FLS Aerospace will perform heavy maintenance on the worldwide fleet of aircraft owned and managed by GE Capital Aviation Services. The annually renewable contract covers all types for which FLS holds heavy maintenance approvals, and will include work at FLS' Stansted and Manchester facilities. Also, FLS Aerospace signed five-year contract to provide all A and C checks for Virgin Sun's fleet of Airbus A320s.
With markets that are expected to grow as much as 10% annually over the next few years, MRO is an alive and thriving business in Asia. Established MRO providers in Hong Kong, China and Singapore are attracting business from North American and European airlines hoping to take advantage of the region's lower labor cost per hour.
Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) named Richard Higgins, who is vice president maintenance, engineering and publications for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, chairman of AIA's commercial customer support committee.
AlliedSignal and Honeywell signed a definitive merger agreement that, if it withstands government scrutiny, will see AlliedSignal acquire Honeywell in an all-stock transaction worth roughly $14 billion. The merged company will have annual revenues of $25 billion. Aerospace will be the company's largest single business segment, with approximately $10 billion in revenue.
Rockwell Collins President Clayton M. Jones has been appointed to the Policy Board of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA), a private, not-for-profit organization that addresses requirements and technical concepts for aviation.
Rockwell Collins named Neal J. Keating vice president and general manager of Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems. Steven J. Piller has been named to succeed Keating as vice president and general manager of Rockwell Collins Air Transport Systems.
Lista International introduced the Storage Wall Roller Shelf, designed to be used within Lista's modular Storage Wall system. Constructed with standard conveyor rollers, roller shelf allows items to glide on and off shelves easily, for safer, more ergonomic storage. Available in standard and shallow depths, product is useful for storage of dies, molds and other heavy equipment and parts. Shelf positions can be adjusted in 1-in. increments; shelves have 770-lb. load capacity. Lista International, 106 Lowland St., Holliston, MA 01746.
Boeing and Aviation Partners plan to form a joint venture to offer retrofit winglets for Boeing 7-series transports. Boeing said the composite winglets increase mileage by about 6% during long-range cruise. The first aircraft to apply for FAA approval likely will be the 737, because test flights already have been performed on the 737-derivative Boeing Business Jet. Retrofit cost is estimated at $900,000.
Assistance of a U.S. partner is being sought by the Israeli Defense Ministry for disposal of surplus spares, powerplants and equipment, valued at over $1 billion, for aircraft no longer operated by the IDF/AF, including A-4 Skyhawks and early- model F-4 Phantoms. Selection of a U.S. industrial company for this project is expected later this year, as part of Defense Ministry plans for privatizing much of the IDF/AF's logistic support organization.
Turbomeca Engine Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding with Keystone Helicopters to acquire Keystone's engine repair and overhaul division. Keystone will remain at its West Chester, Pa. location and its 21 employees will become Turbomeca employees. Transaction is expected to be completed by the end of August.
As air cargo shipments continue to expand, a growing number of operators are seeing a need to deploy more capable aircraft into markets that cannot justify the capacity of even the smallest traditional cargo jets such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 or Boeing 727. In addition, many markets are served by airports that cannot accommodate large jets due to limitations in runway length or local noise restrictions.
Dallas Airmotive and Stage III Technologies completed a test on a Rolls-Royce Spey 511-8 hushkit that showed no difference in operational parameters between the engine with or without hushkit. FAA noise certification of the modified engines on board Gulfstream II aircraft is scheduled for July.
Air Transport Association named J. Donald Collier vice president for engineering, maintenance&materiel. Collier has served the past year as acting vice president; he previously was senior director of engineering and maintenance.
U.S. Marine Corps maintenance planners and mechanics this winter got their first look at how the new Bell Boeing V-22 tilt-rotor transport operates in its primary environment -- at sea aboard ship.
FAA issued four emergency airworthiness directives (ADs) April 22 aimed at preventing possible wiring-related smoke and fires in Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD-11 trijets. The first order involves the aft main avionics rack on certain MD-11s. The second AD was prompted by an incident in which sparks and smoke came out of the center accessory compartment during a function test due to a wire bundle that had chafed against a support bracket.
BFGoodrich Ice Protection Systems Division's FASTBoot line of pneumatic de-icers received FAA approval for use on de Havilland Dash 8 Series 100/200/300 and on Embraer 120 turboprop transports.
Aviation Sales Company ``We are seeing a dramatic shift on the part of airlines here and abroad to enter into long-term agreements with parties capable of providing a total service,'' Aviation Sales Co. President Dale Baker said. ``To do this, an MRO company has to be able to do both airframe maintenance and component overhaul and repair and still be able to provide parts support.''
PPG Industries is expanding production of plastic aircraft transparencies at the Casaletto Vaprio, Italy, plant of its Ampaspace subsidiary near Milan. Products in production include cockpit windows for the Lockheed Martin/Alenia C-27 transport, Alenia G222 transport and Fokker 27 regional airliner.
Primex Aerospace's in-seat power supply system, EmPower Plus, will be installed in aircraft operated by Aer Lingus and Air Canada. System lets passengers plug in laptops, personal stereos or video players into their seat outlets during flight.
Bedek Aviation won a contract to perform D checks on two Omni International Douglas DC-10s. Company also will do heavy maintenance on eight Polar Air Cargo Boeing 747s, with work valued at $8 million. Also, company is converting two Triton 747s from passenger to freighter configuration.
