Honeywell received a $7.3 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract from Naval Air Systems Command. The modification exercises the option for Lot 6 full rate production of 75 advance multi-purpose color display units for F/A-18C/D and AV-8B aircraft, including the combined purchase of spares for the U.S. Navy (95 percent) and the government of Spain (five percent).
Boeing won a 10-year, $1.1 billion U.S. Air Force contract for programmed depot maintenance (PDM) for USAF's fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers. Since Boeing won the initial KC-135 PDM contract in Oct. 1998, it has maintained more than 160 aircraft. The new contract holds Boeing to an initial target flow date of 160 days, which should decrease to its goal of under 150 days.
VEM Maintenance & Engineering named Nestor Mauro Koch its new marketing and sales vice president. He succeeds Luis Alberto Correa, who now serves the company as logistics vice president.
BAE Systems announced completion in August of the seventh and final Harrier GR9 replacement rear-fuselage, designed and manufactured within a three-year £20 million program for the U.K. Ministry of Defense. The contract was placed in 2004 to produce Harrier unequipped rear-fuselages and to replace fatigue-expired components, as part of the aircraft's through-life support. The final fuselage was delivered from BAE Systems at Brough, in accordance with the baseline program date set nearly three years ago.
Maintenance human factors training requirements are coming to the Federal Aviation Regulations, and FAA is taking what some might consider an atypical approach to developing the new rules: It is busily preparing guidance and its own inspector workforce in advance of even a draft rule.
Travel Service and Lufthansa Technik signed an eight-year Total Engine Support TES contract, under which the MRO will maintain the Czech carrier's fleet of eight Boeing 737 NG aircraft, expected to grow to 13 aircraft by 2010.
Elsyca, a Belgian electrochemical modeling company, has developed a CAD/CAE (computer-aided design/engineering) product to design tooling for efficient coating and plating of parts such as engine blades, landing gear and actuation components. The company was founded in 1997, but the technology that is at its core goes back to research by its founder done as early as 1977 at the University of Brussels and later in collaboration with the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics.
AirLiance co-signed a letter of intent with China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group Corporation (CASGC) and the China Aviation Industrial Base (CAIB) to develop a joint program to expand the commercial aviation material support capabilities of CASGC Aviation Logistic Support Center in Xi'an China. The partners will concentrate on supplying aftermarket materials with joint approved traceability, e-distribution of surplus materials from Chinese airlines to the global industry and lowering material costs for Chinese airlines.
Norwegian Air Shuttle and Lufthansa Technik signed a five-year Total Component Support contract, under which LHT will provide support for the Fornebu-based carrier's fleet from a dedicated stock at the Oslo airport. Norwegian Air Shuttle's fleet comprises 23 Boeing 737-300s to be joined by eight more in 2008, in addition to the 42 Boeing 737-800s the airline recently ordered.
The European Commission banned two more carriers from operating in Europe Union airspace in adopting the fifth update to its airline blacklist. In the update, the Commission found Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines and the Iranian company Mahan Air to be unsafe.
FAA unveiled the first of 18 Beech King Air 300 special use aircraft retrofitted with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. The retrofit package comprises three eight-inch by 10-inch active matrix liquid crystal displays with engine indication; the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 communication, navigation and surveillance radio suite; digital autopilot with coupled VNAV; dual flight management systems with GPS WAAS receivers; air data sensors; integrated maintenance diagnostics; weather radar; and the integrated flight information system.
AAR named USAF Lt. Gen. Donald J. Wetekam (retired) president of AAR Aircraft Services -- Oklahoma. Wetekam will lead operations at AAR's Will Rogers World Airport, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Hot Springs, Ark.; and Roswell, N.M., facilities. Prior to joining AAR, Wetekam served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Installations and Logistics with the U.S. Air Force.
Boeing and L-3 Communications MAS in August delivered to the Canadian Department of Defense the first of 79 CF-18A/B Hornets to be modernized under a $150 million contract. Delivery was made as part of Phase II of a major modernization program. Phase I, completed in August 2006, upgraded the CAF Hornet fleet's avionics, radio and weapons capabilities.
Ameco Beijing and Cathay Pacific Airways signed an exchange/overhaul agreement for A320 and A321 landing gear, effective through 2015. The first A320 landing gear should arrive at Ameco Beijing's facility by the end of this month.
GKN Aerospace delivered the first maintenance platform for the RN Type 45 Destroyer to BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions. The platform is designed to enable access to the Merlin helicopter for maintenance of its engines and rotor head, and it is equipped with a slider mechanism that allows an operator to adjust or extend the platform during maintenance. Under the terms of the $1 million contract, GKN Aerospace will supply a total of six platforms to BAE Systems, with the remaining five to be delivered in the coming months.
Olympus recently launched its latest generation IPLEX videoscope system, the IPLEX FX. Designed to be compact and durable, the full-featured video borescope has been tested to military standards and is designed to be light enough to carry over the shoulder. Its introduction marks the latest evolution in Olympus' IPLEX line of products for the remote visual inspection (RVI) industry, first introduced in 1991.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace recently met the requirements of EASA Part 21 for Design Organization Approval. ST Aerospace now can approve and perform engineering design work on EU registered aircraft.
Texas Aero Engine Services Ltd (TAESL), a joint venture of American Airlines and Rolls-Royce, celebrated the 1,500th engine to come through its Fort Worth, Texas, facility. TAESL, formed in 1998, repairs and overhauls RB211 and Trent 800 engines.
N3 Engine Overhaul Services, a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik and Rolls-Royce, officially opened its Thuringia, Germany, facility. N3 was granted EASA Part 145 approval for Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines in April and said it expects to receive approval for Trent 700 engines in 2008 and to start servicing the Trent 900 in 2009. The facility currently services Lufthansa's aircraft, as well as other European and African airlines, and it said it will begin to add customers from the U.S., Europe, Africa and the C.I.S.
We were running out of warranty protection on our older engines and we had many more V2500s to be added," remembers Larry Montreuil, director of supply chain and fuel at JetBlue Airways. "We wanted to get some control over our heavy maintenance costs."
Boeing signed a GoldCare agreement to support GE Aviation, providing repair and overhaul services for 787 Dreamliner under-wing rotable components as an offering with GE's OnPoint solutions for GEnx engines. Boeing has yet to contract any future Dreamliner operators for the lifecycle management service, but GE Aviation is the second engine OEM to sign a GoldCare deal. Rolls-Royce, maker of the other 787 engine offering, the Trent 1000, signed a similar agreement with Boeing in August.
AMG Flite Components received FAA certification of its new repair center near Dallas Love Field. The 30,000-square-foot facility will offer in-house composite and sheet metal repairs and metal bonding on all ATA systems for commercial and regional aircraft.
Rex-Cut Products offers Cut-N-Finish Disks, flexible cotton fiber impregnated abrasive grinding disks suitable for the light grinding and blending of welds on contoured surfaces.
Jet Airways of India awarded Israel Aerospace Industries' Bedek Aviation Group a maintenance and repair contract for the first of two of its CFM56-7 engines, both undergoing repairs at Bedek's Tel Aviv engine shop. Jet Airways was launch customer for Bedek's CFM56-3 maintenance and repair program.
