Aviation Week MRO

AirBaltic, based in Latvia, is expanding its in-house maintenance capabilities as it alters its fleet.

Virgin Atlantic's 2018 saw highly publicized issues with its Boeing 787 fleet. Phil Wardlaw, vice president of engineering and maintenance services at the UK airline, talks to James Pozzi about how it has addressed these problems while updating on plans to grow its day-to-day operation.

Interest in the MRO industry continued this week with StandardAero's re-purchase by The Carlyle Group and TAT's sale of Sabena technics.

The company’s special missions interior team created multi-purpose cabins to provide a functional and comfortable environment for patients and medical staff.

WZL2 signs up for Commsoft's OASES software to support its fledgling commercial operations.

Smart retirement aircraft policy must take many factors into account.

Most, if not all of the CF6-powered aircraft will likely be converted to freighters with acquisitions set to begin next year.

The acquisition by a consortium of private equity firms is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.

Reliability stood at 98.75% for single-aisle fleet averaging 9.1 years old according to IATA’s latest Maintenance Cost Task Force survey.

The Carlyle Group will purchase StandardAero for a second time; closing the deal by March 31, 2019.

AAR needs to find more mechanics to help it grow and is proactively working with colleges, the latest in Chicago, to foster the skills students need.

Airframe manufacturing's big two have been growing their activities in China with new announcements in December.

Manchester-based Aeroco, which specializes in cabin maintenance and upgrades for UK and EU carriers, does not foresee any downturn yet.

CFM56 shop-visits still on rise and should exceed 3,000 annually in the 2025 timeframe.

The order announced on Dec. 12 includes an aftermarket agreement with Rolls-Royce for the aircraft's Trent 7000 engines.

The maintenance and engineering division of All Nippon Airways is the driver of the new venture, which is supposed to begin operating in January 2019 performing airframe heavy maintenance in Okinawa.

Airbus finishes painting an All Nippon Airways A380 that included 520% more stencils that typical designs.

Several parties are in discussions with the MRO’s owners over a full sale or offloading certain business units.

The Portuguese airline maintenance business has entered into a general support license agreement with LEAP engine maker CFM International.

Hawaiian Airlines outlines its fleet transition plan progress, including when it will retire its Boeing 767s.

Leo Koppers, MTU’s senior vice president of MRO programs, will retire at year-end following a 3.5-decade career in aviation, most of it in the aftermarket sector. For the last 16 years, he has held various management positions at MTU. Koppers and Martin Friis-Petersen, who heads up MTU Maintenance Lease Services and will replace Koppers after he retires, speak with Lee Ann Shay and James Pozzi about the transition

Smaller companies continue to play an important role in the race to acquire and utilize big data generated from engines and airframes.

The U.S. carrier is planning to implement further software enhancements and upgraded hardware early next year.

Invert Robotics’ mobile climbing robots are adding new improvements and functionality thanks to recent customer feedback.

Spare-part logistics is cited as a major challenge by Flybondi.com, an airline operating a fleet of five Boeing 737 aircraft.