Who: British Airways Maintenance Facility at Cardiff, in collaboration with WinWare Type of Project: Tool Inventory Management Product: Cribmaster 8 software Manufacturer: WinWare, Inc. Performance: Organizes crib inventory and helps eliminate foreign object damage
EASA recently published its latest four-year plan for progressing its backlog of requirements and moving ahead with new ones—a plan that some critics have said will more likely take 15 years. Why the procrastination? Because in the current economic climate, the agency may struggle to get sufficient funding from the European Commission to complete this work in the planned timeframe.
Aviation Technical Services will install Lumexis’s Fiber-To-The-Screen inflight entertainment system on 44 post-delivery modification Boeing 737-800s for flydubai. Parts/Components
The legislative process is daunting and unwieldy, and it requires an understanding of divergent and often competing interests. In spite of the challenges, involvement is an absolute necessity; what happens in political arenas has enormous implications on markets and the cost of doing business. This is why the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) devotes so much time and effort to navigating the U.S. legislative arena.
Bombardier Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding with Fokker to develop logistics support solutions for Dash 8/Q100/200/300 aircraft through Fokker’s ABACUS component program.
Aviation Capital Group ordered two Boeing 737-400SF 11 pallet passenger-to-freighter converted aircraft from Aeronautical Engineers Inc. The first aircraft started undergoing freighter modifications and heavy maintenance in July; the second should be inducted by the end of the year.
Pratt & Whitney’s EcoPower engine wash system will launch in India with an Air India service center at Mumbai International Airport. Air India plans to wash its own engines as well as those of third-party customers. Pratt also renewed its engine wash agreement with JetBlue Airways for another two years. The carrier started washing its IAE V2500 and CF34 engines using the EcoPower system last year. Pratt recently washed its 13,000th engine, and it formed a partnership with fuel management consultant Flight Sciences International called Eco Flight Solutions.
Start preparing for NextGen retrofit—even if NextGen may be a money-loser. That is a pessimistic way to read the FAA’s final rule mandating equipage for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out for all aircraft flying in U.S. Class A, B and C airspace, around busy airports and above 10,000 ft. by Jan. 1, 2020. The agency issued the final rule on May 28. FAA acknowledges that the present-value net benefits of the ADS-B Out rule could be negative if costs are higher than expected or if benefits are low or slow to come.
Since its introduction, inflight entertainment (IFE) has required “meet and greet” service to ensure systems operate properly and to resolve hardware failures. An aircraft lands, then technicians pull the BITE data, identify problems and assemble the necessary resources to fix those problems. Depending on turnaround time and other pending maintenance tasks, a mechanic may or may not have time to troubleshoot the problem and then remove and replace failed hardware. Depending on the problem, he or she may or may not have access to the right parts.
Real-time and efficient communication with line mechanics Improved quality and speed of work Reduced paperwork by engineers Improved flexibility and disruption management On-the-job access to business applications Real-time information about status and aircraft-related changes Allocate resources efficiently through real-time access to e-documents, work schedules and updates Support collaborative decision-making. Increased revenue and enhanced customer service
TASS reissued STCs covering provisions for ANR headset and passenger accommodations on Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 757-200 series aircraft, STCs ST00593SE-D and ST00583SE-D
LONDON—Full implementation of the European Aviation Safety Agency’s new operations and licensing requirements is due in 2012, but there is still some confusion as to the acceptable rules. During the consultative stage, there was a lot of opposition to some of the new rule proposals, particularly those concerning personal licenses.
CFM partners GE Aviation and Snecma are fine-tuning CFM56 aftermarket support to prepare for next-generation Leap-X engine support and to respond to requests for integrated support packages. One step is joint venture CFM Materials, created to offer used serviceable CFM56 parts. The second step is rebranding the Snecma Services and Air China MRO joint venture in Sichuan under the CFM name.
ICAO’s new International Volcanic Ash Taskforce met for the first time in late July, kicking off an industry effort to move ICAO’s stance of absolute “no flying” through ash-contaminated air to a more informed position that may allow flight under certain circumstances.
Lufthansa Technik Logistik and SuperJet International signed a five-year contract for spares distribution at Frankfurt, where it will stock 800 Superjet 100 items.
Delta TechOps completed its 500th Aircell Gogo WiFi installation. Aircraft flying with their WiFi work include Airbus A319, Boeing 757-200/-300, 767-300, MD-88/-90 and 737-700/-800. Parts/Components
The spontaneous explosion of TWA Flight 800’s center-wing fuel tank in 1996 caused the loss of 230 lives and massive changes fuel-tank systems regulations. Fourteen years later, the response of FAA and decisions by airframe OEMs still cause turmoil among airline maintenance departments and the independent shops that repair fuel-tank systems.
SÃO CARLOS—Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines expects to decide this summer whether to keep its maintenance, repair and overhaul unit as an internal part of the airline or spin it off as a separate company, creating an opportunity for a new shareholder to acquire a portion of it.
