Fokker Aircraft Services will provide nose-to-tail maintenance and C checks for five Germania Airlines Boeing 737s. Following maintenance, three of the aircraft will go into Fokker Aircraft Services' Boeing storage program, and two will return to service until October, when they too are scheduled to go into storage. Engines
SR Technics landed its first long-term contract in the Philippines: It will maintain 18 Cebu Pacific CFM56-5B engines in Zurich under a 10-year, $52 million deal. Avionics/IFE
Belac shipped its 50,000th parts manufacturer approval high-pressure turbine blade in April to a customer in Europe. The joint venture of Chromalloy, Lufthansa and United Airlines began manufacturing and shipping the components in 2002.
Kazakhstan's Air Astana plans to move into the heavy maintenance business, starting with C checks on its own Airbus A320 family aircraft. The carrier hopes to receive EASA certification in time to do the first C check toward year-end, says CEO Peter Foster. Air Astana, which recently established a wheels, brakes and battery overhaul shop, has long-term ambitions to have a full-fledged airframe MRO business in Almaty to support Air Astana's and other carrier's fleets.
LONDON—The European Aviation Safety Agency EASA is considering an innovative proposal that would allow commercial operators to outsource their continuous airworthiness management organization (CAMO) functions, enabling them to adopt, for example, Boeing's Goldcare maintenance model for Boeing 787 and 737NG operators. Boeing, which has CAMO approval, could manage its European-based 787 fleet from a central organization that would provide operators with airworthy 787s. Boeing staff would run the CAMO, while operators would use aircraft from a pool.
Regent Seating Division offers complete overhaul and refurbishment of aircraft seats with its line of PMA parts for arm caps, tray tables and seat belts. It can install new fabric and leather seat cushions and dress covers as well as plan complete cabin reconfigurations. Regent is headquartered in Valencia, Calif., with a 90,000-sq.-ft. facility, and it has repair stations around the world. www.regentaerospace.com
Only three MROs—ST Aerospace, the Haeco group and Sabena technics—increased their total airframe maintenance man-hours in this year's Top 10 airframe MRO survey (pg. 22), compared to the last biennial one published in June 2009. The Haeco group (comprising Haeco, Staeco and Taeco for our survey) topped the gains with about 600,000 additional man-hours. On the flip side, many subtracted 500,000 airframe maintenance man-hours last year, with a few dropping more than 1 million man-hours, which I don't think you can categorize as simply a “shift.”
Pratt & Whitney and PAS Technologies signed a long-term agreement making PAS Technologies a designated service provider for select repairs on Pratt & Whitney PW2000 and PW4000 and IAE V2500 engine families at its Hillsboro, Ohio, and Kansas City, Mo., facilities.
Elixair International's SkyFamily is a system of sealant removal products designed to tackle both cured and partially cured polysulphides. SkyWipes are used to remove wet and tacky polysulphides and come in packages of 300 or 100 solvent-free wipes. They are non-hazardous and do not require additional hand protection. They are used with SkyWash, a solvent-free surface cleaner. The package also includes SkyRestore, a thixotropic gel, which allows cured sealant to be scraped off with SkyScrapes.
Commsoft won a deal to provide its Open Aviation Strategic Engineering System (Oases) to Latvia's SmartLynx Airlines under a five-year, 15-concurrent user deal. SmartLynx planned to go live with Oases to manage its eight Airbus A320s in May.
Barfield will provide avionics, hydraulic, instrument, accessories and cockpit seat component maintenance for Boeing and Airbus aircraft to US Airways from its Tempe, Ariz., facility under an April contract.
A J Walter acquired a site close to Gatwick Airport in the U.K., where it plans to develop a global headquarters and logistics center. It plans to open the new campus in fall 2012.
At one point or another, we all find ourselves looking around the house for misplaced car keys or a business card with an important phone number on it. Usually, these things turn up, and the consequence of carelessness is no more than wasted time. But in a maintenance hangar, forgotten tools can transform into foreign object debris (FOD) that can cause serious damage if left behind in an aircraft.
Alaska Airlines launched a new inflight entertainment option in April: touchscreen, handheld digEplayer devices that let passengers access new-release movies, television programs, the National Football League network, ReelzChannel Hollywood programming and games. Customers also can pay a fee to use the device to connect to Alaska's Gogo inflight internet. Alaska debuted the system, which is lighter than its predecessor, in 2003. It is available on most flights longer than 3 hr.
Dean Baldwin Painting plans to nearly double in size with a new location north of Indianapolis. It is investing around $10.5 million to transform a hangar complex at Grissom Aeroplex in Peru, Ind., into a state-of-the-art paint facility. When the project is complete, the site will have two widebody and two narrowbody bays. Operations should launch at the new site in December.
PAS Technologies added Brian Meyer as general manager of its Miramar, Fla., facility. Meyer joins PAS Technologies from AAR Landing Gear Systems, where he most recently held the role of VP engineering. Airframes
MEMPHIS—The annual Avionics Maintenance Conference provides a forum for operators to air their equipment woes to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), but April's gathering made for an especially heated environment. The topic of most contention was intellectual property, a concept that generates much confusion. Unhappy operators accused some avionics suppliers of keeping important maintenance information from them and citing intellectual property ownership as an excuse.
SR Technics signed a five-year, $36 million integrated component support contract with Garuda Indonesia to support its Boeing 737NG fleet as well as the Airbus A330s covered under existing agreements. The new contract covers 455 part numbers in Zurich, plus SR Technics-owned stock in Jakarta that Garuda will use on a lease basis.
SINGAPORE—Southeast Asian countries are developing aerospace parks to attract foreign investment, but poor planning means most lag behind market leader Singapore.
American Airlines offers seat refurbishment services at its Tulsa, Okla., and Fort Worth, Texas, maintenance bases. It services seats that equip all of the aircraft types that American operates as part of heavy checks: Boeing 737s, 777s and MD-80s. American Airlines performs almost all seat work in-house. Its capabilities include upholstery replacement, deep cleaning and armrest replacement. www.aa-mro.com
Airinmar appointed Tom Wilson COO and member of its board of directors. Wilson most recently was VP component solutions and business development at Aveos Fleet Performance.
