Crane Aerospace & Electronics named David Perret general manager of its Lyon, France, site. Prior to this appointment, Perret served Crane as operations and customer support manager.
GE Aviation appointed Bill Fitzgerald VP and general manager of its GEnx product line from his most recent position as VP and general manager of assembly, test and overhaul. Taking over for him in that role is Colleen Athans, who was promoted from general manager of CF6 commercial engines and services.
AJ Walter will support Thai charter airline Business Air’s three Boeing 767-300 fleet under a three-year, power-by-the-hour component provision contract.
Qantas Mainline fleet*: Six Airbus A380-800s, six Boeing 747-400ERs, 21 Boeing 747-400s, 26 Boeing 767-300ERs, 41 Boeing 737-800s, 21 Boeing 737-400s, 11 Boeing 717-200s, 10 Airbus A330-300s and seven Airbus A330-200s Employees*: total staff 30,000, including 6,000 in maintenance and engineering * Does not include Jetstar, which is operated as a separate carrier, or QantasLink’s turboprop fleet.
Seven Q Seven to replace Pratt & Whitney JT3D series engine with Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engine and associated systems in all positions on Boeing 707-300C series aircraft, STC ST02287LA
STG Aerospace amended STCs to install the Saftglo photoluminescent floor proximity emergency escape path marking system on Boeing 747-300 and -400 and 777-200 series aircraft, STCs ST02993AT and ST03684AT
After 18 months of subcontracting line maintenance to a local provider, Klaus Ren, president and CEO of Copenhagen-based Jet-Time A/S, had had enough. “Our vendor didn't perform as promised,” says Ren, noting that the provider has since folded. With seven Boeing 737-300s, Jet-Time now does all line work at its own hangar in Copenhagen. “By doing this inhouse, we can supervise our staff, which is dedicated to our own aircraft. You can’t count on that with an outside provider.”
Rockwell Collins Aerospace & Electronics to install the Rockwell Collins Model 4000 head-up guidance system with enhanced vision system capability on Boeing 737-700, -700C, -800, -900 and -900ER series aircraft, STC ST00039MC
Federal Express amended STC to install a Honeywell head-up display and a Kollsman infrared enhanced flight vision system on McDonnell Douglas MD-10-30F, MD-11 and MD-11F aircraft, STC ST03557AT
Sargent Aerospace & Defense named Kevin Connelly VP, aftermarket services. Connelly most recently was general manager of ACE Service, a joint venture of Parker Aerospace and Singapore Airlines. Airframes
MAS GMR Aerospace Engineering Co. Ltd. is set to launch operations in the second quarter of 2011, partners GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. and MAS Aerospace Engineering say. The $70.9 million facility will service widebody and narrowbody aircraft in its four hangars.
ASL Aviation in Ireland acquired three Aerogo Capital assets—Safair Operations (Pty), Safair Lease Finance (Pty) and three ATR72-500 aircraft. It expects to close the transaction later this month.
GE Aviation plans to invest $40 million on 1,000 new repairs in 2010, and part of this funding is focused on developing new capabilities for its CF6-80C2 engine. Although this 25-year-old model is in the last stages of its life-cycle, its manufacturer is participating in a joint repair development with Lufthansa Technik to test some tried-and-true repair techniques in the turbine engine aftermarket for the first time.
Singapore Airlines plans to roll out full OnAir onboard connectivity services, across its fleet of five Airbus A340-500s in the first half of 2011. It plans to follow with OnAir services on its Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A380s. SIA formerly offered onboard Internet via Boeing’s Connexion service but stopped in 2006, when Boeing exited that business. Parts/Components
Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. (EGAT) signed a 10-year, $230-million OnPoint agreement with GE Aviation to support 100 GE CF6-80C2 engines that power EVA Air’s fleet of Boeing 747-400 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighters and combi aircraft. The contract covers OEM material management and repair solutions for the CF6s. EGAT and GE also have signed a 10-year extended general support licence agreement that GE says allows it to continue to provide technical support to EGAT.
Ameco Aviation College added a new Airbus A320 and A330 maintenance training device: simulation software that generates a virtual cockpit, virtual aircraft and animated system schematics. Ameco says it is the first training organization in China to implement this kind of next-generation training tool.
Pratt & Whitney added ITR-Turborreactores, S.A. de CV’s Queretaro, Mexico, facility as a designated service provider center of excellence for JT8D engine component repair.
Lufthansa Technik signed a 10-year total component support contract with Aeromexico covering the airline’s fleet of 34 Boeing 737-700s and -800s. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Technical trainer John Mendoza is lucky. In his 25 years at San Antonio’s Kelly Aviation Center, he has rarely experienced major safety issues in the engine test cell. But accidents happen to even the best test cell operators, and once, early in his career, he came across an emergency situation that he was unprepared to handle.
India’s Air Works aims to expand rapidly into the country’s booming market for aircraft maintenance by buying foreign specialist operators and replicating their expertise at home. It sees the expansion strategy, already used with its purchase of British aircraft painting firm Air Livery, as the answer to a range of challenges: how to quickly gather expertise, avoid overloading management, lure new customers, and establish and keep a reputation for quality.
Do operators of small aircraft fleets get shafted in aftermarket support? I hope not, but they do have a challenge simply due to economies of scale. While these operators may not be able to support in-house maintenance for their petite fleets, they provide great opportunities for MRO service providers that can tailor services for them.
