L-3 Communications received a contract from the U.S. Navy to serve as prime contractor on the C-9 Contractor Logistics Support program. The base contract is worth $43.7 million, but if the Navy exercises four annual contract options, the value climbs to about $230 million. L-3's Link Simulation & Training division is responsible for the C-9 Contractor Logistics Support program, which includes aircraft depot, engine depot and site support at six U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force facilities.
COVER STORY: MRO Market Is Up and Down Engine MRO costs are pushing upward MRO spending, but unit costs continue to decline. 49 Forecast Background Departments From the Editor 6 Biznet 11 Interview 16 Shinsuke Maki, All Nippon Airways Safety & Regulatory News Washington in Action 21 Human Factors 26 International Safety & Regulatory Briefs 28 Technical Innovation 31 Calendar 103
CFM International plans to open an engine maintenance training school in India. CFM has not yet determined a location or the new school, its fourth in the world, but it said it plans to be able to train up to 500 engineers there annually.
Looking back on the past few decades of commercial air travel, it is clear that advancements in safety, reliability and cost have been nothing less than stunning. Accidents with fatalities have been reduced by a factor of 10. Engines today typically run for more than 150,000 hours without an in-flight shutdown -- essentially an engine's entire life -- in dramatic contrast to 30 years ago, when occurrences were more like once per year, or every 2,500 hours. Operating costs and fuel efficiency improvements have been equally dramatic.
Wireless technology holds the promise of efficiency, economy, light weight and low maintenance. It first delivered in the late 1990s. After a cargo bay fire downed a ValuJet DC-9 in 1996, the FAA required airlines to equip their fleets with systems to detect smoke and suppress fire. A hardwired system took 700 hours to install and required several hundred pounds of wire, said Harvey Blair, manager of new business for Securaplane Technologies. Securaplane's wireless system, the forerunner of today's ST3000, reduced the labor and wire weight by 70 percent.
L-3 Communications' Link Simulation and Training won a not-to-exceed $43.7 million contract for logistics support for the Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force and NASA for DC-9/C-9 aircraft. Support will include aircraft depot repairs and aircraft engine depot repairs, consumables and line replaceable unit supply support. Work is expected to be completed in November.
Lockheed Martin won a $49.8 million U.S. Navy contract for sustaining engineering and maintenance support for all H-60 aircraft, including legacy aircraft. This contract will include engineering, program management, test, logistics, training, repair, studies and aircraft technical and maintenance support. Work should be done in December 2009.
Indian Airlines and CFM International signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture MRO facility in India for CFM56 engines. The JV will perform a full spectrum of services, from engine disassembly to component repairs.
Bombardier is investing $25 million in additional new business aircraft parts, focusing on the 25 most demanded parts. The initial investment has helped improve AOG fill rates by 9 percent in the last nine months. Bombardier said it typically can deliver parts in the U.S. in 12 hours. However, to improve AOG express delivery, the OEM purchased shares of FlexJet aircraft, so it can ship parts or put people in AOG situations on FlexJet aircraft. The Parts Express service is available to Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft operators whose aircraft are under warranty.
Duncan Aviation named Jerry Cable as accessory technical representative, a position that calls for providing customer technical support and troubleshooting, as well as for training Duncan employees' accessory teams.
Raytheon Aircraft now offers electronic dimmable window shades for all of its King Air models. The window shades let passengers and crew easily control the darkness of the each cabin window by varying the tint through the electronic variable-light-transmission shades.
NAVAIR named Steffanie Easter its new assistant commander for acquisition. She serves as the acquisition executive for Naval Air Systems Command and executes acquisition responsibilities and management accountability for eight program management offices. She also has responsibilities as the leader of the command-wide NAVAIR Acquisition/Program Management Competency, managing about 720 civilian and military personnel.
Bell Helicopter Textron won an $18.3 million order under previously awarded contract from the Naval Inventory Control Point for V-22 spare components. Work should be completed by January 2009.
