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.
The whole notion of the ``customer always being right'' has been a business staple for eons. But just meeting customer desires and needs is no longer enough. Aerospace and aviation companies that plan to succeed in the customer service wars for the hearts and minds of their clients not only will have to meet their customers' current requirements in a highly responsive manner, but also they will have to accurately anticipate emerging needs. Are we talking about clairvoyance?
Derco Aerospace was named an exclusive worldwide distributor of DCX-CHOL Enterprises' F-16 and C-130 cable assemblies, wire harnesses, conduit assemblies and related parts.
Alcoa unveiled a strategic initiative aimed at redefining the cost and weight performance of metallic structures. Facing stiff competition from composite materials, Alcoa's goal is to provide a 20% weight reduction and a 20% lower cost for metallic components.
Derco Repair Services received a license from Boeing to access maintenance information of Boeing commercial airplane components through the OEM's MyBoeingFleet.com portal.
Derco Aerospace received a 10-month contract from the Royal Netherlands Air Force to upgrade the avionics on its C-130H-30 fleet. Derco will install the upgrades at the RNLAF's facilities. Derco also signed a three-year agreement with Goodrich Turbine Fuel Technologies to stock and distribute its T56 fuel nozzles and related parts. This contract, excluding Japan, extends a contract originally signed in 1996.
Third-party maintenance issues recently have assumed an uncommonly high profile in Washington aviation circles as an association took a long-running battle over instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) to the most powerful hill in the land, and investigators dug deeper into the January crash of an Air Midwest Beech 1900 (see p. 22). The ICA effort, led by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), has been the more promising development for overhaul shops. As O&M went to press, the U.S. House of Representatives' version of Flight 100 -- H.R.
FLS Aerospace renewed its agreement with Aegean Airlines to provide heavy maintenance checks and component management for the airline's eight Boeing 737s for the next five years.
Quiet Technology Aerospace approved Jet Aviation's Geneva, Singapore, Teterboro and West Palm Beach facilities as service centers for its hush kits in Gulfstream GII, GII, GIIB and GIII aircraft.
