The RB211 program bankrupted Rolls-Royce, forcing the U.K. government to step in and save the project and the company. Both recovered—Rolls-Royce is still delivering and developing engines, and the RB211 will go down as one of the most versatile and successful engine series of the jet age.
1. By The Book Provider: Aeronautical Repair Station Association Offerings: ARSA specializes in regulatory compliance training. The association's courses focus primarily on the requirements of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations pertaining to design, production and maintenance, and on gaining Inspection Authorization acceptance from the FAA. Standard and customized courses are available. www.arsa.org Link 606 2: More Lean Provider: Duggan Associates
Washington Benefits Of Outsourcing A new report from the bipartisan analysts paid to educate Congress puts a pile of facts in the way of a pretty good story about the perils of airline maintenance outsourcing.
In September 1996, Embraer announced the arrival of its regional jet family in North America when Continental Express ordered 200 ERJ 145s. Even though only 25 of the commitments were firm, the message was clear: Embraer's 50-seat market entry was going to be a major player in the world's biggest aviation market. Recently, a few ERJ 145s were involved in a very different kind of transaction that delivered an equally emphatic, but different message.
An American Airlines-US Airways merger offers the combined carrier clear opportunities to leverage existing assets as part of a long-term MRO strategy that mixes in-house and outsourced work. Just how much work will stay in the new American's hangars is anyone's guess, however, particularly considering the apparent clash of philosophies.
Line maintenance and ground support equipment appear to be two of the industry sectors with an outsourcing growth trend, from specialized tools to inflight entertainment systems (IFE). While line maintenance was once focused purely on safety, it now encompasses inflight entertainment, with special cabin teams tasked with ensuring airlines' marketing promises and customers' expectations are met.
Blowing sand in the Middle East and high levels of airborne particulate matter from industrial pollution in Asia are parts of the impetus behind a new generation of thermal barrier coatings (TBC) designed to better protect engine components and withstand corrosive elements. TBC corrosion is becoming a growing issue, specifically attributable to the build-up of calcium magnesium aluminosilicates (CMAS).
As more nacelles are made of composites, their repair market is becoming quite diverse. “Fleet transitions are adding complexity, failure modes vary as aircraft age, and operators are customizing work scopes to fit their needs,” says Meredith Siegfried, CEO of Nordam, a major nacelle OEM and repair specialist. Siegfried says most of today's nacelle work stems from mature aircraft, which generally employ comparable technologies and materials, so today's primary focus is on doing the work faster and cheaper.
Finance is playing an ever-increasing role in today's airline industry, with nearly half the world's commercial fleet under lease, according to Lufthansa Technik. And that trend is growing. Banks and private-equity firms are becoming more involved, expanding their investments from aircraft into engine and component financing as well.
1. House of Hose Manufacturer: Air-Pro Specifications: Miami-based Air Pro's specialties include aircraft and engine hoses as well as interiors expendables. It offers customized hose kits for scheduled maintenance support and to store onboard for emergencies. Air-Pro is a distributor/manufacturer for Smiths Tubular Systems and Hydrasearch. www.air-pro.com Link 606 2. Just Expendables Manufacturer: Aircraft Inventory & Management Services
Washington Contractor Conundrum Everything old is new again, though sometimes going back to the future requires a mandate. The FAA is hard at work on a rule aimed at making contract maintenance easier to perform and oversee. At the draft rule's core are two requirements—that airlines keep lists of all their third-party maintenance providers, and that the providers follow instructions provided to them by the carrier—including everything that has been on the books for four-plus decades.
Forty-three years after entering revenue service, the Pratt & Whitney JT9D series continues to power a cross section of operators sprinkled around the globe. While still diverse, the cross section is much thinner than in years past, however, with many operators flying just a handful of engines. It's a sign of the steady and inevitable decline facing the venerable series.
Washington An FAA About-Face FAA, flooded by a wave of industry opposition that started with a tremor of protest, has agreed to drop a recently minted interpretation of its rule on what constitutes adequate rest for airline mechanics, thus reverting to a more flexible, widely accepted standard.
Asia, the Middle East and North America are emerging as the most attractive likely markets during the next three years for Boeing 777 widebody heavy maintenance visits and C checks, underscoring the potential for a capacity crunch heading the industry's way.
A Lufthansa Technik employee has created a muffler that cuts the noise that avionics ventilation can cause in a hangar. The device, dubbed Silencer, is now being produced by maintenance equipment specialist Franke Care System for widebody and soon narrowbody aircraft. Employee Gunther Adamczyk was rewarded under Lufthansa Technik's “Impulse” internal premium scheme.
Washington NTSB's revamped most-wanted list of safety improvements and a set of related recommendations are challenging the FAA to revisit its recently established position against mandating cargo aircraft fire-suppression systems.
Software upgrades, for the most part, are now an on-wing proposition. But, as Mitch Klink of the Avionics Maintenance Conference explains, all software modifications—and the media/hardware to transfer them—should conform to the baseline version of the Arinc 615 protocol to allow the use of portable data-loaders for on-wing applications. He cautions that, often when these upgrades are performed on-wing, the LRUs containing the new software versions become non-interchangeable with the LRUs containing the previous software versions.
