands of Boeing airliners. But the ADs, in the works for years, are not coming soon enough to satisify the National Transportation Safety Board.
Sabreliner was awarded a Boeing contract worth $15 million to build replacement rudders for the U.S. Air Force fleet of KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. Sabreliner will perform most of the work at its three Southeast Missouri manufacturing, machining and assembly operations.
The Business Travel Coalition and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters sponsored an Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Summit in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2008. Speakers and panelists represented NTSB, the Teamsters, the TWU, the BTC, ARSA, among others. There were several airline/aviation trade association and banking industry officials in the audience. There were no airline or third-party MRO executives among the panelists. Issues raised included: * The rapid growth of outsourcing;
A ?22.6 million ($33.158 million) contract award to modernize the avionics of 20 French Air Force (AdlA) Alpha Jet advanced trainers was announced on Dec. 31, 2007, by France's Defense Procurement Agency (Délégation Générale pour l'Armement/DGA). The new contract was jointly awarded to Thales Avionics in France, and Belgium's Société Anonyme Belge des Constructions Aéronautiques (SABCA), which is part of the Dassault Group, as partners.
A new class of oil-repelling, or oleophobic, materials with the potential to protect aircraft components from jet fuel has been designed by MIT engineers. The U.S. Air Force funded the research and developed the specially synthesized molecules used in the materials, citing their potential utility in cleaning up jet fuel spills and protecting aircraft or rocket parts from fuel absorption.
Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia signed a memorandum of agreement with TAFE College Seremban intended to complement the carrier's existing engineering training program, the AirAsia Academy, where it conducts an engineering apprenticeship program based on EASA Part 66. The program requires trainees to complete 17 modules before they can be certified. The agreement with TAFE includes use of the college's workshop facilities for modules six and seven, which are part of the basic engineering skills training segment.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics appointed Fiana Zaslavsky director of microelectronics solutions, and it named Mark Harris site leader of its Fort Walton Beach, Fla., location.
CAE is building an aviation training center in Kuala Lumpur for maintenance technicians, pilots and cabin crews, as well as Airbus OEM training. It will leverage the AirAsia Academy in Kuala Lumpur to create this Southeast Asia training hub. In November, AirAsia announced that CAE would manage its Type Rating Training Organization for pilots at the AirAsia Academy, which is located at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
COVER STORY: The Engineering Challenge MRO is facing a serious skills shortage and needs to attract a new generation of high-caliber engineers, but can it offer the career opportunities that young engineers are looking for? Departments From the Editor 4 Biznet 9 Interview 14 Dave Werkheiser, Northrop Grumman Technical Services Safety & Regulatory News Washington in Action 19 Inside Policymaking 20
The skies may be blue, but the supply chain is increasingly green. "One of the challenges facing the MRO supply chain, especially in geographies like the European Union, is how do you improve your competitive advantage and still meet stringent environmental requirements," said Joe Marino, vice president for aerospace and defense for Oracle.
A recent Environmental Protection Agency rule places a new emphasis on protecting the environment from paint stripping and surface coating emissions. The latest National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule was released in early January, less than four months after the rule originally was proposed.
Southwest Airlines partnered with Row 44 to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access on four of its aircraft this summer. Row 44's system is designed to give passengers with wi-fi enabled devices full access to the Internet, and it can be retrofitted on widebody, narrowbody and regional aircraft with flexible deployment options, Southwest said.
Bombardier appointed John Carleton, Sr. general manager of its Wichita Service Center. Carleton previously served as program manager of Bombardier's Hartford Service Center.
Discussions have been reported with the U.S. government for assistance with upgrading 33 F/A-18C/D Hornet multi-role combat aircraft operated by the Swiss air force since 1996. The proposed $535 million FMS contract would include 20 ATFLIR targeting pods, ALR-67(V)3 radar-warning receivers, cockpit enhancements and other upgrades.
The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch is taking a closer look at the fuel system of the British Airways Boeing 777-200ER that crash landed at London Heathrow Airport on Jan. 17. The AAIB initially said the Rolls-Royce Trent 895 engines failed to respond to an auto-throttle command, but further inspections indicate that both engines spooled up as commanded, though the thrust levels quickly declined. The right engine reduced after about three seconds, and the left engine's power reduced after about eight seconds, according to the AAIB's Jan. 23 update.
myTechnic selected auto-ID vendor AeroScout to provide a real-time visibility system for its MRO facility in Turkey, which should allow it to wirelessly track the locations, movement and status of parts, tools and employees.
American Airlines' Kansas City, Mo., aircraft overhaul base met its "Breakthrough Goal" of $150 million in value creation through productivity improvements, cost reductions and new revenue. It completed American's Cabin Improvement program, shortened the scheduled modification time by 33 percent, installed winglets on American's fleet of 757s and on aircraft for Blue City Holdings, performed four light checks and two heavy checks on six Boeing 767 aircraft for ACTS and carried out heavy checks for American Eagle's Saab 340s.
I attended a summit on aircraft maintenance outsourcing in mid-February here in Washington, D.C. The summit, sponsored by the Business Travel Coalition and the Teamsters, raised a lot of issues about outsourcing MRO, particularly airframe maintenance, to domestic and foreign repair stations. Of course, who you are and what you do for a living go a long way toward determining what you think about outsourcing. Is it an inevitable, irreversible byproduct of globalization that saves airlines and travelers money?
Nicholas Sabatini Federal Aviation Administration Nicholas Sabatini has served as the FAA's associate administrator safety since Oct. 25, 2001. A nearly 30-year veteran of the agency, Sabatini manages some 6,700 FAA employees responsible for safety regulation; certification, production approval and continued airworthiness of aircraft; and certification of all civil aviation operators and maintenance organizations. Sabatini shared some of his thoughts with O&M on safety and security issues facing the maintenance industry.
Lockheed Martin received a firm fixed price contract for $103 million to cover sustaining services, including logistics support, program management support, engineering services, repairs, spares and technical data, for C-130J unique systems. This modification is to exercise option one; $12.5 million so far has been obligated. Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity.
Midcoast Aviation was selected by Stork Fokker as an exclusive repair center for Falcon 7X support in North and South America. Under the agreement, Midcoast now can perform warranty and non-warranty repairs for the aircraft.
Engine washing can help aircraft operators save on fuel and maintenance costs, so long as it is done by means compliant with state and federal regulations governed by the EPA, in the case of the U.S. The environmental impact of hosing down an engine without containing effluent can be extremely harmful; the fluid that drains from a jet turbine engine can contain cyanide, potassium and/or other hazardous materials.
The Danish Accident Investigation Board has not released its conclusion about what caused the third and final SAS Dash 8 Q400 accident last fall, but SAS's technical department discovered problems with 63 percent of the solenoid sequence valves (SSV) on its permanently grounded Dash 8 Q400 fleet. SAS reported this to the investigation board and Danish authorities. The valve is part of the Goodrich landing gear on the Q400.
