Pratt & Whitney Canada's Customer Service Center Europe, which is a joint venture between Pratt & Whitney Canada and MTU/Germany, appointed Air Green, near Turin, Italy, a recognized maintenance facility for PT6T and PW200 engines. P&WC's European center also named Dassault Falcon Service as a recognized maintenance facility for PW308C engines.
Pemco Aeroplex was awarded a contract to perform depot level maintenance and repairs on U.S. Coast Guard HC-130s. The contract is for two years with three, one-year options and valued at $36 million. Pemco will perform the progressive structural inspection baseline and repair as well as unscheduled depot-level maintenance.
Honeywell has integrated its business jet cabin services business with its newly acquired Cabin Management, Systems and Services (CMSS) business in Sarasota, Fla. Honeywell acquired the Florida business, formerly Baker Electronics, Inc., in December.
Duncan Aviation received an STC to fabricate replacement foam cushions for the Citation X's cabin chairs. It also announced delivery of the first set of cabinets for Embraer's Legacy aircraft.
Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (HAECO) first-half revenues fell to HK$190 million from HK$240 million for the same six months last year. Revenue from TAECO was HK$46 million and revenue from HAESL was HK$80 million.
Former Exostar President and CEO Andy Plyler was named executive vice president of business development by Tracer, a privately held provider of commercial aviation parts and services based in Milwaukee. In addition to Exostar, Plyler has held positions with Honeywell, Goodrich, Delta and Partsbase.com.
Air Canada reorganized its executive management and in the process eliminated five positions, including Robin Wohnsigl's, who was senior vice president of Air Canada Maintenance. Jon Turner, general manager of aircraft programs, will resume Wohnsigl's responsibilities. Wohnsigl also had the title of president of Air Canada Technical Services.
Sterling Courier launched its Aerospace Specialty Group, which was established to transport critical parts, usually in AOG situations, in the shortest timeframe possible.
Honeywell signed a 10-year $60 million maintenance service agreement with ExpressJet Airlines. Honeywell will maintain the Primus 1000 avionics and engine air turbine start systems for the regional airline's Embraer ERJ-135s and ERJ-145s.
In a nutshell, MSG-3 is designed to allow a carrier to save money by consolidating scheduled maintenance checks. For instance, based on 14 years of operational experience, Boeing's 2002 version of MSG-3 for the Boeing 747-400 allows carriers to perform D checks every six years with no hourly constraints, whereas the 1988 MSG-3 required D checks every 25,000 flight hours or five years, whichever came first (see chart on p. 44).
Canadian officials on May 14 formally accepted from Boeing International the CAF's first first Phase I modernized CF-18 Hornet. Of 98 CF-18As and 40 two-seat CF-18Bs procured between 1982 and 1988, 121 aircraft remain. Fifteen were lost in accidents, one was rendered unflyable from testing procedures, and another was inducted into the Canada Aviation Museum.
Formal roll-out from BAE Systems' Warton facility on June 10 of the 142nd and last upgraded RAF Tornado GR.4/4A marked the conclusion of a highly successful billion pound plus ($1.666 billion) ground-attack capability enhancement program that started in July 1994.
Sabena Technics signed a five-year contract with Yemenia to provide component repair, overhaul and testing as well as component exchange for four Airbus A310s plus a Boeing 737-200.
Decades of airline operation under socialism, where support from the manufacturer was virtually non-existent, have taught maintenance organizations in Eastern Europe the value of improvisation. It is that ability, coupled with significantly reduced maintenance-cost-per-manhour rates, that have helped MRO operations in Hungary and the Czech Republic, in particular, capture business that might ordinarily go to companies further west.
FAA on Aug. 13 grounded all U.S.-based Learjet 45s pending an investigation of the horizontal stabilizer actuator assembly (HSAA) on each of the business jets. In the airworthiness directive grounding the fleet, FAA said, ``This action is necessary to prevent structural failure of the HSAA, which could result in possible loss of control of the airplane.'' The HSAA on the Bombardier-built Learjet 45 is manufactured by MPC Products Corp. of Skokie, Ill. According to AvData, Inc., there are more than 170 Learjet 45s operating in North America.
Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems delivered the 300th AH-64D Apache Longbow multi-role combat helicopter to the U.S. Army on May 22 from its Mesa, Ariz., facility. Boeing is delivering 269 AH-64Ds to the Army through 2006 from the second of two multi-year contracts. The first, MYC I, covered 232 Apache Longbows, for an overall total of 501. The latest Apaches, including #300, are in Block II configuration, which contains enhancements to improve situational awareness and meet the Army's future digital requirements.
Kenya Airways selected Rockwell Collins to upgrade three Boeing 767s to include Total Entertainment System and also supply its TES and traffic alert and collision avoidance system on three Boeing 777s.
