SEATTLE -- Boeing 787 customers are getting a guarantee that the Dreamliner's airframe maintenance costs will be 30 percent lower than both the Boeing 767-300ER it is replacing and other competing aircraft over its first dozen years. "We have offered this to every customer: a minimum of 30 percent maintenance cost savings," according to Justin Hale, 787 program deputy chief mechanic. "It's a real guarantee with financial remedies to the airline if we don't meet that commitment."
PPG Aerospace - PRC-DeSoto qualified its next-generation high-solid low-VOC exterior epoxy aerospace primer at Boeing. The company said the primer offers good adhesion, flexibility and rain-erosion resistance. The Desoprime HS CA7700 primer meets Boeing specification BMS 10-72 Type VIII and will soon be on all new Boeing aircraft painted with Desothane HS topcoat, according to Alan Schoeder, PPG Aerospace commercial coatings marketing manager.
ACE Aviation Holdings, parent company of ACTS, plans to sell a 70 percent stake in the MRO company to an investor consortium comprising KKR Private Equity Investors LP, and Sageview Capital. ACE will retain a 30 percent interest, and Air Canada, another ACE subsidiary, will remain the MRO's largest customer. ACTS, formerly known as Air Canada Technical Services, was the MRO division of Air Canada before being spun off as a separate, but wholly owned ACE subsidiary. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.
As more airlines return to profitability, more are focusing on the cabin interiors, which have deteriorated from years of deferred maintenance and fail to provide the newest inflight comforts demanded by today's passengers -- especially in premium classes of service.
Goodrich received an STC to install an external rescue hoist system on Eurocopter AS 350B3 helicopters. The system, which includes the hoist, structural and electrical components, can be installed as original or retrofit equipment.
A recent U.K. Ministry of Defense contract awarded to BAE Systems will integrate Lockheed Martin's Sniper advanced targeting pod in Harrier multi-role V/STOL combat aircraft, and provide operational emergency clearance advice. The contract award follows a private-venture funded rapid technology insertion (RTI) program in 2006, which demonstrated the enhanced target identification and weapon delivery capabilities gained with integration of the pod.
Boeing won a $258.5 million performance-based logistics contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support AV-8B Harriers operated by the Marine Corps, Italy and Spain. The contract includes an option for five additional years.
Air India awarded SR Technics a three-year, $22 million contract to maintain CFM56-7 engines and GTCP-131-9B APUs on Air India Express's Boeing 737-800 fleet.
Carlo Gavazzi Computing Solutions's VITA 41 VME switched serial backplane for military and aerospace applications is designed to support the legacy capability of VME64x bus structure while integrating a high-performance upgrade to the latest VITA standards. The VXS backplane retrofit capabilities are designed to help achieve the fastest data transfer rates without the cost of adopting VPX technology. Carlo Gavazzi Computing Solutions, Attn: Jessica Isquith, VP Marketing, 10 Mupac Dr., Brockton MA 02301
Jet Aviation Basel plans to add 35,000 square meters (377,000 square feet) to its widebody hangar to expand completions and maintenance capabilities. It expects to open the new hangar next spring.
U.S. Navy selected Intelligent Automation Corp. to develop an engine diagnostic and prognostic system for the F-35 Lightning II's Pratt & Whitney F135 engine.
LONDON -- Some of aviation's fiercest environmental critics in Europe were stunned on June 14, when easyJet CEO Andy Harrison unveiled the airline's vision of a next-generation, eco-friendly aircraft. Harrison said the "easyJet ecoJet" would need to be 25 percent quieter and emit 50 percent less CO 2 and 75 percent less NOx than today's newest short-haul aircraft.
SR Technics will provide landing gear MRO services for six Boeing 737-700 and six 737-800 Shanghai Airlines aircraft. Work should start in September at SR Technics' Dublin facility. In addition, Oman Air signed a two-year agreement with SR Technics for landing gear services for its Boeing 737NGs. The agreement starts in 2009. SR Technics also won a five-year contract from easyJet for MRO services on 30 Boeing 737-700 landing gears.
Further progress with Canada's 2001 Boeing CF-18 modernization plans was announced earlier this year by the Canadian Department of National Defense, with a contract award to Lockheed Martin for its Advanced Multi-Role Infrared Sensor (AMIRS) program. The AMIRS targeting pod incorporates advanced electro-optic and infrared sensors, including a laser designator, a laser marker and a tactical datalink capability.
L-3 Communications Integrated Systems won a $42.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the development of a Next Generation Range Support Aircraft. Efforts include the modification/upgrade of the P-3 aircraft, including designing, developing, documenting, installing, integrating, and testing to verify the integration of the aircraft modifications and range instrumentation. Work should be completed in April 2011.
Unison Industries received FAA certification for its new alternator for CFM56-5 and -7 lines of engines. Unison says its alternator, which provides electrical power for the engine's control systems, runs cooler and operators at a lower weight than the original.
By the time you read this I will probably be over my air show lag, which is kind of like jet lag, only more intense. Don't get me wrong. I love Paris. It's one of the world's great cities. I don't mind the air show, either, despite the fact that I'm certain that the attending companies conspire with each other to make sure that we in the media get our exercise. If you've never been to the Paris Air Show, the big (and little) company hospitality and media chalets stretch for what seems like miles across Le Bourget. Invariably, a 9 a.m.
FlightSafety International plans to double the size of its Gulfstream aircraft maintenance training facility in Savannah, Ga. The facility expansion should be done in the second quarter of 2008 and will have the capacity to train 5,000 technicians annually. The existing facility trained more than 2,000 technicians last year.
U.S. Army ordered 18 new AH-64D Apache helicopters in April that will include upgraded T700 engines. Corpus Christi Army Depot will convert existing GE T700-701 and -701C engines to -701D engines via a kit supplied by GE's Lynn, Mass., facility. CCAD expects to complete 540 conversions this year, and each should take between 650 to 750 man-hours. This is part of the Army's announcement in 2004 that it plans to covert its Apache and Black Hawk helicopter fleet to the T700-701D configuration.
The former Army brigadier general bristles when his program "gets rolled into the big Reset world." "We do get a bit defensive," said Stuart Gerald, key consultant to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command's (AMCOM) Aviation Reset effort. That effort is aimed at rendering rotary wing aircraft returning from Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom fully mission capable (FMC).
Innovative Solutions & Support appointed Raymond Wilson chief executive officer from his current position on the company's board. In line with IS&S' strategic succession plan, Wilson will assume the CEO duties of company founder and current CEO and Chairman Geoffrey Hedrick over the next several months Hedrick will continue to serve as chairman, focusing his efforts on business strategies and product development. Roman Ptakowski remains as president.
Honeywel1, doing business as Defense Avionics Systems, received a $5.5 million firm-fixed-price contract to develop form-fit-function for obsolete subassemblies in the F-15 Avionics Intermediate Shop (AIS) Antenna Test Station (ATS) and Enhanced Aircraft Radar Test Station (EARTS).This effort includes the design, hardware and software, and formal testing of F3 prototypes for obsolete subassemblies. At this time, total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete Feb 2009. Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity.
