Rolls-Royce will provide BR715 engines for AirTran Airways' six Boeing 717-200s and cover those engines through its TotalCare support program. AirTran's total engine maintenance contract, which covers up to 87 aircraft, is worth about $1 billion.
Rockwell Collins and Innovative Media Solutions will provide eOffload, an Internet-based service for managing IFE usage and information, for British Airways.
Cascade Aerospace received a contract from the French government to supply two Bombardier A400 aircraft modified and certified as multi-role air tankers. Cascade plans to deliver the aircraft in spring and fall 2005.
Aviall Service opened a new customer service center at Van Nuys, Calif., Airport on June 3 in response to Aviall's increased sales and forecasted growth. The facility also provides space for repairing Aviall's battery, hose, wheels and brakes products. Aviall also is expanding or has recently finished expanding facilities in Anchorage, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Montreal, Toronto, Singapore and Winnipeg.
Dallas Airmotive announced that Jim Zarvos joined the company as director of customer service. He has more than 20 years of aviation sales and service experience.
Lan (formerly LanChile) is considering spinning off its maintenance business unit, said Michael Wagner, heavy maintenance director. He said LAN hopes to do it this year and would consider a strategic partner.
SmartSignal is accepting papers for presentations at its inaugural Predictive Condition Monitoring Summit, which will be held Sept. 20-21 in Chicago. Visit www.smartsignal.com/summit for details.
Outsourced maintenance opportunities are picking up, but MRO facilities need to carefully monitor mark-ups. ``Deferred maintenance and non-safety-related modifications now need completion,'' said Gary Weissel, SH&E director, and some parked aircraft are returning to service, both of which are creating opportunities for MROs.
Nippon Cargo Airlines ordered four Boeing 747-400 Special Freighters. Boeing will manage the conversion of four 747-400s from passenger to freighter conversion and is scheduled to redeliver the aircraft in August 2007. Telair International will supply the main and lower deck cargo loading systems for at least three of the freighters.
Everest VIT introduced the VideoProbe XL Pro Plus that features digital video features and removable storage media. These new features will allow mechanics and inspectors to store up to 4,000 times what they could before, according to Joe Lopez, Everest VIT senior product manager. The inspection system uses Type I CompactFlash cards, which now have up to 4 GB of storage. These cards also are used in digital cameras, which allowed Everest VIT to take advantage of consumer technology, according to Lopez, to boost the inspection systems' storage space.
MOOG Aircraft Group received a $5.9 firm-fixed-price contract modification from Warner Robins Air Force Logistics Center for gearboxes on C-5 aircraft. The work should be finished by December.
Bombardier Aerospace is offering a service package for new orders of Learjet 40s in Latin America. The deal includes 25 free flying hours on Flexjet and 60 months of free coverage under its Smart Parts Plus component coverage, which is above the standard 60-month aircraft warranty.
Dassault Falcon signed a maintenance training services agreement with CAE SimuFlite. Dassault's technical education services group will work with CAE SimuFlite to develop and deliver the training program, and the OEM will recognize CAE SimuFlite, in turn, as a Dassault-approved training provider.
Pemco Aviation Group appointed Glenn Hess president of Pemco Aeroplex. He most recently was president and COO of Bell Helicopter, and previously spent 23 years with McDonnell Douglas/Boeing.
J.A. Air Center named Bradley Zeman its new president. He replaces Bernie Klotz, who owns the facility and has served as president the past 29 years. Zeman joined the company as sales manager in 1986 and worked up to vice president of sales before accepting his new position.
Spectrum Technologies' CAPRIS 50-100 is a benchtop UV laser wire marking system that is an alternative to hot-stamp wire marking, which can damage wires, especially thin-wall aerospace ones. This easy to use system just requires operators to insert the wire, use the touch-screen to program marking details, and press the green start button. It can be used on single core wires or multi-core cables that measure 0.75 mm to 8 mm (26 AWG up to 4 AWG). Up to 30 characters per identification mark can be used. Three print sizes are standard.
Representatives of the repair station industry, motivated by an ominous deadline inserted as part of the rulemaking directive, are working to help the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) meet a Congressional mandate to craft repair station security rules, even though they question the need for such an exercise.
Active RFID -- No governing standards, being developed -- Transmit energy often in 400 MHz, 900 MHz and 2.45 GHz ranges -- Requires onboard power source with large memory -- Can be read, or written to, from about 300 ft. or less -- Costs about $100 per tag -- DOD already is using active tags -- Primarily used on costly items -- Their physical size is larger than passive tags Passive RFID
International Air Transport Association promoted David Mawdsley to safety director. He joined IATA in January 2001 as assistant director of safety and previously was head of corporate safety at Cathay Pacific.
Garrett Aviation selected Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 avionics to include in its Cessna Citation 501 retrofit program. System deliveries will begin in January 2005.
ABAQUS received a contract from Boeing Intellectual Property Business to develop technology to predict fracture and failure in laminated composite materials.
