Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance issue 111

The leading international magazine for the manufacturing and MRO sectors of commercial aviation

April - May 2011 Issue: 111 www.ubmaviationnews.com

n DON’T SAY 737 REPLACEMENT, SAY NEW AIRCRAFT

n LOGICAL LOGISTICS: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

n OEMs TAKE CONTROL OF AVIONICS AFTERMARKET

n AIRFRAME MAINTENANCE DIRECTORY PART 2

LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOW:MRO GLOBAL OUTLOOK 2011

Official Publication

ATE&M 111 FC_AFIKLM777facilities2_Layout 1 01/04/2011 11:54 Page 1

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“Aeroinv.com” is a trading name of Aero Inventory Plc and Aero Inventory (UK) Limited – both in administration (together “the Companies”). James Robert Tucker, Richard Heis and Allan Graham are the Joint Administrators of the Companies and manage the affairs, business and property of the Companies.

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April - May 2011 • Issue: 111

DATA & DIRECTIVES106 Industry data: Airbus A340-500/-600

110 FAA AD biweekly summary listings

NEWS UPDATE4 A round-up of the latest news, contracts, products and peoplemovements.

INDUSTRY FOCUSSPECIAL FEATURE

14 MRO global outlook 2011: An industry on the reboundWhat are the prospects for the MRO industry in 2011, and beyond?Which regions are making the strongest recovery from the global down-turn? Jason Holland assesses the state of play in this comprehensivereport.

38 Aviation focus: FloridaWith a plethora of MRO and supply chain companies located in the thirdlargest US state by air passenger totals — attracted by the sunny cli-mate, strategic location and state support — Joanne Perry investigatesFlorida’s standing as an aviation hub.

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION56 Don’t say 737 replacement, say new aircraftAfter months of speculation, Boeing appears to be going with a replacementfor the 737 rather than a re-engined version — except the company doesn’tsee it as a straight replacement, just a “new aircraft”. Here, Scott Hamiltonexamines Boeing’s possible strategies for this new programme, includingtechnologies, family and size options, use of materials, and likely assemblysites.

64 The importance of engine testingEngine testing, whether during manufacturing or maintenance, must cutno corners in order to prevent potentially disastrous mid-flight failures.Joanne Perry talks to engine manufacturers, MROs and test equipmentproviders to find out the latest trends.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY98 Maintenance planning and schedulingPredicting things before they happen could be the saviour of many indus-tries. In aviation, this notion is even more telling than in others becausethe lives of passengers are continually on the line. Automated IT plan-ning and scheduling tools are a key factor in integrated software solu-tions that enable proactive planning. Tony Arrowsmith looks at some ofthe latest packages.

ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE74 Airframe heavy maintenance directory — Part 2The capabilities and facilities of MRO companies in the Americas.

82 Logical logisticsEfficient supply-chain management is crucial to the running of the airtransport business — but the high-value nature of commercial aircraftand their parts create uniquely intensive logistics challenges. This makeslogistics providers, and the transportation options they choose, funda-mental to the smooth operation of the industry, as Chris Kjelgaardreports.

90 Avionics repair and NFF testingIndependent avionics repair shops face a challenging future as OEMsmove to limit access to support data, according to Bernard Fitzsimons.Meanwhile, the long battle to reduce the incidence of no fault found test-ing continues.

Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance (ATE&M) (ISSN: 0967-439X - USPS 022-901)is published bi- monthly, in February, April, June, August, October andDecember with an extra issue in July, plus annual issues of theyearbooks published in September, October, and November by UBM Aviation Publications Ltd. and distributed in the USA by SPP c/o 95, Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437, USA.Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance c/o SPP P.O. Box 437 Emigsville, PA 17318-0437, USA.

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EDITORJason Holland: [email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITORJoanne Perry: [email protected]

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORSTony Arrowsmith, Bernard Fitzsimons, Chris Kjelgaard,

Scott Hamilton

PRODUCTION MANAGERPhil Hine: [email protected]

E-EDITOR & CIRCULATION MANAGERPaul Canessa: [email protected]

MEDIA MANAGER - EUROPE, ASIA & AFRICAAlan Samuel: [email protected]

PUBLISHER & SALES DIRECTOR - USASimon Barker: [email protected]

GROUP PUBLISHERAnthony Smith: [email protected]

Front cover: copyright Patrick Delapierre — AFI KLM E&M Please visit UBM Aviation at the MRO Show in Miami (Booths 2638/2639) and at the AP&M EXPO (Booth A24)

News_111_News_111 01/04/2011 12:00 Page 1

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4 ❙ Aircraft Technology- Issue 111 ❙

The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association has wel-comed Dale Aviation as its 50th member. Thecompany specialises in aircraft recycling, mate-rial recovery, maintenance and engineering.

