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.
If the aviation aftermarket had a pulse and we could listen to it through a stethoscope, what would it sound like? Perhaps it would echo the heartbeat of a marathon runner whose course includes a few steep hills? I think this is an apt analogy because I believe the MRO industry’s training, which has been occurring the last several years through diligent process improvements, has produced lasting, long-term benefits. While we periodically sprint, this is a long, competitive journey.
AirAsia X renewed a supplemental airframe maintenance agreement with Lufthansa Technik Philippines that covers light C checks on its Airbus fleet. The new contract expands a three-year base maintenance agreement signed last year, which already provided C checks, a heavy maintenance check, cabin retrofits and painting for nine AirAsia X Airbus A330s and two A340s.
Enigma expanded its license agreement with AFI KLM E&M to include the Engima 3C InService MRO and Revision Manager solutions, designed for technical content publishing and management support, in addition to the 3C solution that it has used for seven years.
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.
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
Aeronautical Engineering Inc. is converting six Boeing 737-400s into 11-pallet freighters for Muskovia Airlines. The first is expected to begin conversion activities at AEI’s Miami conversion center Commercial Jet by the end of the first quarter.
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.
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.
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.
Researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Technical Thermodynamics have begun ground testing a new technology that, if successful, could eliminate much of the fuel burn and noise generated by airport taxiing.
What maintenance services do you contract out? Mohr: Perhaps I should rewind a little bit and talk about our overall MRO strategy. Our journey for success didn’t happen overnight; it really began in earnest about eight years ago with the creation of our 2010 business plan. As part of that, in maintenance, we really undertook to understand our core business, and we determined that our core business was line maintenance—not aircraft, engine, component and heavy maintenance.
Renaissance Aeronautics Associates’ Advanced Composites Training is an approved training organization in London, Ontario. Courses taught at RAA are accredited by the Canadian Aviation Maintenance Council, the FAA and The American Composites Manufacturing Association. Courses offered at Advanced Composites Training cover composite manufacturing, tooling, maintenance, structural repair and non-destructive inspection. www.raacomposites.com/
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.
FL Technics in Vilnius, Lithuania, applied for EASA Part 147 training certification on the Airbus A320 family. It provides technical type training on Boeing 737 Classic and NG, Boeing 757, Saab 340, Saab 2000 and ATR 42/72 aircraft.
LONDON—The dark specter of volcanic eruption brews again beneath Iceland. Early in February, the Icelandic Meteorological Office warned of an increased risk of eruption in an area covering Iceland’s second largest volcano, Bárdarbunga, which dwarfs the Eyjafjallajökull volcano that closed European airspace last April. If, or when, the disruptions happen, will airlines be better prepared to handle them?
The camera heads for the 5.0, 6.1 and 8.4 mm probes have an 1/6 in. color charge-coupled device CCD image sensor with a 440,000 pixel count. These cameras also have an added temperature warning sensor. The 3.9 and 6.2 mm probes have a 1/10 in. color CCD image sensor at 290,000 pixels. GE says the titanium camera head is eight times stronger than those that equip older borescopes. www.ge-mcs.com/microsites/xlg3-videoprobe/overview.html
A J Walter signed up African start-up Senegal Airline for a five-year, power-by-the-hour component support contract for its first two Airbus A319 aircraft. The airline also inked a multi-million-dollar spares lease with AJW, for components positioned in Dakar, and a contract for integrated consumables management services.
TAT Technologies subsidiary Piedmont Aviation Component Services selected Component Control’s Quantum Control enterprise resource planning software to replace its AS400-based application. Piedmont expects to have up to 80 users on the system after it goes live this year.
While OEMs continue to push long-term engine service contracts, independents can be competitive on small turbine engines if they play their cards right.
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.
CFM Materials officially opened a new, 48,000-sq.ft. facility in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Feb. 23. The subsidiary, which became operational in May 2010, says it has shipped more than 10,000 used serviceable parts to customers.
