Boeing announced the availability of GoldCare services for 737NG operators in late March. The tailor-made aftermarket program first rolled out for the Boeing 787, but now the OEM is offering it for its next-gen narrowbodies. TUI Travel became the launch customer for the 787 aftermarket management program last April, when it selected GoldCare coverage for its 13 787s. The OEM says it is having “advanced discussions with multiple customers” for 737NG GoldCare, but it has not announced a first client for the service.
Like many major carriers, United Airlines had developed its own in-house tools for doing diagnostics on its fleet. But around 2005 and 2006 the airline was starting to fly more routes to very distant destinations where the costs of having a grounded aircraft, and ferrying parts and repair crews, could be very high. So it took a look at Boeing's Aircraft Health Monitoring, speaking both to the airframe manufacturer and early adopters of the system.
Sargent Aerospace & Defense's aftermarket services group acquired more than 1,200 Boeing 737 line-replaceable units worth approximately $4 million in mid-March. Sargent's Miami facility was expected to receive the majority of these components—which range from avionics, fuel pumps, electromechanical actuators and engine components to landing gear top assembly units—in overhauled condition, ready for outright sale and exchange and lease programs.
Lufthansa Technik Philippines completed a heavy maintenance IL check on an Asiana Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft and a heavy maintenance D1 check and cabin retrofit (a reconfiguration that added lie-flat seats in business and reduced the number of the economy seats) on a Swiss International Airlines Airbus A340-300 in March. Asiana also uses LTP line maintenance services. The work for Swiss marked the first time the Lufthansa Group airline sent maintenance work to the Philippines.
Solo Aviation in Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela, became a GE Aviation authorized service center for M601 and H80 turboprop engines. Solo Aviation now offers line maintenance, removals and re-installations of engines and LRUs and engine spares for the M601 and H80 engine families; GE Aviation will provide Solo Aviation with comprehensive material support and training.
Air BP Lubricants launched software that helps customers measure how high-performance lubricant BPTO 2197 is performing in their engines. Air BP says the BPTO lubricant is in use on more than 9,000 installed engines and more than 30,000 engine accessories.
Lufthansa Technik's Hamburg auxiliary power unit (APU) shop added the Hamilton Sundstrand APS2300 to its repair portfolio with certification from the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation. The APS2300 APU equips Embraer 170/190 family aircraft. Lufthansa Technik says it has signed a contract with Air Dolomiti for APS2300 services, and work on the first APS2300 started in March.
ARINC Direct added Isaac Haertel as OEM and technical support manager for South America, based in Montevideo, Uraguay. Haertel formerly worked as a flight coordinator at the company’s headquarters in Annapolis, Md. He complements Regional Sales Manager Perla Fagundez at the company’s Buenos Aires office.
OEMs can join the task force, and some of the larger ones that provide tool sets for data collection and analysis also get access to the final information. This could be an issue for MROs that feel pressured as OEMs look to grow their shares of the aftermarket. This data could possibly help OEMs compete against MROs, especially as OEMs strive to lock in airlines for full-support packages early on, when airlines are purchasing aircraft.
Sukhoi’s Superjet 100 regional jet received type certification from the Russian aircraft certification authority, IAC AR, enabling delivery of the first aircraft. Armavia, which has two firm orders and two options, will receive the first. Sukhoi also conducted the maiden flight of Aeroflot’s first SS100 in the Russian flag-carrier’s colors. Aeroflot has 30 firm orders for the aircraft, plus 15 options. Noting the aircraft’s type certification, the OEM added it has been granted design organization approval certification from IAC AR.
AFI KLM Engineering & Maintenance expanded its component, engines and engineering support work for New Caledonian airline Aircalin’s Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft.
Etihad formally signed an agreement to buy Engine Alliance GP7200 engines to power its fleet of 10 Airbus A380s, a deal with a list price of $1.5 billion; it was originally priced at $1.3 billion when the agreement was preliminarily signed in June 2009. At that time, the aircraft were to enter service in 2012 but are now set to begin operations in 2014. Etihad also will use a long-term fleet management agreement for engine MRO.
The number of flights over Europe likely will be 1.8 times greater in 2030 than it was in 2009, according to Eurocontrol’s latest 20-year forecast. It sees a range of scenarios that project between 13.1 million and 20.9 million flights in 2030, assuming average growth of 1.6-3.9% annually. A 2.8% per year average growth rate is the most likely, it says.
Phillips Service Industries acquired Skytronics Inc. Technology firm Phillips sees the acquisition of the California maker and repairer of aircraft ball screws, actuator assemblies and transmissions as an expansion of its reach into aerospace; it also owns Beaver Aerospace & Defense, Sciaky Inc., Mountain Secure Systems, Evana Automation Specialists and PSI Repair Services.
Job Air Technic at Ostrava International Airport in the Czech Republic is developing base maintenance capability for the Airbus A320 family and received EASA Part 145 approval for the A318/A319/A320/A321 including C checks, modifications, landing gear and engine changes.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft embarked on a maintenance program for the Avro RJ to extend its operational life by at least 20 years. It will require detailed analysis of Avro RJ and BAe 146 operations to derive a maintenance program that validates their continued operation. This should result in an update to the existing supplementary structural inspections document (SSID), which aims to extend the airframe life to 60,000 cycles.
Lufthansa Technik gained Cameroon’s Camair-Co start-up as a line maintenance and component services customer. Under the two-year line maintenance contract, Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International will provide initial staff to service the carrier’s Boeing 737NG and 767 aircraft at Douala, Cameroon; it subsequently will hire and instruct up to 10 local employees to take over the work.
A J Walter Aviation decided to locate its new aircraft engine services division in Wales. It says it is targeting $50 million in business in the first year of the facility’s operations.
Aftermarket acquisitions in the second decade of the new millennium got off to a fast start. Aviation consolidation in early 2011 has been “even more robust than we predicted,” summarizes Chris Doan, president and CEO of TeamSAI. “Activity in the first month of 2011 is equal to that of the first quarter in 2010.” Doan sees that strength continuing throughout the year and predicts its aerospace acquisitions will double or triple the number in 2010
Abaris Training instructs more than 1,000 students a year at its three facilities in Reno, Nev.; Griffen, Ga. and London. Abaris offers a three-phase introduction to composites called Advanced Composite Structures, as well as advanced classes in structural engineering, stress analysis methods, drawing, tooling and bonded aluminum structures. Abaris also offers an introductory composites course online. www.abaris.com
The governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama established free trade zones where Coopesa, Aeroman and ST Aerospace Panama operate, speeding their access to parts. The strategy also provides a competitive advantage that other countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, can't offer due to long customs-clearing processes.
