Honeywell completed the first run of its TFE731-50 turbofan which is scheduled to receive FAA certification in 2004. Honeywell designed the engine to deliver up to 4,900 pounds of thrust. The TFE731-50 is a derivative of the current production -60 engine.
Jet Aviation Zurich completed a big avionics upgrade on a Cessna Conquest II. Some of the avionics includes a UNS-1KL FMS, an enhanced ground proximity warning system and a multi-function display.
In an age of "virtual airlines," where much of the core work is outsourced, AirTran's vice president of operations jokingly tells colleagues, "We have a virtual hangar." That "hangar" is the ramp at the end of Concourse C at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. With 165 departures per day, most of them out of 24 gates arrayed along Concourse C, the ramp can be a pretty busy place, even without the maintenance. "Yeah," smiled Jim Trebilcock, the airline's Atlanta maintenance chief. "There are some challenges associated with that." Space is a problem.
Window Scratch Removal Micro-Surface Finishing Products' ``Maintenance Kit'' is designed to remove haze and slight surface scratches from acrylic and polycarbonate transparencies. This kit should restore 100 sq. ft. of window surface on pressured business aviation, general aviation or military aircraft. The kit doesn't require any special power tools because the polishing pads attach to a soft back-up pad that then fits into a standard rotary buffer. All of the polishing pads come with a looped backing so operators can reuse them repeatedly.
The value of the worldwide commercial jet transport market continues to fall and is unlikely to rebound to anywhere near its 2001 level of $42.2 billion until at least 2008, according to the annual MRO Forecast prepared for O&M by Strand Associates Inc. (SAI) and BACK Aviation Solutions. In setting a baseline for this year's 10-year forecast, SAI and BACK pegged the January 2003 value of the MRO market at $36.1 billion, which is down 4.5% from last year's baseline of $37.8 billion and is off a whopping 14.5% from 2001's relatively gaudy value of $42.2 billon.
Boeing selected two airlines to participate in the development of its Airplane Health Management system, a data monitoring and prognostic service designed to monitor an aircraft's health inflight and relay real-time data inflight to maintenance crews so they can quickly repair the aircraft once it lands. Air France and American Airlines will test AHM during the next year, as will a third Asia-Pacific airline, which should be announced soon.
Lehman Brothers reported that 579 aircraft, or 11.1% of the fleet, remain parked in February. This is less than the 583 aircraft parked in January but more than that parked in December. The equity research firm said operators parked 14 aircraft in February but removed 18. Only seven of those returned to commercial operations. As for the ``desert dinosaurs,'' only one returned to service -- a 737 to Delta Air Lines -- and three more entered that holding zone, which now includes 403 aircraft.
AEROMAN signed a one-year line maintenance contract with Iberia to maintain the Spanish carrier's A319s that fly into El Salvador. AEROMAN is Grupo TACA Airlines' MRO center and is an ISO 9001 facility.
Continental Data Graphics, a Boeing subsidiary, expanded its 25-year relationship with International Airlines Technical Pool through a five-year contract for enhanced web-based data hosting. The contract calls for Continental DataGraphics to provide enhancements to a system that stores and disseminates data on pooled airplane parts.
Russell Adams received a contract from NorthStar Aerospace Group, which recently purchased FLS Aerospace's Copenhagen facility, to provide a system to manage all hangar, material, logistics and shop floor data collection.
Lufthansa Technik acquired 50% of Airfoil Services from MTU Aero Engines. The company, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, specializes in repairing low-pressure turbine blades in CF6-50, CF6-80, CFM56-3, CFM56-5 and V2500 engines. It also overhauls V2500 compressor blades. The majority of Airfoil Services' business comes from its two owners, but the new joint owners hope to expand its Asian customer base.
Copa Airlines awarded GE Engine Services an $83 million, 12-year maintenance contract to perform maintenance on the carrier's CFM56-7 engines that power its fleet of Boeing 737-700s. The contract covers GE's Maintenance Cost Per Hour program.
ExelTech, a Montreal-based regional aircraft maintenance facility, is opening a new European sales office in cooperation with Roe Aviation of Switzerland.
Northrop Grumman received another $14.47 million supplement to upgrade two French navy Group II E-2Cs to Hawkeye 2000 standards. About 40% of the work will be undertaken at Aeronavale's Cuers-Pierrefeu maintenance depot. Completion is scheduled by December 2006. Delays reported in the implementation of a six-year government contract, received by Portugal's OGMA military maintenance group last June for technical support of 14 French air force (AdlA) Lockheed C-130H/H-30 Hercules, which resulted in their temporary grounding, are being rectified.
National Air Transportation Association said more than 500 FBOs in the U.S. have line-service technicians who passed the association's Safety 1st programs.
Total Aircraft Services received an FAA STC to install Max-Viz EVS in Challenger 601 aircraft. EVS-1000 uses un-cooled infrared sensors as a camera to provide real-time video to a cockpit display.
Rockwell Collins received an FAA STC for its high-speed satcom system for use on Falcon 50, 900 and 900EX. Pentastar Aviation installed the HST-900 system that provides passengers connectivity, including email and Internet access inflight.
The MRO Forecast is a macro forecast of global MRO activity over the next 10 years. For the third year in a row, the team of BACK Aviation Solutions and Strand Associate, Inc. (SAI) produced the forecast for O&M. The forecast looks at projected MRO activity in three different scenarios: slow economic growth, moderate growth and rapid growth. BACK and SAI built the forecast on a regional basis so that every element of the forecast varies by region.
Lufthansa Technik signed 119 new contracts in 2002 that represented 220 million. The company attracted 35 new customers, which brings it total to 378. The Lufthansa Technik Group, which includes 13 companies, posted sales of 2.8 billion in 2002. About 58% of its MRO sales came from customers outside the group.
Inventory Locator Service launched the ILS MRO Quick Catalogue, an internet-based searchable catalog that enables customers to offer online catalogs from their own websites without having to make large technology investments.
AMECO-Beijing completed the first of 11 cockpit door modification of an Air China Boeing 747. AMECO recently completed the same type of modification for two 747-300s owned by Air Atlanta Icelandic, which just awarded AMECO a $20 million contract for 747 heavy maintenance. Air Atlanta Icelandic operates 16 Boeing 747s.
CFMI hopes to receive certification of its thrust reverser and chevron nozzle in the second quarter for its CFM56-5B acoustic upgrade program. The program's objective is to meet Stage 4 requirements that will take effect Jan. 2006 for new and derivative aircraft. In addition, the manufacturer hopes to receive certification in Octo- ber for its CFM56-5C/P upgrade that is designed to be interchangeable with current -5C models on Airbus A340-200300 aircraft, provide 13C lower EGT and maintain -5C noise standards.
