Take a money-losing MRO, add the sudden departure of its CEO and the loss of business, and the rumors start flying like plates at a Greek wedding. Example: the company is up for sale, desperately seeking partners or about to go out of business. Such was case with Montreal-based ExelTech Aerospace, whose CEO Derek Nice resigned this summer as chairman and CEO. Also finding the exit was CFO Roland Blais.
McDonnell Douglas won a $5.5 million indefinite delivery indefinite quantity technical service firm fixed fee price contract to support additional efforts for the Aircraft Survivability Product Improvement Kit improvement for the Longbow Apache Program-AMCOM. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Glynn Williams has been an owner, advisor and partner in various aerospace companies, including MROs, for over 25 years. He is president and CEO of Navhouse Corp., a Bolton, Ontario-based company that repairs inertial navigation systems. His private equity company, Reliance Aerotech of Toronto, purchased Navhouse in June 2006 from Northstar Aerospace (Canada) Inc.
Pratt & Whitney Canada inked an 11-year fleet management program deal with JetSuite, a private jet charter company. P&WC will maintain its charter fleet of PW617F-powered Embraer Phenom 100 aircraft, including scheduled and unscheduled engine maintenance and engine trend condition monitoring.
AeroLogic chose Boeing’s web-based Maintenance Performance Toolbox and Airplane Health Management to support its 777F maintenance documentation. The carrier, a 50/50 joint venture of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, will use AHM to monitor its Boeing 777 freighters. The product is designed to be a real-time fault management tool to identify maintenance needs and communicate with ground teams.
STOL Aviation , reissued STC to modify the powerplant installation, fuselage (other than weld assembly), wing flaps and tail wheel installation to conform to the designs of the corresponding installations, assemblies and components of the Model S-1B2 airplane (Army L-6 XL-6), STC SA622AL
CORENA Holding named Toralf Johannessen CEO , filling the position after co-founder Steen Hansen decided to step down after almost 30 years in the post. Johannessen formerly was CEO of CORENA Norge.
Hawaiian Airlines hired Dennis Manibusan as VP of maintenance and engineering. Manibusan will report to Charles Nardello, SVP operations. Manibusan fills the position left open when Nardello was promoted. Manibusan most recently was SVP maintenance and engineering for ABX Air.
British company Fire Fighting Enterprises offers a new type of optical beam smoke detector equipped with a motorized auto-alignment feature. The detector can be retrofitted, said Peter Bangham, a press representative for the company. Bangham said that the devices are designed to need minimal wiring compared to normal “point” detectors, since one beam unit can safely cover an area that would need 15 point units. Fire Fighting Enterprises Ltd, 9 Hunting Gate, Hitchin, Herts, U.K. SG4 0TJ
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) ordered 91 additional F110-GE-129C turbofans, costing more than $750 million, to re-engine its F-15S multi-role combat aircraft. This contract follows the 2007 RSAF selection of 65 F110 engines to re-engine 29 F-15S fighters, with a combined value of the 156 F110 powerplants and logistics support package exceeding $750 million. Deliveries will start later this year.
Airbus announced two agreements with members of its MRO network to provide aftermarket services for aircraft leased to Singapore Airlines. A deal inked Sept. 23 with ST Aerospace subsidiary ST Aviation Services Co. Pte Ltd. (SASCO) covers heavy maintenance checks for the 19 A330 aircraft leased to Singapore Airlines. The work is expected to begin in 2015, and should be conducted over 18 months, according to ST Aerospace. SR Technics will manage and repair some 350 components for the 19 A330s.
Western Skyways , reissued STC to install Teledyne Continental TSIO-520-VB engines in place of existing Teledyne Continental TSIO-520-EB engines on Cessna 401B, 402B, 402A and 401A helicopters, STC SA09007SC
Learjet , amended STC to install a Honeywell TCAS II on Bombardier CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), 600-2B16 (CL-601-3A), CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3R) and CL-600-2B16 (CL-604) aircraft, STC SA8054NM-D
O&M: How would you describe Vector today? O’Shea: We have three bases in Canada. In Vancouver, the Richmond facility handles helicopter engines and dynamic components, and Langley does airframes and avionics. On Prince Edward Island we have Atlantic Turbines, a Pratt & Whitney shop for fixed-wing engines, which now has been rebranded to Vector Aerospace Engine Services Atlantic. That said, we always wanted strategic opportunities to grow outside Canada and the U.S., so Europe was the obvious option.
Eurocopter reopened the Cape Town MRO facility operated by its Eurocopter Southern Africa subsidiary on Sept. 18, following ZAR$2 million in expansion and refurbishment. Eurocopter Canada also expanded its Richmond, B.C., facility, which now comprises 11,700 sq. ft. dedicated to technical support, logistics and spare parts for Canadian customers.
Bombardier added the Learjet 85 to its Smart Parts program, which will be available to support the all-composite aircraft once it enters service. The base program provides cost-per-flight-hour support for airframe system component and avionics support, and it can be upgraded to include engine support and/or comprehensive maintenance coverage.
An October safety audit found four Indonesian airlines failed to meet minimum safety standards, while four carriers who previously had had their AOCs suspended met the standards and resumed operations. Carriers that failed to meet the audit’s standards are Pura Wisata Baruna, Sampoerna Nusantara, Dabi Air Nusantara and Atlas Deltasatya. They have three months to bring their operations into compliance.
ASD/ENSA , surrendered STC to install mounting brackets for VOR antenna and APX-78 radar beacon located in the vertical tail tip of Boeing 747 and 747-200B series aircraft, STC SA697GL
Nomad Aviation picked Inmedius’ S1000D publishing suite management, authoring and publishing modules to manage its technical content and support its S1000D and ATA iSPEC 2200 projects. Contracts
I am pretty cynical when it comes to airline mergers. I quickly lose patience with all the “wave of consolidation” talk that sweeps through the industry every few years. If all the mergers happened that the “experts” predicted would happen over the past two decades, there’d be maybe a half dozen airlines left in the world.
Goodrich and SilkAir signed a long-term flight hour agreement to cover engine nacelle maintenance for the Singapore Airlines-owned regional carrier’s Airbus A320s. The 12-year deal provides for the Goodrich nacelles to be repaired at Goodrich Aerostructures Service Center–Asia (GASCA) in Singapore.
