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
The holiday season is a time for celebration, family gatherings, shopping, travel—and myriad other distractions that can cause the focus of even the most dedicated technician to waver. It really doesn't matter what your industry or position, in the two-month period between Halloween in October and New Year's, most of us have a portion of our minds on other things—and technicians are no exception.
PTC's design and data management products draw on 3D CAD data and a digital library of maintenance information to quickly isolate the right information for MROs to use in AOG situations. Creo, the suite of CAD software, is available for both parametric and direct modeling applications and integrates with Windchill, PTC's product lifecycle management software. Windchill documents revisions of changes made to products and eliminates design errors early on in the process.
EASA has taken steps to codify its rules on major aircraft type design changes impacting noise and emissions, incorporating guidance into the regulations that include specific examples of each type of change. The changes, introduced in November 2010 as notice of proposed amendment 2010-13, were adopted in August. They modify paragraph 8 (“environment”) of Appendix A to GM 21A.91, “examples of major changes per discipline.”
ATR is establishing a global network of ATR-recognized MRO companies, and the first to join will be one from the Asia-Pacific region. The decision will be made by year-end, says ATR Eastern Support President Laurent Negre. There are eight companies in Asia-Pacific providing heavy maintenance checks on ATR airframes—Air New Zealand Engineering Services, Air Works (India), Air Tahiti, Bangkok Airways, Fokker Services Asia (Singapore), Malaysia Airlines Engineering & Maintenance, Vietnam Airlines and TransAsia Airways (Taiwan).
TAM Airlines has completed commercial flight operations with Shell Aviation's AeroShell Ascender high performance capability turbine engine oil. Avionics/IFE
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.
GA Telesis believes the Airbus A340-300 is a top disassembly pick because acquisition costs are low, parts have commonality with the other A340s and the A330, and the CFM56 engine has a large operator base, says Stefan Kageman, VP aircraft sales and marketing. In addition, because the aircraft is powered by four engines instead of two, its powerplant maintenance costs are higher, which also means there's a demand for used serviceable components.
Austrian Airlines finished modifying its 21 Airbus A320 aircraft with new cabin furnishings. It also just finished installing new cabins in its 11 Boeing 737 aircraft. The star of the cabin modifications is Austrian's new Europe seat, which the airline designed in conjunction with Recaro. The new grey and red seat is up to 11 lbs. lighter than the previous Austrian seats and offers more space for each passenger, adding up to 4 in. of leg room. The new seats will lighten Austrian Airlines' aircraft by more than 31,500 lb., saving fuel.
Ametek Ameron (d/b/a Mass Systems) reissued STCs to install Mass Systems fire extinguishers, cartridges and/or other systems on various 328 Support Services, Short Brothers, Eurocopter France, ATR, Airbus, BAE, Boeing, Bombardier, McDonnell Douglas, Saab and other aircraft models, STCs ST01708LA, SR01343LA, ST00952LA, ST00961LA, ST00885LA and SR01344LA
Laketronics is a small wire harness and control box supply and repair shop, manufacturing wire from 1.5 in. to 500 ft. long. It manufactures heavy cables to 32 gauge wires as well as coax, multi-conductor and ribbon cables. Laketronics also offers sealing capabilities, chip burning, welding and micro-soldering. It provides harnesses for Honeywell for avionics, engine and pressurization systems. The Laketronics engineering team designs aircraft wire harnesses and electrical layouts. www.laketronicsinc.com
Air Europa has chosen A.J. Walter Aviation to provide a five-year power-by-the-hour support agreement for its Airbus A330 Rolls-Royce Trent engine component accessories. The agreement will cover two aircraft and it is A.J. Walter's first contract with the Spanish airline.
The International Bureau of Aviation added Kane Ray as an aviation analyst to its consultancy team. Ray's primary focus will be to support IBA's consultancy and appraisal division with aircraft engine valuations and related research.
Baines Simmons has appointed John Heather to fill a new business development manager role that focuses on regulatory authorities. Heather comes to the position after serving as training operations manager at CAA International and spending four years as managing partner of Personnel Development Strategies.
Avtrade has made several new appointments: Tay Kay Lai will join its Singapore office as regional sales director, Asia. He comes to the position after 30 years of experience in an MRO environment. Daphne Teo will assume the role of Singapore office manager and Martin Assmann will join Avtrade as director of marketing.
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.
[Editor's Note: This story is the second part of a series about the Canadian MRO industry. The first, Onward in Ontario, appears in the July/Aug. issue.]
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.
Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services has received a maintenance certification for the Ukraine and will support charter airline Air Italy's fleet of Boeing aircraft. The certification, from the Aviation Administration of Ukraine, will allow Boeing Shanghai to do line and base maintenance work on Boeing 767-200/-300 aircraft for Ukraine-based customers. Boeing Shanghai will support Air Italy with maintenance services for its Boeing fleet for up to two years, starting with a C check on a Boeing 767-300ER scheduled for this month.
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.
SR Technics has appointed Sean O'Conner as the new general manager for SR Technics America. He will focus on expanding the company's footprint in North America. Airframes
Dassault Systemes will continue to provide MROs with CAD, data and 3D environments for simulating maintenance work with its upgraded PLM 2.0 concept, available across the releases of its major project portfolios. PLM 2.0 is based on the idea of offering a 3D environment for all teams across a company to innovate products. Operators can use Delmia to schedule and plan maintenance as well as define and manage the manufacturing bill of materials. Enovia, another product within the PLM suite, is the product data management system in a 3D environment. www.3ds.com
Nobody wants to do it, but most airlines will probably have to adopt new maintenance information systems eventually. Challenges abound. Fortunately so do choices, one of the most important of which is whether to go for a Big Bang or a phase-in approach. If the phased approach is selected, should it be by fleet or by function? Which functions should go first?
Lean has been an invaluable tool in manufacturing for the last 30 years. It also has met great success in aviation MRO, even with MROs' inherent variations.
Beginning this month, FAA inspectors will have to wait two years after they leave the agency before they can take certain industry jobs. While the new “cooling off” period—imposed through a recent rulemaking—will only impact a limited number of agency employees, it closes another chapter in the spring 2008 controversy surrounding Southwest Airlines management of airworthiness directives (ADs).
