Thai Airways chose Bluebox Avionics to provide its Bluebox Ai IFE application for the iPad. The airline will deploy 650 iPad units to its Royal Silk class customers in June, which will have a custom user interface for the airline. Training
A.J Walter Aviation increased its Airbus and Boeing component inventory at its facilities in Miami and Los Angeles. The company is building up its inventory levels to in Miami and other developing North American hubs with more than $50 million worth of parts. A.J. Walter also signed a three year consignment agreement with StandardAero.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has become the first customer for Boeing's GoldCare line maintenance option as the low-fare carrier commits to the fee-for-service maintenance package. The deal covers six 787s, including three technically still listed as options. Norwegian has coupled fielding of the 787 with the start of long-haul operations.
Air Maintenance Estonia appointed David Williams as managing director and CEO, succeeding Lars-Olof Bolinder. Williams has been in the aviation maintenance business for more than 38 years.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics has made several management changes. Robert Tavares now serves as president of Crane's electronics group, David Bender is president of Crane's aerospace group and Chris Cook is now VP cabin systems solutions.
Distributor: Avio-Diepen Locations: Offices and warehouses in the Netherlands, the U.K., the U.S. and Americas and Hong Kong. Capabilities: Distributes a variety of aircraft components to operators, MROs, airframe manufacturers and subsystem manufacturers. www.avio-diepen.com
By Michael Wm. Denis, Vice President, Customer Engagement, InfoTrust Group
The problem with standards is that everybody has one. However, there are several industry trends—such as new-generation aircraft and asset lifecycle management systems—that are accelerating the adoption of the ASD SX000i and ISO standards. Now the challenge isn't what standard to use to move toward data interoperability, it is when to incorporate the standards, the cost of conversion and the commitment to comply. For new aircraft and weapons systems, the decision is easy. Backward compatibility for older aircraft is another story.
Finnair is launching labor talks to shed 280 positions as the airline moves to outsource engine and component services to SR Technics. The move is part of a wider Finnair group effort to realign the business and seek €140 million in cost savings to improve financial returns. In announcing the deal, airline COO Vile Iho says “this plan is based on a thorough analysis, where we first examined the costs and structures of our own operations, and then compared the results to tens of external service providers.”
1. Light As A Feather Manufacturer: Timco Aerosystems Applications: Timco's new 3200 FeatherWeight seat is designed for economy class with high density configurations. Specifications: Special design features, such as a curved seat back shell and injected molded armrests, maximize comfort for high density configurations. Timco worked with its customers to build the seat based on features they preferred.
Arinc restructured its air/ground domestic radio VHF voice service in North America, changing it from 12 separate networks to six regionally divided networks operating on six frequencies throughout the continental U.S. Parts/Components
Row 44 says it has installed its broadband entertainment system on 250 aircraft in North America, Europe and Africa. The IFE provider recently launched several new services, including live streaming IPTV and movies and television shows on demand.
Fokker Services signed an agreement with seat manufacturer Acro to be the exclusive reseller of lightweight seats for the Fokker 50, 70 and 100 and the Dash 8 aircraft. It also won a five-year Abacus contract from Nigerian airline Aero for its Dash 8 Q-300 aircraft.
VAS Aero Services is expanding its distribution facility in Kent, Wash. to nearly 300,000 sq. ft. Space in the building will increase by more than 50%. IT
Delta may benefit from financing from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank), despite the carrier's being involved in a lawsuit objecting to the bank's financing foreign carriers purchase of Boeing aircraft. The Ex-Im Bank announced an $84.8 million loan guarantee for GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes for engine maintenance services in Atlanta by DeltaTechOps. The Ex-Im Bank's loan guarantee covers the first two years of a five-year contract. DeltaTechOps is to provide 253 engine removals and heavy maintenance on GOL's CFM56-7B engines at its Atlanta facility.
GE Aviation signed a 15-year, $360 million OnPoint material agreement with SkyWest airlines to support the carrier's 150 CF34-8C5B1 engines, which power Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft.
Enthone, a subsidiary of Cookson Electronics, has appointed Vladimir Pade to industry manager for aerospace and defense. He will be responsible for identifying and expanding OEM approvals for wear and corrosion coatings.
Scandinavian Airlines selected AirVault's cloud based maintenance records management system. It is in the process of converting a backfile of 45 million documents and expects to add millions more each year.
CFM International has signed a suite of material support agreements with Delta Air Lines to support the operator's fleet of close to 400 CFM56-7B engines in service or on order, as well as its MRO work for third-parties. The agreement covers the comprehensive repair and replacement of life-limited and non life-limited parts for the engines, as well as technical data for component repairs and engine overhauls. CFM also announced that its CFM56-5B performance improvement program engine has logged more than 30,000 flight hours with no technical issues since Oct. 2011.
Manufacturer: Ancra International Applications: These quick-release fittings require no tools to remove or install, and they significantly cut down maintenance turnaround time. Specifications: Meets Boeing's 16G tool-less seat fitting requirements. www.ancra.com