Sargent Aerospace & Defense hasannounced that it is acquiring more than1,000 737 line-replaceable units, wortharound $4m. Most of the parts will bereceived at the company’s Miami facilityin overhauled condition, ready for imme-diate sale, exchange or leasing.

Airbus has announced that it is raising its A330production rate to 10 aircraft a month due tostrong demand. The current rate of eight permonth will be increased to nine in early 2012before reaching 10 in 2Q, 2013.

Air New Zealand is to introduce in-flightphone connectivity on its first two newA320s, but remains undecided over instal-lation on later deliveries. The communica-tion system will be provided by OnAir.

Air Mauritius has selected PDQ’s consumablecare programme for its Airbus fleet. The airlineis a new consumable care partner for PDQ andis set to continue the arrangement long-term.

Emirates Airline has ordered an additional84 in-flight mobile connectivity systemsfrom Panasonic Avionics Corporation andAeroMobile. The ‘eXPhone’ systems willbe installed on the carrier’s 777-300ERand 777-200LR aircraft.

Norwegian has announced the introduction ofhigh-speed broadband on its European flights.The airline has claimed this as a first forEurope.

The Federal Aviation Administration hascertified Dassault Falcon’s 7X enhancedvision system. The technology providesan image on the head-up display andflight deck displays which enhances vis-ibility in poor conditions.

Resource Group has become a value-addedreseller for Siemens’ product lifecycle manage-ment (PLM) software.

UPS is to expand its aircraft health man-agement coverage with Boeing toencompass 38 MD-11 freighters.

Ryanair has opened a second maintenancehangar at Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

A J Walter has chosen Merthyr Tydfil,Wales, as the site of its new aircraftengine services division.

Embraer has named Air Works of Mumbai as anauthorised Phenom service centre.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation hasannounced the successful test flight ofits eXTV service which enables live tele-vision broadcasts on business aircraft.

ExecuJet Aviation has opened its fourth fixedbase operations site in Europe, having acquireda facility from Assistair in Valencia, Spain.

Air Services, a division of Constant Aviationat Cleveland Hopkins International Airport,Ohio, has launched a new 15,000ft

2com-

posite and accessory facility.

AEA warns EU over emissions trad-ing scheme implementationEuropean airlines have warned thatthere are still serious issues to beresolved if aviation’s inclusion inthe EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme(ETS) in 2012 is to be effective.Virgin Atlantic chief executive SteveRidgway, who was chairing anAssociation of European Airlines(AEA) meeting for the first time, wasparticularly worried about the EU’sscheme “creating unfair market dis-tortions or undermining its environ-mental effectiveness”. Ridgway believes that it is vital forthe ETS to be complimented by theuse of “clean technology” in orderfor aviation to truly reduce its envi-ronmental impact. “We call on theEU to stimulate the development ofstep change technologies — put-ting Europe at the forefront of thisnew industrial revolution — criticalamongst which are sustainablealternative fuels with their obviouspotential to reduce aviation’s car-bon footprint,” he stated.The AEA said it was willing to fullyco-operate with the EuropeanCommission in working out the nec-essary conditions for an effectivetransition to new generation fuels. Ultimately, the revenues gainedfrom the ETS should be directlyinvested “to further the aims of anenvironmental policy”, according toRidgway. Such a policy wouldinclude funding for the SESAR airtraffic management project, as wellas the research and developmentinto alternative aviation fuels.

Goodrich’s electric brakes certifiedfor 787Goodrich’s 787 electric braking sys-tem has been certified after thecompletion of flight tests. Test con-ditions involved on-aircraft testingof the wheels and electric brakehardware as well the brake actuatorcontrollers. The 787 system is thesixth incarnation of Goodrich’s elec-tric alternative to traditionalhydraulic brakes, a technology thecompany first pursued 15 yearsago. The system includes propri-etary carbon heat sink materialwhich Goodrich says enhancesbrake performance, increases lifespan by 35 per cent and representsthe first electrically actuated brakesystem on a commercial aircraft.The brakes are to be used in theaircraft of the 787’s launch cus-tomer, All Nippon Airlines, amongstothers.

NEWS UPDATE

INBRIEF NEWSHIGHLIGHTS

Nanocoating to be trialled by easyJetA nanotechnology coating that could cut fuel usage by as much as twoper cent is to be trialled on eight easyJet aircraft. They will become thefirst commercial aircraft to test the ultra-thin polymer coating, tripleO,which is already in use on US military aircraft.

The coating works by cross-linking and bonding with surface materials —such as paint work, bare metal, leading edges and even rivets — cuttingup to 39 per cent of drag by reducing the accumulation of dirt and debrison the surface. Only 4oz is added to the weight of the aircraft when thecoating is applied.

During the 12-month trial period, the fuel consumption of the eight air-craft with the coating applied will be compared with the rest of theeasyJet fleet.

