While OEMs continue to push long-term engine service contracts, independents can be competitive on small turbine engines if they play their cards right.
O&M picked this year’s MRO of the Year award winners based on their contributions to military and commercial fleet readiness, championship of new technologies, inclusion of methods to drive efficiency and outstanding customer service. Our 2011 honorees—Air New Zealand Technical Operations, Northrop Grumman Technical Services, Airworks India and Big Ass Fans—provide exemplary models for business leadership, particularly in the areas of smart expansion and green energy.
LONDON—Air France is prepping to implement 35 recommendations suggestesd by an independent safety review team to improve flight safety. The review was instigated after the loss of an Air France Airbus A330 over the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people. While details of the recommendations have not been released, the review findings concern the airline’s organization, its corporate culture and the individual behavior of its staff, managers and unions.
Over the next decade, engine MROs that focus on regional airliners will have to adapt to a combination of new aircraft families and geographical shifts in the operations of older and current production models.
Irving Place Capital appointed Jeffrey D. Wood a senior advisor for its industrial practice. Wood formerly was president of Airfoil Technologies International and has 20 years of experience in aerospace, having worked at Pratt & Whitney, Interturbine and General Electric.
Commsoft and Critical Technologies formed a partnership focused on technical collaboration of Commsoft’s Oases MRO maintenance software and Critical Technologies’ AirVault integrated aviation maintenance and business record software.
Sabena technics renewed its agreement with Thomas Cook for line and light maintenance of the Belgian tour operator’s seven Airbus A320s for five more years from January 2011. The contract includes main base support in Brussels as well as component MRO and pool access.
In July 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia left intact a year-old rule that expanded drug and alcohol testing requirements to air carrier subcontractors “at any tier.” But as part of that decision, the appeals court ordered FAA to conduct a final regulatory flexible analysis (RFA) on the expansion—an order that the agency appeared to ignore over the next three years until the court threatened to put a hold on the expansion.
AFI KLM E&M was contracted by Philippine Airlines for long-term engine maintenance of the GE90 engines that power its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The contract covers on-site and on-wing maintenance, shop visits, component support, spare engines and engineering support. PAL has used AFI KLM E&M for GE CF6-80E engine maintenance work.
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
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.
Corena USA released version 2.0 of its S1000D software-as-a-service, which features Citrix support and installed Corena configuration kits for all major S1000D programs. The service targets tech pub companies and sub-suppliers that must deliver S1000D-compliant content.
Derco Repair Services and Universal Synaptics teamed together to offer a new product for detecting intermittent faults, called the Intermittent Fault Detection System. The device monitors electrical paths in the chassis of the unit under test to detect, log and isolate intermittent events then graphically displays the failing circuits to enable quicker, more efficient repairs.
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.
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.
Lightweight composites soon will replace metals such as aluminum as the primary material for airframes. Advanced composites make up at least half of the Airbus 350XWB and Boeing 787 airframes, and these new, lightweight structures will drive the future of repairs. But until original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) release repair manuals for these materials, training organizations are doing their best to cultivate a workforce of mechanics and engineers skilled in developing designated engineering representative (DER) composite repairs.
TeamSAI promoted Tom Cooper and Michael Moore to senior VPs and principals from their prior roles as VPs and principals. Cooper joined TeamSAI in 2007 and brings 20 years of lexperience with Delta Air Lines and Foster’s Wine Estates; he is the consulting practice leader for certification, safety and technical services. Moore joined TeamSAI in 2009 and uses his 25 years of experience with Northwest Airlines, Timco Aviation Services and Associated Air Center to lead TeamSAI’s MRO consulting. Airframes
PROBLEM: Traditional borescopes require inspectors to change optic tips each time they find a defect. Plus, most borescopes take two-dimensional pictures that can make it difficult to discern the defect’s actual shape.
Rockwell Collins opened offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, initially for business development purposes with systems engineering and support activity to follow.
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.
FL Technics serviced its first Airbus A320—owned by Latvian charter carrier SmartLynx—in February, less than a month after the MRO received its EASA Part 145 certification for line and base maintenance of the type. It had expected to receive the aircraft in the second quarter, but it arrived a bit earlier; CEO Jonas Butautis says this indicates the high demand for A320 family MRO services in the region.
GE Canada and StandardAero signed an agreement to build a $50 million aircraft engine research and technology development center in Winnipeg. The facility, slated to open later this year, will develop advanced testing methodologies and equipment for GE commercial and military aircraft engines; it will include test cell capabilities for engines up to 150 in. in diameter and up to 150,000 lb. thrust. It also will be equipped with a large wind generator for crosswind, ingestion and icing certification testing.
GE Aviation is investing $60 million in purchasing and refurbishing a Boeing 747-400 for use as a flying testbed for the next generation of engines, starting with the LEAP-X. It features GE CF6-80C2s and is based at GE’s Victorville, Calif., facility.
