What are you doing to ensure your business is competitive? Cemil Sayar, technical director for SunExpress, promotes financial training for the carrier's maintenance staff to empower them to effectively control budgets and costs (see Interview, pg. 13). Despite that cost concerns permeate every layer of the supply chain, how many companies encourage money management training?
Pratt and Whitney and Rolls-Royce have announced plans to form a new engine joint venture to power future mid-size aircraft based initially on the geared turbofan configuration. As part of this, Rolls-Royce will sell its equity and program shares for $1.5 billion in International Aero Engines.
Esterline's CMA-2102 SB high-gain antenna has the same form and fit as the CMA-2102LW antenna for forward-fit and is installed on top of the aircraft. The upgrade does not require any major modifications. To change the antenna, a technician just needs to remove a few covers at the rear of the antenna, change 32 screws around the perimeter of the antenna and reconnect two cables.
STS Aviation Group has promoted Pat Cunnane to VP business development for the group. Cunnane joined STS in 2009 as the director of business development. He will lead STS' business development team for STS AeroStaff Services, line engineering and line maintenance units.
Turkish Technic has signed a base maintenance services agreement for one Boeing 737-500 re-delivery check and a Boeing 737-400 C check. Pegasus Airlines is based in Istanbul and operates 29 next-generation Boeing aircraft and 3 Boeing 737 classic aircraft. Turkish Technic has also signed a C check maintenance service agreement with Onur Air for two Airbus A321 aircraft. It will complete the maintenance work for these aircraft at its facilities in Istanbul. Parts/Components
Although the sidewalls, overhead bins and passenger service units of an aircraft appear to be made of the same material, each different part of the cabin interior is treated with a specialized chemical, depending on its function.
Qantas says industrial action by its unions have hurt its maintenance operations so much that had to ground five aircraft and cut flights at O&M's presstime. The carrier says the flight and fleet reductions will remain in place for a month. The grounded aircraft will be four of its 54 Boeing 737s and one of its 25 767s. This will result in 97 flights being cut. The reductions will only apply to mainline operations, and not subsidiaries Jetstar, Jetconnect or QantasLink.
Lufthansa Technik Philippines plans to open a one-bay hangar, big enough to hold an A380, in February. It will perform cabin modifications and C checks for about 12 aircraft per year in the new space.
MADRID—Three years of Boeing 787 delays should have provided ample time for airlines and their maintenance organizations to ready themselves for the new generation of aircraft. Reality looks quite different, though.
Problem: AAR Corp.'s paint shop floor was stained with years of overspray from aircraft livery painting projects. Solution: Xtreme Polishing Systems treated a test patch of AAR's hangar floor with its concrete polishing system to remove the epoxy and shine the concrete.
InfoTrust Group has added Michael Wm. Denis as VP consulting, bringing more than two decades of aviation experience to the group. Denis will lead corporate strategy for InfoTrust's new consulting and advisory service practice. In the past, Denis has held positions at ICF SH&E, Blue Water Solutions and Accenture.
The Air Transport Association's Engineering, Maintenance, and Materiel Council (EMMC) has appointed Jon Oberdick as its new chairman. Oberdick, US Airways' managing director of technical services, was elected Oct. 12 during the quarterly EMMC meeting.
Fokker Services has signed a consultancy agreement with Shanghai Aircraft Customer Service Co. (SACAS), the support division of Comac, to assist in establishing some specific processes to support their new aircraft. Industry executives tell Aviation Week that Fokker Services has agreed to support the ARJ21 overseas, but Fokker did not comment.
CFM International has appointed Cedric Goubet to the role of executive VP, replacing Olivier Savin. Goubet will be responsible for overseeing programs carried out by CFM and will serve as the primary liason between Snecma and GE.
Mentor Graphics' new product Capital Publisher is a set of electronic tools for creating technical publications specified to the needs of each service technician repairing a wire harness on a unique aircraft.The product streamlines technical publications preparation by assembling design information like schematics, wire lists and location views into electronic document packages. Mentor Graphics says that this will reduce costs, improve accuracy and speed up troubleshooting for MROs dealing with AOGs. www.mentor.com
Timco Aviation Services' Macon, GA maintenance operation has received an Award of Excellence from the Georgia Dept. of Labor. The Macon employees are recognized for not getting injured on the job for more than 250 days. IT
PPG Industries has named Mark Cancilla global platform director for coatings. Brent Wright will succeed Cancilla as global platform director for transparencies. Cancilla started his PPG career in 1985 and has served in many roles, including engineering, sales accounting and product design.
Coopesa completed a Boeing 737-700 C check, structural inspection and exterior paint job for GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes before the leased aircraft returned to ILFC.
GKN Aerospace has launched a “one stop” repair facility for fixed and rotary wing flexible fuel tanks in Portsmouth, U.K. It hopes to halve the repair times that operators in Europe and the U.K. normally experience. The EASA Part-21 repair services will encompass all types of flexible fuel tanks, including self-sealing, crashworthy and explosion suppressing products.
Skymark Airlines has opted for Rolls-Royce Trent 900s to power its Airbus A380 fleet. The deal is to power six A380s, which are to delivered starting in 2014, although Skymark officials have indicated they eventually plan to take two more of the aircraft. The contract includes a long-term maintenance support package.
Mxi Technologies secured a deal with JorAMCo to upgrade the Jordan MRO's Maintenix software. There are 290 named users on Maintenix, which is about 36% of JorAMCo's total workforce. The upgraded system will provide benefits to JorAMCo such as improved communications and the use of a common database for lower management costs.
Precision Castparts has completed its acquiring Primus International, a supplier of aerospace components and assemblies including swaged rods, advanced composites and machined aluminum and titanium.
Co-Operative Industries has an AS9100 facility to manufacture and design wiring harnesses, cable, ignition leads and flexible conduits. Its repair station is certified by the FAA, EASA and CAAC and provides customers such as Delta TechOps with check and testing of accessories, repair and overhaul services. Co-Operative Industries repairs harnesses and cables for GE's GE90 and CF6-80C engines, the CFM International CFM56-5A/5B/5C/7B models and the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 QEC. www.coopind.com
Virgin America has selected Lufthansa Systems' BoardConnect platform as the technology partner for the latest version of its Red inflight entertainment system, which will launch in late 2012. Back-end testing of the new system is underway, and the airline says that the new platform will provide entertainment in each seatback as well as connectivity to passengers' own personal electronic devices. Parts/Components
