The Aeronautical Repair Station Association elected Dave Latimer president to fill the post left open by Ian Cheyne. Latimer, current vice president of regulatory compliance for TIMCO Aviation Services and ARSA's former senior vice president, will serve in the position for a one-year term, effective Oct. 29, 2007.
H.I.G. Capital finished acquiring Flight Options from Raytheon, and at that same time, Flight Options ordered 100 Embraer Phenom 300 light jets, with options for 50 more. The deal is worth $746 million but could climb to $1.12 if the operator exercises all options. Flight Options has service and maintenance operations in Cleveland, Ohio; Las Vegas; Sacramento, Calif.; Teterboro, N.J.; and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Bell Helicopter and the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) have signed an agreement to develop condition-based maintenance (CBM) technology. The 50/50 cost sharing agreement calls for developing and putting into action an integrated set of diagnostic, prognostic and system health technologies to help the U.S. Army transition from condition-based maintenance to a CBM-centered philosophy.
Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen and Shenzhen Airlines inked a 10-year Total Component Support contract to cover the carrier's A320 fleet, currently numbering 13 aircraft. Under the agreement, Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen is to supply components locally, including more than 500 line replaceable units, for up to 70 of Shenzhen Airlines' aircraft.
Composite materials now are ubiquitous in aircraft repair and production (see "Carefree Structures," p. 46), and the need for new technology to monitor repairs and material conditions has grown right along with them.
Saudi Arabian Airlines Technical Services division signed an MoU with Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance to "jointly survey potential opportunities and [a] partnership agreement." The signing is "in line with Saudi Arabian Airlines' strategic plan to privatize its technical services division," according to a joint AFI/KLM E&M press release.
SKF and GE Aviation established a new company to manufacture and repair bearings for GE engines for large aircraft. SKF holds 51 percent and GE Aviation 49 percent in the new company, which represents an investment of $28 million excluding the building that will be leased in Charleston, S.C., to house it. It is expected to start deliveries in 2008, and should employ around 100 people when in full production.
Bob Bouchard has moved on, but he's still proud to be known as the FedEx "TITAN guy," the man most responsible for its Totally Integrated Technical Aircraft Network and its pre-eminence in wireless, IP-based aircraft connectivity.
The arrival of "carefree" structures that are lighter than aluminum, have a high tolerance to damage, fatigue and corrosion, and thereby offer significantly reduced maintenance costs came a giant step closer in October with the launch of a new fiber-metal laminate called CentrAl.
Alaska Airlines completed the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and renewed its place on the IOSA registry, on which it has been listed since 2006.
Duncan Aviation appointed Dan Arrick manager of engine services at its Battle Creek, Mich., facility and added Andy Fernandes to its Lincoln, Neb.-based installations sales team.
Pratt & Whitney and United Services signed an agreement to give the MRO provider capability to sell P&W CFM56-3 parts to third-party customers, making it the first MRO operation aside from P&W itself capable of providing the Pratt-made parts, according to United Services.
Qatar Airways picked GE's OnPoint maintenance solution for the GEnx and GE90-115B engines that will power the 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and five 777 freighters it has on order -- a service agreement worth $2.5 billion.
Christophe Bernardini has been CEO of Sabena technics and president of TAT Industries board since May 2006. He joined Sabena as president and managing director following its acquisition by TAT in July 2005. His MRO experience started with TAT European Airlines, where he created a maintenance center at Paris Orly airport after British Airways took a stake in the airline. He recently talked to O&M about integrating various MROs within TAT and reorganizing Sabena technics. Edited for length and clarity.
Lockheed Martin's maintenance and modification facility in Greenville, S.C., recently redelivered a U.S. Navy P-3C that had undergone phased depot maintenance and a special structural kit mod at the same time. The company said this is the first time the two tasks have been completed simultaneously. The aircraft was completed on-time in November. The P-3 Orion, a four-engine turboprop aircraft, entered Navy service in 1962 as an anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, but its mission has been expanded to include battle space surveillance over land and sea.
Imagine talking with an expert hundreds (or even thousands) of miles away via the Internet to get the information you need to solve a problem, including real-time video, voice over IP and data files -- while he's commuting to work, and you're miles away from a landline. The technology sounds far-off, but it's more accessible than you might think.
AMETEK Aerospace & Defense and Macrolink have developed an actively cooled Mil-Spec ATX server, with a rugged design for use in extreme environments. The 1.5 ATR-long enclosure is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, altitude, humidity, shock and vibrations, as well as EMI and chemical exposure, and it is self-contained and sealed to keep dirt, sand, humidity, salt and other contaminants out of its electronics department.
GE Aviation received a $9.2 million extension to a previously awarded performance based logistics contract for repair, replacement, consumables and program support for F414 engine components. Work is expected to be complete by January.
Precision Conversions redelivered a 757-200PCF freighter to DHL-European Air Transport, which it said is the carrier's first full 15-pallet position converted aircraft.
Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Company (STARCO), a joint venture of Singapore Technologies Aerospace and China Eastern Airlines, inducted the first of 30 Airbus A320 family aircraft it will maintain for All Nippon Airways. The Shanghai MRO facility signed a letter of intent in October to provide C check inspections and modifications for the ANA A320 fleet over the next three years.
MTU Aero Engines promoted Dr. Stefan Weingartner to president and CEO, Commercial Maintenance, effective Nov. 1. Weingartner has served as MTU's senior vice president, Defense Programs, since 2002. In his new position, he succeeds Bernd Kessler, who will join SR Technics as CEO.
CAE and Hawker Pacific signed a five-year agreement under which CAE will provide training to Hawker Pacific's maintenance technicians and its clients in the Southeast Asia region. Training began at Hawker Pacific's Singapore facility in August, and is expected to be offered at other CAE facilities in Asia later this year.
Lufthansa Technik has signed technical and component support contracts with Jazeera Airways, a growing Kuwaiti carrier, and Abu Dhabi-based Maximus Air Cargo. It will support the CFM56-5B thrust reversers on Jazeera's five A320 family aircraft as well as the 30 additional A320s it has scheduled for delivery through 2014. Maximus Air Cargo's two A300-600s will receive component support for over 500 different part numbers of LRUs, as well as engine and APU-related components, from Lufthansa Technik.
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners signed a five-year, $20 million exclusive contract with Turkish carrier Sun-Express to maintain the PW2037 engines that power four Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
CTRL Systems was contracted by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marines aviation to provide its kit configuration CTRL UL101 as the new ultrasound test kit for multiple aircraft, including the KC-135, C-130 Hercules, AV-8B Harrier, F-16 Falcon, F-18 Hornet, H-60 Black Hawk, P-3 Orion, F-22 Raptor and others.
