Premier Turbines named John J. Orozco vice president-general manager of its Independence, Kan., facility. Company also named James A. Robertson vice president-general manager of its Neosho, Mo. facility. Orozco most recently was plant manager of Independence facility; Robertson was manager-operations for Neosho facility.
China-National South Aero-Engine Co. (SAEC) and PrattandWhitney Canada formed a joint venture in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, China, to make gas turbine components. Companies are investing $27 million in Southern PrattandWhitney Aero-Engine Co. Ltd., with SAEC holding 51% stake. SAEC is controlled by Aviation Industries of China (AVIC).
Avatar Alliance signed a multi-year deal with Air Transat Airlines for component leasing and procurement services to support the airline's Boeing 737-400 fleet.
Triumph Air Repair signed five-year contracts with United Parcel Service and Lufthansa Technik to provide repair services for APUs and line replaceable units. UPS contract covers APU and LRU work on UPS' 727, 757 and 767 aircraft. Lufthansa contract calls for Triumph to provide repair service for Lufthansa's 737 APUs and LRUs.
The Network Connection, Inc. (TCNi) received FAA certification of its AirView digital in-flight communications/entertainment system for McDonnell Douglas MD-81s.
United Airlines was named overhauler of AlliedSignal 331-500 APUs on Boeing 777 aircraft in North America. United will provide service at San Francisco.
Boeing received an STC to convert 747-200 combis with stretched upper decks to full freighter configuration, allowing the stretched version to carry as much cargo as a standard 747-200 freighter. Work will be done at the company's Modification Center in Wichita, Kan.
CFM International will distribute engine maintenance documents via Boeing On-Line Data (BOLD), a digital information system for operators of Boeing jetliners. CFMI is the first jet engine OEM to sign such a deal with Boeing.
McGraw-Hill Aviation Week Group named Stephen Munro publisher of Aviation Week Newsletters. Munro previously was group publisher, newsletters for Hart Publications Inc.
Boeing received a contract to modify two 747-200 combi aircraft into full freighters for American International Airways at Boeing's Modification Center in Wichita, Kan.
Hermetic Aircraft International Corp. (HAIC), Holtsville, N.Y., promoted Garry Print to CEO and Peter Stauffer to vice president salesandmarketing. Print was vice president of operations and Stauffer was commercial director and manager of government programs.
PrattandWhitney Canada will maintain American Eagle's fleet of PW100 engines. Work includes overhaul, repair, hot section inspection, component repair development, accessory repair and spare engines.
New maintenance systems will be needed to support the pilotless aircraft that likely will assume some of the military aviation roles now filled by more traditional equipment. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in partnership with several U.S. Air Force research laboratories, is working on an advanced technology demonstration (ATD) program to get industry to design and build the first prototypes of uninhabited combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).
Initial flight tests of VPK MAPO's upgraded MiG-29SMT prototype began at Moscow's Zhukovsky flight-test center Nov. 27, 1997, and are scheduled for completion by August. Shown in static form at Russia's MAKS '97 air show at Zhukovsky last August, main features of the MiG-29SMT (Article 9-17) are the addition of a dual-redundant Mil Std 1553B databus and digital open-architecture avionics, including twin Western or Russian multi-function color cockpit displays and a wide-angle HUD, plus GosNIIASS INS/GPS equipment.
PrattandWhitney plans to buy a 51% stake in SIA Engineering's existing commercial aircraft engine overhaul business in Singapore. Joint venture will overhaul all Singapore Airlines engines, and will seek third-party work.
Devtek Corp. will produce and assemble spare parts for out-of-production Boeing aircraft under an agreement with the OEM. Company is establishing Devtek Aerospace Logistic Support Group at Kitchener, Ontario, to handle the work.
In the MRO business, the marketplace is proving that bigger is, if not better, at least more competitive. Bulk and its attendant financial clout lend a company a certain leverage in market penetration. Much of this has to do with being large enough to absorb the huge capitalization and labor costs inherent in maintaining aircraft, engines and related components. It also has to do with economies of scale.
British Airways will retrofit its fleet of more than 200 jetliners with the AlliedSignal enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). Retrofit will cost more than $10 million.
The Spanish air force took delivery Jan. 21 of the first of its Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transports to undergo an avionics upgrade. Twelve C-130Hs, including a single stretched C-130H-30, are involved in this program, for which Spain's CASA, as prime contractor, received a $43.6 million contract in 1995.
AAR Corp. started its Super Spares program, which delivers critical airframe parts in as little as an hour (depending on location). Parts are stocked at four distribution centers near major airports: New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Miami. UPS subsidiary SonicAir will manage the warehousing and delivery of the components.
