Spar Aerospace received a contract from the Canadian Department of National Defense to supply, install and integrate commercial off-the-shelf GPS in 32 modified CC-130 Hercules aircraft. Spar Aerospace in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, will complete the work over 16 months. Spar also received a contact to provide integrated support for the Canadian Forces' fleet of 32 CC-130 aircraft.
The aerospace industry is a tough place to be right now, and it's not simply the events of Sept. 11 that have made it so. Consolidation continues; major manufacturers are signing longer-term agreements with fewer suppliers; and customers increasingly are demanding lower costs, faster turntimes and higher quality. These combine to present suppliers with a unique set of challenges, many of which were addressed at Aviation Week's Aerospace Expo 2001 held Oct. 16-18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Bombardier Aerospace, ExecuJet Aviation Group and Alpha 55 of Dubai plan to open a joint-venture service facility at Dubai International Airport. The new 28,000-square-foot (2,600-square-meter) facility with two bays, scheduled to open in 2002, will offer comprehensive support and maintenance for all Bombardier business jets.
IHS Enterprise Solutions received a contract from the United States Air Force to provide a web portal. The USAF will use the portal to disseminate technical orders and other mission-critical, hyperlinked data. IHS will convert millions of pages of illustrations and data tables used for aircraft maintenance and repair. The three USAF Air Logistics Centers -- Warner Robins ALC, Oklahoma City ALC and Ogden ALC -- will participate in the conversion project.
FedEx selected AAR Cargo Systems to design and manufacture the main deck cargo loading system for its McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighters. AAR will supply 13 cargo loading systems in support of FedEx's conversion program with Boeing Airplane Services.
Air France, CSA Czech and Delta airlines are cleared to increase their services cooperation due to the U.S./France open skies agreement signed on Oct. 19.
Airline Suppliers Association (ASA) members elected Jay Rosenberg of the International Airline Support Group as chairman of the Quality Assurance Committee and Chris Anderson, director of quality assurance at Source One Spares, as vice chairman.
Details of new upgrade proposals for the Sukhoi Su-22M4 ``Fitter K'' Mach 1.7 variable-geometry ground-attack fighter were jointly revealed by Poland's WZL-2 military aircraft depot and Israel Aircraft Industries' Lahav division at a recent Polish defense equipment exhibition. Some of these proposals were provisionally selected by the Polish air force (WLOP) in May 2000 to extend the operating lives of its 78 Su-22M4s at a cost of Zl127 million ($30 million), within the 2001 to 2006 national defense plan.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has begun to accelerate hiring at its lower-cost maintenance subsidiaries and virtually stopped adding new personnel at its primary maintenance operations at Tokyo's Narita and Haneda airports as a way to battle high labor costs.
China Southern Airlines recently became the seventh airline worldwide to achieve the one million-hour mark using the Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4 engine. China Southern has 44 of the engine type to power its fleet of 18 Boeing 757s.
EADS Sogerma Services received a contract from Air Macau to overhaul its Airbus 321 landing gear. EADS will complete the work at its Bordeaux, France facility.
Independence is a wonderful thing. Just ask David Lui, Dragonair's general manager of engineering. Since the re-creation of its engineering department in 1998, the Hong Kong-based carrier has positioned itself to control its destiny separate from long-time shareholder and partner Cathay Pacific, which for many years managed Dragonair's inventory and maintenance/engineering needs.
Airbus signed two new contracts for its AIRMAN software, which is designed to enhance airlines' aircraft maintenance operations. Austrian Airlines and Emirates became the fourth and fifth customers, respectively. AIRMAN is designed to provide real-time receipt and management of onboard maintenance system messages through ACARS/ATSU (air traffic service unit), provide access to all information connected with an aircraft's maintenance message and offer troubleshooting advice, and provide a daily task list of preventive maintenance measures. Airbus launched AIRMAN in June.
Middle River Aircraft Systems' facility in Thailand, MRAS Asia Ltd., has overhauled and repaired 50 CF6 thrust reversers since opening the 48,000-square-foot facility last fall. Customers include Thai Airways, Japan Airlines and UPS. MRAS is the OEM for the CF6 reversers and says about 50% of those operating are located in the Asia-Pacific region.
One year after it took over the maintenance assets of Philippine Airlines (PAL), Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) is preparing to transform the former PAL facilities at Ninoy Aquino International Airport here into a modern Airbus A330/A340 overhaul center. The facilities today remain largely unchanged since LTP opened last September, but Marc Szepan, vice president of aircraft overhaul, said there will be ``a major push'' to upgrade and modernize beginning this month [in December].
FAA named Nicholas Sabatini as associate administrator for regulation and certification. He previously was director of FAA's Flight Standards Service. Sabatini replaces Thomas McSweeny, who retired.
Cathay Pacific Airways launched the Boeing 747-400 with Rolls-Royce engines in 1989. It also launched the Airbus A330 with the Trent 700, and the Boeing 777-300 with Trent 900s. The carrier also was responsible for 777-200 ETOPS flight testing, and launched Matsushita's inflight entertainment equipment on the 777. And currently, Cathay is demonstrating the first-ever, live, onboard Internet service on one of its A330-300s. In all, it is an impressive list of engineering accomplishments for the Hong Kong-based carrier.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace Aircraft Maintenance&Modification (AMM) business saw a (Singapore) $32 million increase in sales in the first nine months of this year, largely because its SASCO and ST Mobile Aerospace facilities grew their hangar capabilities. The company's third-quarter report also said additional component deliveries from its Component/Engine Repair&Overhaul (CERO) group resulted in $32 million in sales, and improvements in the rotables business from its Engineering&Material Services (EMS) group contributed $12 million in sales.
Affinity Solutions applied for a patent for its two-component paint touch-up kit to be used on aircraft applications. Its EZ2-PaintKit is designed to eliminate the need to mix small batches of paint, which requires cleanup and hazardous waste disposal. The kit is designed to be simple to use and be supplied with any two-part paint grade or color. Affinity Solutions, PO Box 2492, Alpine, CA 91901.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has a large in-house maintenance department, but makes significant use of third-party providers and its executives are looking to outsource more work. Of its total work volume, 38% is outsourced to third parties, 35% is done in-house and 27% is handled by ``Team ANA,'' which includes the airline and its subsidiaries (see table, p. 36).
Photograph: This Su-30KN prototype, displayed for the first time at the Moscow Air Show, incorporates basic avionics upgrades for the Russian air force. John Fricker Service flight-tests started in June of the first upgraded Russian air force (VVS) Sukhoi Su-30KN (s/n 302) multi-role combat aircraft, which first flew in March 1999. The VVS has completed about 100 initial sorties. VVS flight trials also have begun of the similarly upgraded two-seat Su-27UBM (s/n 20) combat-trainer version, formally delivered from IAPO in Irkutsk on March 6, 2001.
LanChile signed a 12-year agreement with Lufthansa Technik to supply component and spares services for the airline's 27 Airbus A340 and A320 aircraft. Lufthansa Technik's Total Component Support contract handles the whole supply chain for aircraft components, from maintenance to logistics.
The U.K.'s Defense Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) signed a contract with Eurocopter to repair and overhaul Gazelle helicopter components and structures.
B/E Aerospace acquired Denton Jet Interiors, a supplier of upholstery for business jets. The acquisition will help B/E provide a seamless procurement process for business jet seat orders.
America West is contesting the severity of fines proposed by FAA for maintenance-related violations, arguing FAA should reduce the penalties because the airline voluntarily disclosed many of the infractions, and that it was responsive to corrective actions ordered by the agency.
