Scheduling has long been an issue in aviation maintenance. Current project management software such as Microsoft Project is adequate, but these programs can make thousands of microscopic errors that can add up to a lot of ups and downs in manpower and overtime requirements, says Matthew Ginsberg, CEO of On Time Systems Inc.
Turkish Technik is aiming for the first quarter of 2011 to begin working with Goodrich on a joint-venture company announced in July to provide nacelle and thrust reverser maintenance, and related component work, although it still has not chosen the exact location for the plant. The company, which is seeing its landing gear maintenance business provide great profits, will double its employees to 4,000-plus by 2015.
AJ Walter Aviation added a new warehouse in Singapore, where in early November it said it already held more than $20 million in Airbus and Boeing inventory. This investment is a second recent addition: in September, AJ Walter announced it was adding a new office in Miami.
Hamilton Sundstrand opened a new, high-tech customer response center on Nov. 9, to provide a single point of access to a unified IT platform and master database. As it ramps up based on call volume, Hamilton Sundstrand says it could add specialists in areas such as health management.
Archeion Holdings amended STCs to install an Avionica satlink Iridium satcom communication management system on various Boeing 727, 737, 757 and 767 series aircraft, STCs ST03689AT, ST03529AT, ST03386AT and ST03508AT
AAR Petrotech, a division of AAR Corp., has teamed up with New York’s Petroleum Technologies Inc. to offer hydraulic fuel reclamation services for Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft. When Petrotech’s reclamation unit connects with an aircraft’s drain and refuel valve, it cleans hydraulic fuel of contaminants such as water, dirt and gas. AAR estimates that purifying hydraulic oil regularly can save at least 10% in hydraulic maintenance costs per flight hour and eliminate the future cost of replacement fuel. www.aarcorp.com/comm/aarpetrotechhome_072808.htm
CFM International will maintain Muscat-based Oman Air’s 33 CFM56-7B engines under an Oct. 26 agreement. The contract guarantees maintenance costs on a dollar-per-engine flight hour basis for all of the powerplants that equip Oman Air’s 15 Boeing 737NGs, in addition to spares. According to CFM, Oman Air was the first customer in the Gulf region for CFM56-7B-powered 737NGs, which it ordered in 2001.
Lufthansa Technik will overhaul the CFM56-5B engines that power Austrian Airlines’ 21 Airbus A320 family aircraft over the next eight years under a new contract that covers MRO, engineering services, logistics and spare engine support. Lufthansa Technik also overhauls Austrian’s CFM56-7B and PW4000 engines.
Iberia Maintenance’s new hangar in Barcelona, which opened last month, is expected to create 200 high-skilled jobs when it reaches full capacity. Its current staff of 60 was in training in October, and the facility expected two aircraft to arrive in November for simultaneous inspections.
The Regional Airlines Association added Constance Arnold as director of safety and technical affairs. Arnold most recently worked with US Airways’ Phoenix-based technical operations group. She will be responsible for many safety and regulatory issues previously handled by Dave Lotterer, who retired last December.
Timco amended and issued STCs to install cell modems, other cabin systems and new interiors in Boeing 767-300 series aircraft; to install structural provisions for the Panasonic global communications suite on Boeing 737-700 series aircraft; and to install a Rockwell Collins SRT-2100 satcom system on Boeing 767-400ER series aircraft, STCs ST03604AT-D, ST03810AT-D, ST03808AT-D, ST03068AT-D, ST03552AT-D, ST03493AT-D, ST03492AT-D and ST03468AT-D
Vartan Product Support founded a new, wholly owned subsidiary called Vartan Product Support in Washington state. The new branch already has won a contract to support the Boeing 747-8, and it is working on cabin manufacturer Bucher Leichtbau and Anolis' program for Lufthansa. Vartan says the new company will expand cabin support for Boeing in future.
CORRECTIONS: The quote by Andrew Richardson, AkzoNobel Aerospace Coating’s global market director, pertains to the company’s interior cabin coating, Aerofine, and not to its Aerodur 3001 basecoat or Aerodur 3002 clearcoat system (October, pg. 62-63). Inventory Locator Service was misidentified as International Locator Service (November, pg. 45).
ADI opened its doors in April 2010 at Sawyer International Airport in Gwinn, Mich. ADI’s dismantlers can take apart, remanufacture and recertify many of an aircraft’s parts for the secondary market, boosting the return on investment for aging aircraft. In addition to work at its own fixed-base facility—which includes two 30,000-sq.-ft. hangars, a 35,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and an engine test cell—ADI will travel to conduct remote teardowns anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. www.aircraftdeconstructors.com
GE Aviation celebrated a record surpassing 100,000 flight hours for the CF6-80C2B1F turbofan engine on Lufthansa 747-400s maintained by Lufthansa Technik. Lufthansa operates a fleet of 120 CF6-80C2B1F engines, five of which have greater than 100,000 flight hours each. An additional eight engines in operation all have greater than 99,000 flight hours. Together, the fleet of Lufthansa's CF6-80C2B1F engines has achieved a grand total of 10 million flight hours.
Ramco Systems will provide Suite 5 M&E and MRO maintenance planning software to the National Aviation Co. of India, which operates Air India, Indian Airlines, Air India Expres and Alliance, under a September contract.
LONDON—More than 12,000 aircraft could reach their end of service lives in the next 20 years, while the prices of raw and processed materials to construct their successors continue to rise. Will recycling these redundant airframes ease material costs?
