Amavco acquired Field Aviation from Field's parent firm, Hunting PLC. Field Aviation is an aircraft modification and parts manufacturing company with locations in Toronto, Calgary, Seattle and Cincinnati. Amavco says it is identifying sites for its first U.S. modification center. Facilities
Row 44 is providing its broadband entertainment platform to Transaero Airlines for its narrowbody and Boeing 767 fleets. Inflight services include broadband internet access, live television and video on demand. Passengers will access the services through their personal devices.
Goodrich signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce for nacelle maintenance services for British Airways as part of its Total Care support program. The contract will start when British Airways receives its first Boeing 787; Goodrich will complete the work at its facility in Prestwick, Scotland.
Air Canada will consider an international MRO provider as a permanent replacement for Aveos Fleet Performance but in an attempt to appease domestic opposition to such a move, the carrier says that it will prefer those providers who “have or will establish some portion of their operation in Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto.” The airline, which has rebutted charges from Aveos that the carrier caused the MRO's bankruptcy, also notes a recent legal opinion issued by the Canadian government that Air Canada meets the requirements demanding minimum levels of MRO work sta
Flybe Aviation Services will use Amos software from Swiss-AS to manage its maintenance, engineering and logistics. The software implementation should take 12-15 months.
Rolls-Royce opened a supply chain office on April 24 in the city of Guaymas, within the northwest Mexican state of Sonora. The office will employ six people.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft made a variety of MRO services announcements at the Airline Purchasing & Maintenance Expo. Two airlines—Airlink of South Africa and Aerovias of Chile—signed up for BAE's Parts Plus spares service, which is aimed at new operators of the BAe 146/Avro RJ aircraft. Titan Airways, a VIP charter specialist based in London, extended its four-year JetSpares support contract for two more years for its three BAe 146/Avro RJs. BAE also will offer a life extension program for the Jetstream 32.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has become the first customer for Boeing's GoldCare line maintenance option as the low-fare carrier commits to the fee-for-service maintenance package. The deal covers six 787s, including three technically still listed as options. Norwegian has coupled fielding of the 787 with the start of long-haul operations.
Air Maintenance Estonia appointed David Williams as managing director and CEO, succeeding Lars-Olof Bolinder. Williams has been in the aviation maintenance business for more than 38 years.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics has made several management changes. Robert Tavares now serves as president of Crane's electronics group, David Bender is president of Crane's aerospace group and Chris Cook is now VP cabin systems solutions.
Distributor: Avio-Diepen Locations: Offices and warehouses in the Netherlands, the U.K., the U.S. and Americas and Hong Kong. Capabilities: Distributes a variety of aircraft components to operators, MROs, airframe manufacturers and subsystem manufacturers. www.avio-diepen.com
By Michael Wm. Denis, Vice President, Customer Engagement, InfoTrust Group
The problem with standards is that everybody has one. However, there are several industry trends—such as new-generation aircraft and asset lifecycle management systems—that are accelerating the adoption of the ASD SX000i and ISO standards. Now the challenge isn't what standard to use to move toward data interoperability, it is when to incorporate the standards, the cost of conversion and the commitment to comply. For new aircraft and weapons systems, the decision is easy. Backward compatibility for older aircraft is another story.
Finnair is launching labor talks to shed 280 positions as the airline moves to outsource engine and component services to SR Technics. The move is part of a wider Finnair group effort to realign the business and seek €140 million in cost savings to improve financial returns. In announcing the deal, airline COO Vile Iho says “this plan is based on a thorough analysis, where we first examined the costs and structures of our own operations, and then compared the results to tens of external service providers.”
1. Light As A Feather Manufacturer: Timco Aerosystems Applications: Timco's new 3200 FeatherWeight seat is designed for economy class with high density configurations. Specifications: Special design features, such as a curved seat back shell and injected molded armrests, maximize comfort for high density configurations. Timco worked with its customers to build the seat based on features they preferred.
Arinc restructured its air/ground domestic radio VHF voice service in North America, changing it from 12 separate networks to six regionally divided networks operating on six frequencies throughout the continental U.S. Parts/Components
Row 44 says it has installed its broadband entertainment system on 250 aircraft in North America, Europe and Africa. The IFE provider recently launched several new services, including live streaming IPTV and movies and television shows on demand.
Fokker Services signed an agreement with seat manufacturer Acro to be the exclusive reseller of lightweight seats for the Fokker 50, 70 and 100 and the Dash 8 aircraft. It also won a five-year Abacus contract from Nigerian airline Aero for its Dash 8 Q-300 aircraft.
VAS Aero Services is expanding its distribution facility in Kent, Wash. to nearly 300,000 sq. ft. Space in the building will increase by more than 50%. IT
Delta may benefit from financing from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank), despite the carrier's being involved in a lawsuit objecting to the bank's financing foreign carriers purchase of Boeing aircraft. The Ex-Im Bank announced an $84.8 million loan guarantee for GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes for engine maintenance services in Atlanta by DeltaTechOps. The Ex-Im Bank's loan guarantee covers the first two years of a five-year contract. DeltaTechOps is to provide 253 engine removals and heavy maintenance on GOL's CFM56-7B engines at its Atlanta facility.
GE Aviation signed a 15-year, $360 million OnPoint material agreement with SkyWest airlines to support the carrier's 150 CF34-8C5B1 engines, which power Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft.
