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.
Over 130 representatives from Canada, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and U.K., assembled in January at Leipzig Halle, Germany, to update future MRO requirements for the six leased heavy-lift Antonov An-124-100 Ruslans jointly operated through the Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS) group, for NATO support missions.
The advent of the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 has wrought a step change in airframe construction with composite materials largely superseding what was previously made from metal. But moving away from tried and trusted alloys to save weight and add strength has brought a set of new challenges for the airlines that will fly and maintain these aircraft -- in particular, how to monitor a mix of different structures made entirely of composite material and detect damage inside them?
The future of the U.K.'s Defense Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) is looking grim following a U.K. government review of its armed forces requirements. Only one of its four businesses will be retained by the U.K. Ministry of Defense, while the other three face closure or perhaps new ownership. DARA's CEO Archie Hughes spoke to Bill Burchell, O&M's European Editor (Commercial), about managing the challenges imposed by this transition. O&M: What is your strategic plan for DARA's future?
Pratt & Whitney won a $25.9 million U.S. Navy contract to repair 11 line items used on the J52 engine that powers EA-6B aircraft. Pratt & Whitney also will provide manufacturing, engineering and technical support to the Naval Aviation Depot Jacksonville with a goal of improving monthly output. Work should be finished by July 2008.
Singapore Aero Engine Services Ltd. (SAESL) celebrated its fifth year of operation in January. During that time, SAESL, a joint venture between SIA Engineering Co., Rolls-Royce and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services Ltd., has overhauled 500 Rolls-Royce Trent engines.
Northwest Airlines awarded AAR Aircraft Services a contract to perform heavy maintenance and interior modifications on five Boeing 757s. AAR's Indianapolis facility will perform nose-to-tail heavy maintenance checks on the 757s that Northwest previously stored and are reintroducing to its fleet. AAR plans to finish the work by August.
In September, Gulfstream Aerospace delivered its first ultra-long-range special-mission G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft to the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD). Apart from its endurance, the large-cabin G550 was chosen in 2003 for IMOD's AEW surveillance system, for its overall performance, safety, reliability and low operating costs.
The privately-owned TAT Group is rapidly expanding its MRO interests in both the civil and military markets. In the past five years it has acquired AOM, Sabena technics and, most recently, Sogerma. Its challenge over the next 12 months is to consolidate these companies into one efficient network and then expand its business. Pierre Reville, who is executive vice president and director of operations for Sabena technics, discussed this strategy with Bill Burchell, O&M's European Editor (Commercial). Edited for clarity and length.
AAR acquired substantially all of the assets of Reebaire Aircraft, a regional aircraft MRO located in Hot Springs, Ark. Reebaire will operate under the name AAR Aircraft Services -- Hot Springs. The acquisition is part of AAR's strategy to expand its MRO business and its support of regional aircraft operators. Year-over-year, AAR's sales to regional airline customers have increased 48 percent.
NEW DELHI -- CFM International is in the initial stages of setting up an Aircraft Engine Training School in India to provide advanced maintenance courses for the CFM56 engine that powers Boeing 737s and a majority of Airbus A320 series aircraft. The school -- its fourth after ones in the U.S, Europe and China -- will be based on the same model CFM used to set up the school in China a decade ago.
FlightSafety International promoted Jeff Houk to manager of its Cessna Aircraft Maintenance Learning Center in Wichita. Houk succeeds John Hansen, who is retiring.
AMETEK acquired Southern Aeroparts, a Tulsa, Okla.-based provider of third-party MRO services. Southern Aeroparts had estimated 2006 annual sales of $17 million. The acquisition was appealing to AMETEK because it wants to expand MRO services to airlines, said AMETEK Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank S. Hermance.
