Duncan Aviation added Nate Darlington as a completions sales representative, Bill Gehman as customer service assistant manager, and Chad Ostertag as an avionics installations sales representative.
The Defense Ministry has given AgustaWestland a £439 million ($715 million) integrated operation support contract for maintenance of its 67 Apache helicopters in the U.K. The deal frees up military personnel who work on the attack helicopter to deploy to Afghanistan and support operations 24/7 there. Work on the Apache in the U.K. is done at Wattisham Airfield, Suffolk. Eighteen months ago, the Apache Depth Support Unit there was run entirely by military technicians. Now, 180 personnel from AgustaWestland are replacing them.
—Expect to see high-level aftermarket responsibility shift to the U.S. government from industry as the government takes over some resource allocation. This move comes as the Defense Department faces major equipment maintenance because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has less planned funding to provide for it. It also comes at a time when manufacturers rely on aftermarket revenue streams, which have been hit by the recession.
A J Walter Aviation added Delta TechOps as the 20th customer to approve its spares supply services this year after passing required audits. With its CASE 3A quality audit successfully completed in October, AJW can work directly with Delta TechOps to provide aircraft spares support.
SR Technics and Garuda Indonesia Airways extended their component services contract through 2014. The agreement covers exchange, MRO, logistics and management of more than 700 components for Garuda Indonesias current fleet of 10 Airbus A330s as well as additional A330s it plans to add. Facilities
Mxi Technologies and Pba Consult formed a strategic teaming agreement focused on providing an aviation lifecycle management solution to one of Russia’s top aircraft manufacturers. Contracts Commercial
Embraer has finished rolling out Component Control’s Quantum Control enterprise resource planning software at its five MRO centers, with its Gavião Peixoto, Brazil, finishing the software implementation in October.
Spirit AeroSystems and Slingsby Advanced Composites both opened facilities at Scotland’s Prestwick Airport in October, in line with an initiative headed by Scottish Enterprise to increase research and development activity in the country’s small- to medium-sized enterprise sector, which employs around 22,000 people and supports the jobs of 30,000 more. Together the facilities should generate more than 70 new jobs.
Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance will continue heavy maintenance for Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Boeing 747-400 aircraft through 2011. The U.K. carrier decided to extend its original contract with AFI KLM E&M, signed in July 2008 and due to expire at the end of 2010, for another year. Heavy maintenance takes place at AFI KLM E&M’s Schipol Airport facilities in the Netherlands. Nine C and D checks are scheduled for 2011.
Aegean Airlines signed a follow-up airframe maintenance contract with Lufthansa Technik for 19 additional aircraft. Lufthansa Technik Malta and Shannon Aerospace, both wholly owned by LHT, will perform the C checks on 14 Airbus A320s, three A321s and two Boeing 737s between December and February 2011.
Custom Cranes Ruger Industries offers custom-engineered portable cranes for aviation maintenance operations. Using mobile cranes for tasks such as lifting aircraft engines or control surfaces improves safety by reducing or eliminating dependency on motorized lift trucks. They also are designed to operate in the tight work areas often prescribed in private or commercial aviation maintenance settings.
Ethiopian Airlines expanded its powerplant contract with Delta TechOps to become an open-ended agreement to maintain, repair and overhaul the carrier’s Pratt & Whitney 2040 engines. Delta TechOps started maintaining Ethiopian’s engines in 2005.
Sabena technics started offering Airbus A320 line maintenance in Kuwait City and is in the planning stages of building a hangar there, in conjunction with partner Al Wazzan Group. Sabena technics plans to perform light and heavy maintenance checks on A320 aircraft at the new facility. Wataniya is the launch customers.
Compact Videoscopes Two new industrial videoscopes from Olympus NDT measure one-third the size and half the weight of its previous devices, making the new equipment well-suited for remote visual inspections when access is limited. Designed for operation by users at any experience level, Olympus' new IPLEX LX and IPLEX LT tools should simplify remote visual inspections of areas such as inside boiler rooms, airplane fuselages and wind turbine gear boxes.
Messier-Dowty appointed Henri Koffel VP purchasing. Koffel has held management positions within Aerospatiale, Aerospatiale/Matra and EADS. Prior to joining Messier-Dowty, he was Airbus’ VP aerostructures procurement. Rizon Group named Patrick Enz group CEO. The former Jet Aviation business development VP succeeds Will Curtis at the Middle East and U.K.-based business aviation services company.
The new Rolls-Royce Mechanical Test Operations Center of Dahlewitz has given a contract to MTS Systems of Eden Prairie, Minn., for mechanical test equipment, software and consulting services related to the operational behavior of materials and components for jet engines. MTS will supply single and multiaxial servohydraulic load frames with its grips, high-temperature extensometers and environmental simulators, as well as digital controllers and hydraulic power units. MTS also will provide service and support.
Lufthansa Technik signed its 2,000th aircraft under a total support contract as part of an 18-aircraft expansion of a deal with Aeroflot Russian Airlines. The new agreement brings the total number of Aeroflot Airbus A320s covered by LHT total support from 45 to 63.
Operating experience in Iraq and Afghanistan is adding urgency to demands for dramatic improvements in rotorcraft technology. While increased speed, payload and maneuverability are high on the U.S. armed services’ wish lists, improvements in operational availability, mission reliability and logistic supportability get high priority. And, there is growing recognition that incremental improvements to today’s rotors will not be enough.
