Lufthansa Technik Sofia has signed a 10-year contract with Russian operator Air Tatarstan to provide heavy maintenance for its fleet of Airbus A319 and Boeing 737 Classic aircraft. The maintenance agreement will cover light C check and heavy D check maintenance visits at Lufthansa Technik's hangar in Sofia, Bulgaria.
AirAsia's founder Tony Fernandes is pushing for the low-cost carrier and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to collaborate on airline MRO, pilot training and ground services to achieve cost savings through economies of scale. Fernandes told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that AirAsia may be sending its Airbus A320s to MAS Engineering & Maintenance for heavy checks. “If you put the volume of MAS and AirAsia [together], it becomes a mega MRO that can become a real competitor to Singapore's MRO,” he says.
Oman Air uses Honeywell's MCS-7200 Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satellite communications equipment on its Airbus A330 fleet, and it recently won the APEX award for best inflight connectivity and communications using the technology. The SwiftBroadband system offers a speed of 432 kbps in Oman's configuration. The system is made up of a six-MCU satellite data unit, an eight-MCU high power amplifier and a four-MCU high-speed data unit. The HPA provides 60 watts of power and the HSU has four dedicated Swift64 channels in a single LRU.
StandardAero's Associated Air Center has selected Chip Fichtner as its VP engineering for its VIP aircraft completions center in Dallas. He previously served as director of production, engineering and program management for Gore Design Completions, where he led the engineering, operations and program management effort on narrow and widebody VIP completions.
FL Technics has expanded its maintenance partnership with Europe Airpost to provide maintenance services for the airline's three Boeing 737 classic aircraft. The first arrived at FL Technics' maintenance base in Vilinus, Lithuania in September.
Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance will offer 787 component pool access, maintenance services and logistics support. Its Epcor subsidiary will offer auxiliary power unit support for the Hamilton Sundstrand APS 5000 on the 787. While it's still in the definition phase, AFI KLM says it also is working on structures solutions.
Rockwell Collins' SAT-2100B satellite communications system is a compact, lightweight Inmarsat satellite system that operates multi-channel voice and low-speed PC data capability. It enables up to two simultaneous Swift64 or SwiftBroadband channels using the HST-2110B transceiver and HCM-2100B high-speed data configuration module. The HST-2110B is a two-MCU unit that only weighs 8.5 pounds.
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.
Precision Aviation Group (PAG) is delving into the commercial MRO market by acquiring Aero Technology Inc. (ATI), a Long Beach, Calif., repair station for avionics and instruments for the commercial, regional and military airline markets. PAG, based in Atlanta, will acquire about 24,000 new maintenance capabilities by adding the 25,000-sq.-ft. facility in Long Beach to its network of five other repair stations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Timco Aviation Services has appointed Fred Rasch to VP of MRO sales. Rasch worked at Timco previously from 2001 through 2005, then serving as director of contracts and pricing. Airframes
Chromalloy has established Chromalloy Korea, a new subsidiary in Seoul, South Korea. The new company will serve as a sales, marketing and customer support office. Chromalloy has been establishing itself in Asian markets, opening a new Beijing office in 2010 and doubling capacity at its turbine engine repair and manufacturing facility in Bangkok.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
