Lockheed Martin secured a $622.5 million time and material, cost-plus-fixed fee, and cost reimbursement/no fee contract from Warner Robins Air Logistics Center for engineering support for six mission design series (EC-130H, HC-130N, HC-130P, C-130H, AC-130U and MC-130H) in support of the Center Wing Box Replacement Program. This work should be complete in January 2013.
Lufthansa Technik has chosen Hyderabad over Bangalore as the site for a greenfield MRO facility to serve the rapidly growing commercial aviation market in India. LHT said that it would locate the new facility at Shamshabad, Andra Padesh, the site of the planned Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport. The facility is expected to begin operating in late 2008. LHT said it plans to team up with GRM Group, one of India's infrastructure developers and the concessionaire of the new airports at Hyderabad and Delhi.
Honeywell started offering its new Ovation E Series all-digital cabin management system as a retrofit for business jets. The Ovation E Series, which first entered service in January 2006, is a follow-on to Honeywell's Series C system, but it is fully-digital and uses a modular, cabinet-based architecture, allowing maximum flexibility to add future functions without taking more cabin space.
Spirit AeroSystems won a contract from Boeing to repair and overhaul 737 and 777 engine nacelles as part of the Boeing Component Repair and Leasing Services Network Service Center program, which offers component repair support.
Per Boll, CEO, Essential Aircraft Maintenance Services A/S
COPENHAGEN -- I just left a meeting with the airline CEO. A small start-up airline with fancy slogans. A "low-fare" airline of course, with a lot of enthusiasm and motivated employees. The lecture from the CEO is still in my ears: Everybody is entitled to a low airfare ticket. Of course, we all need to learn to live by the terms "Fly more for less," but how?
Boeing has assumed responsibility for the U.K.'s Chinook Through Life Customer Support (TLCS) program, and it is now providing spare parts, support equipment and component repairs for the RAF's 40 Chinook helicopters and their 14,000 part numbers. Designated Supply Vesting Day Phase 1, this critical program milestone culminates nine months of joint RAF and Boeing planning and integration. Boeing is now monitoring fleet supply usage, acquiring spares and repair parts, performing component overhaul and repair, and continuously improving processes to lower costs.
Mooney Airplane and AmSafe now offer AmSafe Aviation Inflatable Restraints retrofit kits for Mooney aircraft. The airbag systems are standard equipment on new Mooney Acclaims, Ovation 2GX and Ovation 3 aircraft, but now they can be retrofitted on Mooney M20J, M20K, M20M, M20R and M20S aircraft through the aircraft manufacturer's authorized service center network, which includes 65 locations worldwide.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Engine MRO costs represent 41 percent of the overall MRO market, making engines the highest spend portion of MRO, and material costs account for about 83 percent of that, according to Dave Marcontell, executive vice president and principal with TeamSAI. With labor representing only 17 percent of engine MRO costs, parts and material expenditures get a lot of attention from operators and MROs trying to cut costs.
Jordan Aircraft Maintenance plans to finish an expansion project in May that will increase the size of JorAMCo's facility by an additional 17,000 square meters of widebody hangar space.
Continental Airlines inducted the first Boeing 757-300 due for heavy maintenance into its Orlando maintenance facility on April 4. The airline's Orlando facility has been performing 737 NG maintenance, but it was able to construct stands and acquire tooling to insert the 757 into the second line, which it started last summer, according to Dave Shotsberger, director of technical operations for the Southeast U.S., Europe and Caribbean. He expects to complete the first 757 in 23 days, but thinks Continental will decrease that to a 20-day flow.
Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Integrated Display System has been certified on a Piaggio 180 aircraft. The installation was performed by Jet Works in Denton, Texas.
Wright Tool offers a new line of electronic torque wrenches for measuring torque values on fastening applications. For instance, the Computorq III E-Wrench digitally displays fastener torque specification settings, torque readings and peak hold measurements on an LCD. A keypad has selectable torque units and conversion readout in foot pounds, inch pounds, kilogram centimeter and Newton meters. It is available in 0.25 inch and 0.5 inch drive wrenches. Wright Tool Co., P.O. Box 512, Barberton OH 44203.
Outsourcing. Third-party maintenance. Contract maintenance. Regardless of what you call it, the practice of an airline sending out its MRO work to another company again is the subject of intense scrutiny here in Washington. Wariness/suspicion/distrust of outsourcing is nothing new, but the intensity of official Washington's feelings about the subject seems to be cyclical, kind of like the financial performance of the airline industry.
National Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor announced on March 30 a contract award for a Boeing CF-18 advanced multi-role infrared sensor (AMIRS) project. This is part of the larger CF-18 modernization project, initiated in 2001. Mounted on a CF-18 weapons station, the AMIRS targeting pod is a state-of-the-art electro-optic and infrared sensor, which includes a laser designator, laser marker and a tactical data-link capability for enhanced targeting, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said Lt. Gen. Steve Lucas, Chief of Canada's Air Staff.
With an average age of more than 45 years, Air Mobility Command's 490-plus Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers are planned to operate for up to an incredible 30 more years, according to recent USAF plans. Future KC-135 Stratotanker programmed depot maintenance supportability was the main topic of a meeting in March between Michele Rachie, deputy director of the 827th Aircraft Sustainment Group at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and members of Defense Supply Center Richmond's Aviation Customer Operations and Aviation Supplier Operations directorates.
SR Technics appointed Helmut Himmelreich to assume overall management of the group's Aircraft Services business on July 1. Himmelreich, who previously was with Swiss International Air Lines, succeeds Alex Kugler, who will join CEO Hans Lerch's staff. SRT also named Erwin Bamert as acting head of the company's Component Services business. Bamert, who succeeds Mike Humphreys, previously was in charge of SR Technics' component business in Switzerland. Humphreys, a long-time executive of FLS/SRT, is leaving the company.
American Airlines Maintenance Services is very serious about growing its third-party maintenance business. It hopes to generate $175 million in revenue from third-party customers this year, compared to $95 million last year.
AAR acquired Brown International, a privately held defense contractor in Huntsville, Ala., that provides engineering, design, manufacturing and systems integration services. Brown will operate as part of AAR's Structures and Systems segment. Brown's primary clients are the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and General Dynamics.
Air Transport Association awarded its Nuts & Bolts honors to three talented people: (left to right) FedEx's Ron Wickens, Delta's Tony Charaf and Heico's Eric Mendelson. Wickens, who won the 1997 Nuts & Bolts award, was honored for his lifetime achievements in maintenance and engineering.
In wartime, Lean production techniques take on a whole new dimension. No longer merely a matter saving time and money, Lean saves lives, keeping airplanes up and operating providing critical fire support to troops on the ground.
Southwest Airlines selected Boeing's Maintenance Performance Toolbox for use with its entire fleet of Boeing 737s. Southwest flies 219 Classic 737s and 264 737NGs. Southwest plans to use three of the Toolbox modules: Library, Authoring and Tasks.
