As airframe manufacturers continue to develop the next generation of commercial and business jets, engine OEMs have been tasked with incorporating performance enhancements to make their products tighter on fuel burn, more environmentally sensitive, quieter and less maintenance intensive than those in service.
—A September ground breaking for a CFM56-7B plant here pushes StandardAero into commercial jet MRO for the first time and extends the company’s commitment to a cellular manufacturing structure . With $1.4 billion in revenues last year, StandardAero, a subsidiary of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, provides a range of services for civil and military helicopter, turboprop, regional and business jet aircraft. It does everything from high-end interior completions to component services for engines as large as the General Electric GE90 or Pratt & Whitney PW4000.
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.
Boeing won two separate U.S. Air Force contracts together worth $4.2 million to support the modernization of 365 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. The first, to be performed by Boeing and Southwest Research Institute, provides engineering services for the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program. Boeing will work with partners Raytheon Technical Services and BAE Systems Platform Solutions on the second contract, which is for a trade study analysis and operational assessment/proof of concept for the aircraft’s upgraded data transfer unit.
Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras signed a 15-year, $1 billion OnPoint services deal with GE Aviation for MRO of its CF34-10E engines on Embraer 190/195 aircraft. The contract covers 36 firm and four leased Embraer 190/195 aircraft for the new carrier, which launched in 2008. GE Celma's facility in Petropolis, Brazil, will complete the work.
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.
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.
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.
Brim Aviation to install Brim Aviation tundra pads, a cargo rack and a Tech Tools 369/500 bubble window on a MD Helicopter 600N helicopter, Several STCs
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.
Rockwell Collins reissued STC to install Rockwell Collins WXR-2100 MultiScan weather radar system on Boeing 737-600, -700, -800 and -900 series aircraft, STC ST01470LA-D
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.
Bell Helicopter began offering EASA-approved maintenance classes for the Bell 427, based on receiving Part 147 maintenance training organization approval from European Aviation Safety Agency in early September. EASA initially approved Bell for B1.3 training on the helicopter and could credit B2 courses soon.
PATS Aircraft reissued STCs to alter the fire protection systems and lower cargo compartments on Boeing 737-700, -700C and -800 series aircraft, STCs ST01184LA and ST00405LA-D
Chromalloy won a $3.3 million contract award to provide high-pressure turbine nozzle repairs for the F108 gas turbine engines that power the U.S. Air Force KC-135R fleet of more than 400 tanker aircraft, deployed from Tinker Air Force Base.OM
Pratt & Whitney Canada Customer Service Centre Europe signed a new 10-year fleet management program agreement with the Netherlands Police Agency KLPD (Korps landelijke politiediensten) to provide comprehensive maintenance for P&WC engines installed on its fleet of Eurocopter EC135 and AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters. The joint venture of P&WC and MTU Aero Engines will support 12 PW206B2 engines installed on KLPD’s six EC135P2s and four PT6-67C engines powering its two new AW139s.
Pressure to cut costs is sending airframes outside airline shops and often far from home markets. Labor rates, which represent up to 70% of heavy-check costs, simply differ too much among regions to ignore. Cost-saving pressures intensified in 2009, but there are new twists on the cost side. Labor rates have converged among some regions. Long-term, some low-cost regions may become more expensive. New MRO facilities could open in countries or regions not now actively considered. Exchange rates could shift. And the U.S.
