SR Technics and Garuda Indonesia Airways extended their component services contract through 2014. The agreement covers exchange, MRO, logistics and management of more than 700 components for Garuda Indonesias current fleet of 10 Airbus A330s as well as additional A330s it plans to add. Facilities
Airline Services Components signed an agreement with low-fare Russian start-up Avianova to provide wheels and brakes support for the airlines Airbus A320s on a cost-per-landing basis.
Gulfstream Aerospace named John Liotta eastern senior regional sales manager, product support sales, responsible for maintenance sales to Gulfstream and non-Gulfstream operators in New Jersey. Liotta reports to Scott McDonald, director of service center sales for the eastern region.
LONDON—The European Commission has adopted a proposal to establish new rules to improve accident investigation coordination. The new regulation aims to strengthen victims’ rights and increase access to information and the right to assistance.
Bedek Aviation Group is flight testing the prototype Boeing 767-300ER passenger to freighter conversion. It expects to deliver the aircraft to EuroAtlantic Airways of Portugal by the end of this year. This will be EuroAtlantic’s first cargo aircraft. Bedek developed the 767-300 conversion program for M&B Conversions of Dublin, which is a joint venture between Mitsui & Co. of Japan and Israel Aerospace Industries/Bedek.
MTU Maintenance Canada will do engine depot work on U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender tanker aircraft at its facility in Richmond, B.C. MTU is part of a team led by Northrop Grumman that is providing maintenance, engineering, field service support and condition monitoring for 204 CF6-50C2 engines. Other contractors working with MTU are Chromolloy and AAR Corp. MTU’s part of the nine-year deal is valued at $500 million. The work includes aerial refueling system support for two KDC-10s operated by the Netherlands.
Lufthansa Technik inked a seven-year component services deal with Olympic Air for 26 aircraft, 16 Airbus A320s and 10 Bombardier Q400s, that includes writing specifications, initial provisioning studies, home base allocation, MRO, troubleshooting, documentation and engineering services.
Saab will develop and upgrade the Swedish Armed Forces SK60 training aircraft to extend their use until 2017 under an order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, worth SEK130 million ($19 million). The upgrade, which should be completed by the end of 2011, includes a new GPS, audible altitude and primary warning signals for the pilot, the replacement of certain instruments, and a new aircraft cabin layout.OM
Capital Aviation received an FAA supplemental type certificate for its Reflections Program to upgrade Bombardier Challenger 600 series aircraft with an end-to-end interior and exterior refurbishment and the installation of Universal Avionics’ WAAS-capable flight management system, EFI-890R flat-panel displays and terrain awareness and warning system.
The Defense Ministry has given AgustaWestland a £439 million ($715 million) integrated operation support contract for maintenance of its 67 Apache helicopters in the U.K. The deal frees up military personnel who work on the attack helicopter to deploy to Afghanistan and support operations 24/7 there. Work on the Apache in the U.K. is done at Wattisham Airfield, Suffolk. Eighteen months ago, the Apache Depth Support Unit there was run entirely by military technicians. Now, 180 personnel from AgustaWestland are replacing them.
Fokker Services chief engineer Rudi den Hertog retired in November and was succeeded by Dirk van Os, who formerly was responsible for ground and flight testing. den Hertog joined Fokker in 1969 as a project engineer and recently worked with Rekkof Aircraft on the next generation of Fokker jet aircraft. He will continue at Rekkof Aircraft as chief engineer and will support Fokker Services as a senior consultant.
Euravia Engineering signed a five-year contract with the Royal Netherlands Air Force to repair and overhaul the PT6A-25C engines that power its fleet of Pilatus PC-7 aircraft.
—Gulfstream Aerospace plans to first fly its long-range G650 business jet before yearend, but even though this aircraft just rolled out in September, maintenance preparation started before engineers first took pen to paper.
—Mass air travel can be seen as both a boon and a bane for humanity: a boon because it facilitates social, leisure and business opportunities, and a bane because the close confines of passenger aircraft cabins could potentially facilitate the international spread of human diseases. The outbreaks of SARS and bird flu this decade and the imminent potential of a swine flu pandemic have concentrated efforts to clean cabin air of every conceivable contaminant.
Ahlers Aerospace amended STC to install a night vision goggle-compatible interior lighting system on Eurocopter Deutschland MBB-BK 117 B-1 and MBB-BK 117 B-2 helicopters, STC SR09523RC
Solar-reflective Window Coatings PPG Aerospace’s neutral-silver and gold solar-reflective window coatings are designed to enhance an aircraft’s interior and exterior appearance while reducing cockpit and cabin temperatures and air-conditioning demands. The coatings are being developed for glass and plastic aircraft transparencies; PPG also plans to incorporate solar-reflective coatings into its electrochromatic cabin window systems.
—Expect to see high-level aftermarket responsibility shift to the U.S. government from industry as the government takes over some resource allocation. This move comes as the Defense Department faces major equipment maintenance because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has less planned funding to provide for it. It also comes at a time when manufacturers rely on aftermarket revenue streams, which have been hit by the recession.
As any MRO knows, controlling labor costs is one of the keys to remaining competitive, especially as the industry expands globally to low-wage countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.Cost control was central to Roger Porter’s strategy when he took over the Aeroframe repair facility in Lake Charles, La., from EADS Aeroframe Services in July 2005. “EADS was focused on increasing Airbus maintenance support in the Americas,” says Porter.
StandardAero added Pat Conroy as regional sales manager for its Southern California Region. Conroy, whose career in business aviation services sales includes managing regional sales for Garrett Aviation, will be based at StandardAero’s Los Angeles International Airport facility.
