Lufthansa Technik announced the establishment of Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International, a 100% subsidiary integrating the former Condor/Cargo Technik it previously acquired. LTMI will be based in Frankfurt and will assume responsibility for airline third-party MRO business previously handled by LHT. It will continue to maintain Lufthansa Cargo's MD-11s as well. The unit has some 1,000 employees.
Honeywell signed a 10-year contract with Kunpeng Airlines to provide MRO services on components, avionics and lighting equipment for ERJ-190s. Valued at $21 million, the agreement covers more than 65 Honeywell parts. "Honeywell's service program provides one manageable package that incorporates maintenance, logistics and spares access, giving Kunpeng Airlines the parts and services they need, when and where they need it," said Honeywell Airlines VP Mike Madsen.
Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services, a joint venture among Boeing, Shanghai Airport Authorities and Shanghai Airlines, won US FAA repair station certification to provide MRO to Chinese airlines as well as regional and international carriers.
TAM, which formally was invited to join Star Alliance last week, also hopes to play a major role in Latin American maintenance, repair and overhaul. The carrier's Technology Center is located in Sao Carlos, some 230 km. northwest of Sao Paulo. It has invested $185 million in the 4.6-million-sq.-m., six-hangar facility since it opened in 2001 at the site of a former truck factory.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority wants Qantas to implement a range of improvements to the way it manages and delivers aircraft maintenance following a special review carried out last month. CASA called on the carrier to produce a plan to address deficiencies in meeting some of its own maintenance performance targets. It also wants QF to examine whether existing lines of authority and control over maintenance are delivering the best results ( ATWOnline, Aug. 19).
Malaysia Airlines and GMR Hyderabad International Airport signed an MOU this week to establish an MRO company at Rajiv Gandhi International capable of handling "all types of aircraft," including the A380. Financial details, ownership structure and timetable for launch were not disclosed.
Snecma Services is "not seeing any downturn in our [CFM56 overhaul] shops" despite the fact that some airlines are reducing flying and parking aircraft, Chairman and CEO Denis Vercherin told ATWOnline at the Farnborough Airshow last week. In fact, Snecma's MRO arm has revised its business outlook upward in terms of parts demand and shop visits. "We have more CFM56-3 business than we can handle," he said.
Lufthansa Technik won a significant contract from Qantas for technical support of GE and CFM56-7 engines powering the carrier's 737, 767, 747 and A330 aircraft.
Air India, Jupiter Aviation and Airbus signed an MOU last week to establish a three-way JV MRO facility in India to perform work on all types of Airbus aircraft operated by AI and other Indian airlines. Air India told The Economic Times that it will develop a business plan for the MRO over the next two months to be submitted to its board for approval. The deal was reached during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to India last week.
Pratt & Whitney and Turkish Airlines Technic signed a joint venture agreement yesterday to build a major engine overhaul center at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen ( ATWOnline, Oct. 8, 2007). The facility will be P&W's eighth commercial engine overhaul center. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Pratt & Whitney Turkish Technic Aircraft Engine Maintenance Center will overhaul V2500 and CFM56(r) engines. Construction will begin shortly and the facility will induct its first engine in 2009.
ENGINE CONDITION MONITORING is moving from diagnostics toward prognostics, pushing at least part way toward true condition-based maintenance. Sensors and systems have become very good at forecasting and thus preventing potential failures, saving money on delays and major repairs. But they cannot reliably predict success: How much longer a part or engine can stay on-wing.
Pratt & Whitney took a big step forward toward expanding its engine maintenance, repair and overhaul footprint in Europe and the Middle East with this month's agreement with Turkish Airlines Technic to build a 25,000-sq.-m. engine overhaul center at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
Delta Air Lines maintenance arm Delta TechOps signed a 10-year, $1 billion-plus deal with Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corp. that represents "the largest and most significant [PMA] agreement in the airline industry," adds the CFM56-5 to DTO's portfolio and will result in 250 additional engine overhauls, DL announced yesterday.
Frontier Airlines will build a new heavy maintenance base at Colorado Springs and plans to launch the $25 million construction project in late spring 2008. When completed in 12-18 months, the facility will employ around 225 and feature approximately 30,000 sq. ft. of hangar space, 45,000 sq. ft. of offices and support shops and 25,000 sq. ft. of warehouse and tool room space. Frontier, which currently leases space at Denver International, said it spent more than a year researching the site and that Colorado Springs "has proven. .
Messier Services officially opened its new Americas landing gear and hydraulics MRO facility in Queretaro, Mexico, completing its move from Washington Dulles to a 10,000-sq.-m. complex with potential for substantial growth.
Goodrich Corp. announced yesterday that it is selling its heavy maintenance base, Goodrich Aviation Technical Services in Everett, Wash., to Australia's Macquarie Bank. Subject to regulatory clearance, the sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Price was not disclosed. ATS employs more than 1,200 at the 950,000-sq.-ft. facility offering heavy airframe checks, component repair and overhaul, engineering and modifications and cargo conversions. Prior to its 1988 acquisition by Goodrich, it operated as Tramco.
Lufthansa Technik intends to invest close to €50 million ($70.1 million) to build a new engine MRO shop in Hamburg that is expected to boost repair capacity from 320 engines per year currently to 400. Construction of the facility, which will have 15,000 sq. m. of floor space, is set to begin next month with the first engine overhaul planned for early 2009. According to LHT Executive Board Chairman August Henningsen, "the new hall will make it possible to design engine overhaul production and processes so as to incorporate the latest thinking on these subjects.
N3 Engine Overhaul Services, the Lufthansa Technik-Rolls-Royce engine maintenance joint venture, officially opened its new facility in Thuringia, Germany, Friday. LHT and Rolls have invested around €100 million ($139 million) in the N3 site, which will overhaul Trent 500, 700 and 900 engines powering the A340-500/600, A330 and A380 respectively. N3 received EASA Part 145 approval in April. It employs 270, a figure that is expected to rise to 500 by 2010.
WHILE THE TREND toward increased outsourcing of maintenance, repair and overhaul activities is undeniable and proving to be an effective strategy for many airlines, there is a significant challenge to the growth of the trend, according to experts who spoke to Airline Procurement. That challenge relates to the inherent confusion and disjointed systems that exist in most MRO organizations.
Lufthansa Technik started construction yesterday on a 27,000-sq.-m. maintenance hangar for A330s and A340 in Malta. LHT will invest €55 million ($74.9 million) and said the project will create about 540 jobs. The facility should be operational by the 2008 fourth quarter and will be leased to Lufthansa Technik Malta, in which Lufthansa will hold 92% and Air Malta the remainder. LH said the expansion is required to meet rising demand for MRO on the Airbus widebodies. LHT also operates an A330/A340 facility in Manila.
KLM Engineering & Maintenance Executive VP Peter Somers told ATWOnline at the Paris Air Show that Air France Industries and KLM M&E intend to increase their collective profile among the world's largest MRO providers and narrow the gap with Lufthansa Technik through both the addition of new capabilities and acquisitions. "Several of KLM M&E's present customers and/or KLM alliance partners [such as Northwest Airlines and Kenya Airways] have ordered the Dreamliner and they have approached us to see if can support them.