Australia's CASA introduced a program that allows approved maintenance organizations (AMOs) to operate under a licensing/ratings system that mirrors EASA. The program, detailed in Civil Aviation Order 100.66, gives AMOs and mechanics the option of undergoing additional training to receive licenses that equate to EASA's A, B1 and B2.
Embraer is enhancing its Maintenance Tracking and Planning Service for its executive jets through a deal with Flightdocs, which provides the technology and support for this service. The enhanced service is available to Legacy 600 customers now and will become available for Phenom and Lineage aircraft as they enter service. The Maintenance Tracking and Planning Service is designed to enable customers to securely access their aircraft maintenance plan through the Internet and update it by including operational information.
SR Technics opened a sales office in Mumbai on Feb. 1. It also started a line maintenance station at Madrid Barajas International Airport. Its first customer there is easyJet.
C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership program between Boeing and the U.S. Department of Defense reached a fleet-wide mission capable rate of 85.4 percent in 2006. This covered 150 aircraft at the beginning of 2006 and grew to include 165 C-17s by the end of the year. The 2006 rate is a 2.2 percent increase over the 83.2 percent mission capable rate in FY2005. The C-17 program's goal for 2007 is 87.5 percent. The Globmaster III Sustainment Partnership started in 2004 and extends for five years.
AAR hired Rono Dutta, former president of United Airlines and Air Sahara, as a strategic advisor to the company's activities in India. Ben Sandzer-Bell, AAR's vice president of strategic development, said Dutta is "helping shape AAR's thinking about what the end state" of its investment in India should be. AAR is talking with potential partners about setting up in-country MRO capability in India, said Sandzer-Bell, AAR's vice president of strategic development.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is partnering with the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona to jointly develop and deliver a master's degree in aeronautical management.
Positioning itself to be a major player in the next generation of turbine engines, Pratt & Whitney Canada will invest $1.5 billion CAD ($1.3 billion) over the next five years to fund an ambitious research and development (R&D) program. Announced in December, the program includes $350 million CAD ($301 million) in Canadian government funding, repayable on a royalty basis, and $75 million CAD ($64 million) in funding to 20 Canadian universities for collaborative projects.
Cortec's VpCI Corrosorber Paper is a tarnish inhibiting protective paper formulated for gold, silver, brass, copper and tin. It eliminates the need for coatings and tarnish removers and is designed to quickly reach and protect metal surfaces.
Alaska Airlines introduced two Boeing 737-400 combi aircraft to its fleet on Feb. 1, to improve passenger and cargo service in the state of Alaska. They replaced 737-200 combis. Pemco World Air Services converted both aircraft, which can accommodate four cargo pallets and 72 passengers. Pemco also completed an all-cargo freighter for the airline, which plans to add two more -400s combis to its fleet by the end of the year. The airline also has options with Pemco to convert a second freighter and a fifth combi aircraft.
KUALA LUMPUR -- After several years keeping a low profile, Malaysia Airlines' Engineering & Maintenance is undertaking an aggressive exercise to expand its product offering and tap the growing global MRO market. As part of the plan, it will expand its capability to include heavy maintenance for the Airbus A320 and A340 later this year. With experience in doing QCs (quick conversions) on the Boeing 737-300, MAS E&M also is evaluating the possibility of offering passenger-to-cargo conversion.
Sikorsky Aircraft won a $68.8 million time and material contract from the U.S. Navy for sustaining engineering and maintenance support for legacy MH-60 aircraft. Services to be provided include program management, engineering, test, logistics, training, repair, studies and aircraft technical and maintenance support for the MH-60R and the MH-60S aircrafts. Work should be completed in November. This contract was not competitively procured.
Brazilian Air Force awarded a contract to ST Aerospace Engines to overhaul 12 Rolls-Royce T56-A-15 engines powering C-130s. ST Aerospace expected its first engine input the first quarter and program completion to take 10 months. ST Aerospace secured a contact from the Brazilian Air Force in 2005 to overhaul and repair 12 T56-A-15 engines, and that contract was worth $5.2 million.
