Lufthansa Technik opened a component pool storage facility in Singapore. The warehouse will be operated by Lufthansa Technik Logistik Services and sits near Changi International Airport.
Sabena Technics inked a three-year contract with Flyme to perform full component support services on its ATR 42-500 fleet. The contract includes component repair and overhaul, pool access and logistics support.
EADS is pulling out of a joint venture with Embraer formed in 2005 to take control of OGMA—Industria Aeronautica de Portugal S.A., an aerostructures, airframe and component MRO once owned by the Portuguese government. The venture, Airholdings, was created in 2005 by the two manufacturers to take a 65% holding in OGMA, with the Portuguese state retaining a 35% stake. Initially, Embraer owned a 99% share in the Airholdings joint venture, although EADS later exercised an option to increase its holding to 30%.
Atlantic Fasteners has appointed two new hires to direct new business. Tony Orvis has joined the firm's industrial fastener division as a purchasing representative. Bruce Bonzey has been appointed as the wholesaler's director of quality.
The A380 has only been in service for five years, but it has clearly received much more coverage regarding technical failures than Airbus would have wished.
Component Control has been approved as the exclusive preferred provider of MRO and logistics software solutions by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association.
AFI KLM E&M has appointed Paul Chün as managing director of KLM UK Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of AFI KLM E&M that specializes in regional aircraft maintenance solutions. Chün comes to the position after five years at the helm of Epcor, another subsidiary of AFI KLM E&M.
StandardAero is initiating a long-term workforce training and expansion plan to gear up for what it expects will be a surge in CFM56 shop visits. The company, which carried out MRO on 264 CF34 and CFM56-7B engines at its Plant 6 site in Winnipeg in 2011, is in talks with additional Boeing 737-600/700/800 operators to further expand its business. Although StandardAero repaired CFM56-7Bs in previous years, it did not conduct its first complete overhaul until 2011.
U.S.-based leisure carriers Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines are exceptionally profitable but couldn't be more different in their aircraft acquisition policy and operating philosophy, including route selection, flight frequencies and aircraft utilization. Those factors affect their maintenance modus operandi, although both outsource heavy maintenance.
PATS Aircraft Systems has added Chris Bott as certification manager. Bott, an FAA designated engineering representative, will oversee certification efforts for PATS Aircraft Systems and Hollingsead International products.
AJ Walter has signed a full power by the hour support agreement with Cyprus Airways for its fleet of 11 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. AJ Walter has suppored Cyprus Airways with power by the hour support since 2009, and this contract extends their relationship into 2016.
In 2005, airframe manufacturers determined that passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology presented an opportunity to get timely access to maintenance histories for parts. Through the efforts of the Air Transport Association (now A4A) and SAE International, testing standards and data specifications are in place to support passive RFID for storing parts' history directly on the parts.
Lufthansa Technical Training has posted a selection of more than 250 open courses and seminars on its website. Now these offerings are available to individual participants in the online training finder at www.ltt.aero for viewing and booking requests.
Turkish Technic has joined Airbus' worldwide MRO network. Airbus established the network in March 2005 and has since worked with its members to establish performance benchmarks for maintenance efficiency. The MRO also signed an agreement with 328 Design to work on interior modification projects. Engines
Singapore Airlines is launching a digital application of a pilot's logbook as an application to the Boeing 777's electronic flight bag, which the airline also helped Boeing develop. Called the Electronic Logbook (ELB), the application was developed with software from Ultramarine Systems and brings the 777 to parity with what Boeing is offering as a standard feature on the 787.
For maintenance, repair and overhaul tasks, low lighting levels are more than just an annoyance—they could lead to a host of safety concerns. Workers straining to see intricate aircraft parts could hurt themselves if the lighting is inadequate, or a worker could mistakenly miss foreign object debris left in an engine. Despite this fact, industrial-grade lighting can be difficult to replace and some facilities may wait until bulbs are nearly dead or burned out to replace them, leading to long intervals of very low light.
Nordam has named Jeff Chalupa general manager of domestic operations for its transparency division in Tulsa. Chalupa joined Nordam in 2007 and most recently served as senior director of global engineering and quality for Nordam's repair division.
The low-hanging fruit in fuel efficiency, of course, is to make aircraft lighter. A piece of trivia cited on American Airlines' website illustrates the bottom-line impact of trimming down: “Removing just one pound of weight from each aircraft in American's fleet would save more than 11,000 gallons of fuel annually.”
Canadian tourism airline Air Transat has saved more than 410,000 tons of carbon dioxide and up to 6% of its annual fuel bill since 2003 by sticking to a disciplined fuel saving regimen. These results may seem surprising, but the airline's strategy is straightforward—find as many ways to conserve fuel, lighten aircraft and conserve resources in corporate offices as possible, and then train employees to embrace the changes.
Lufthansa Technik Malta is installing its third new first-class cabin in a Lufthansa Airbus A340-600. The airline plans to convert to the luxury cabins in its 24 A340-600s by 2015. The turnaround time for installing the seats—which are the same as on Lufthansa's Airbus A380—is 15-20 days, says Lufthansa Technik spokesman Wolfgang Reinert. However, the MRO says that the airline has chosen to build the interior installation into planned maintenance layovers to avoid grounding the aircraft for longer than necessary.
TAP Maintenance & Engineering Brazil has been certified by Boeing as an approved repair station. The first contract under the certification is the inspection, repair and overhaul of the Boeing 777 landing gear axles, achieved through a Boeing service bulletin to be incorporated by airlines that fly the aircraft type. To obtain the distinction, the MRO participated in an international bidding contest and underwent an audit process. TAP M&E Brazil also completed heavy checks on an Air Transat Airbus A330-200 at its Porto Alegre Base.
Apple Aviation Group has signed a line maintenance support contract with Strategic Airlines for three A320 aircraft based at Manchester Airport in the U.K. Apple Aviation's line maintenance capability at Manchester encompasses maintenance up to and including A checks on Boeing 737NG and classic aircraft, Boeing 747, 757 and 767 aircraft and the Airbus A320, A330 and A340 types. The MRO will be adding capabilities for the Airbus A300 and A380 as well as the Boeing 777 soon.