A form of the tripleO coating has been used for 20 years as a surfaceprotectant by the US military, but it has only recently been made com-mercially available, having been re-engineered in 2000 to incorporatenanotechnology into the solution. As reported first by UBM Aviation backin January 2010, the new version of the coating was initially trialled ona Hawker 400XP business jet, with the impressive results leading to fur-ther testing with easyJet and other potential customers.

The new trials announced by easyJet are the most significant to date andare the first to attract the attention of the mainstream media. If suc-cessful, the trials could lead to a widespread use of this promising tech-nology across the aviation industry, as airlines seek to reduce fuel burnand reduce carbon emissions. It is safe to say that other airlines will bemonitoring the easyJet trials with considerable interest.

“The tripleO solution is proven in some of the most challenging applica-tions, for some of the world’s most demanding military organisationsover three decades. Where better to have tested a product such as thisfor commercial use?” asks Paul Booker, managing director at ooops!, thedistributor of the coating in the UK. “For a relatively small investment peraircraft, the financial, marketing and environmental benefits of applyingtripleO are many-fold.”

The coating is not limited to use on aircraft, and could also be appliedto vehicles both on the road and in the water. The manufacturer has alsobeen investigating the application of the coating on aero engines.

News_111_News_111 01/04/2011 12:00 Page 4

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European satellite navigation sys-tem declared availableThe European Commission hasannounced the availability of theEuropean Geostationary NavigationOverlay Service (EGNOS) to the avia-tion industry. The Europe-wide navi-gation system, which consists ofthree geostationary satellites and anetwork of forty ground systems, willaugment the United States’ globalpositioning system (GPS). Aircraftwill now be able to precisely estab-lish not only horizontal but verticalposition during approaches, even inlow visibility. EGNOS is the result ofa 15-year joint project between theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) andEurocontrol, which was handed overto the Commission on April 1, 2009.Europe’s first global navigation satel-lite system is a precursor to Galileo,a more comprehensive systemwhich is currently under develop-ment.

BAE Systems ensures future ofAvro RJBAE Systems Regional Aircraftsays it has embarked on a long-term maintenance programme forthe Avro RJ to enable the aircraftto continue operations for “atleast another 20 years”. The com-pany aims to ensure that the pro-gramme is completed andintroduced well in advance of thefleet lead aircraft requirements.BAE will analyse the past 20 yearsof actual aircraft operations toderive improved maintenance pro-grammes. It will then update theexisting Supplementary StructuralInspections Document (SSID) byintroducing the Avro RJ to this pro-gramme. This will complement theexisting Corrosion Protection andControl Programme (CPCP) whichalready provides an infinite calen-dar life for airframes over 20years. The objective of SSID is toextend the airframe life to 60,000cycles on completion of this pro-gramme.

Airbus awards aluminium manufac-turing contract to SWAAirbus has signed a procurementframe contract with one of thelargest aluminium product produc-ers in China for the manufactureand supply of aluminium plate.Southwest Aluminium’s (SWA) prod-ucts will initially supply both Airbus’single-aisle and long-range families,and the contract could be extendedto other programmes in the future.

NEWS UPDATE

NEWSHIGHLIGHTSINBRIEFJetSelect Aircraft Maintenance Services hasbeen certified as a part 145 repair station bythe Federal Aviation Administration.

American Airlines has grantedAeroTurbine the exclusive right to pur-chase and remarket the airline’s surplusmaterial under a four-year agreement.

German airline Condor Flugdienst has selectednavAero to supply its Class 2 electronic flightbag system for the airline’s fleet of 757-300and 767-300ER aircraft.

Etihad Airways has selected Jeppesen toprovide paper and electronic chartingand the company’s ‘FliteDeck Pro’ elec-tronic flight bag applications.

PDQ Airspares has achieved EN/AS9120 qual-ity system status for distributors and aerospacestockists.

Pats Aircraft Systems has received sup-plemental type certificate approval for anew configuration of its 757-200 auxil-iary fuel system.

Air France Industries KLM Engineering andMaintenance is to expand its use of Enigmasoftware.

AVISA Aviation Safety Systems andFokker Services have formed a newstrategic partnership. The agreementwill introduce to the FLYFokker pro-gramme continuing airworthiness andmaintenance management services(CAMO) which have been EuropeanAviation Safety Agency (EASA) part Mapproved.

Honeywell Aerospace has authorised DallasAirmotive to supply turbofan engine and auxil-iary power unit (APU) support to the Asia-Pacific market.

Figeac Aéro has held back the openingof its new engine parts production facil-ity in Tunisia in the wake of the politicalunrest which earlier swept the country.

Lufthansa Technik has appointed independentrotable component support specialists Aerotronto actively market LHT rotable material on aloan, exchange and sales basis.

Jeppesen has introduced 400 newcharts to its commercial airline overlay(CAO) library, at 70-plus locations.

Hawker Beechcraft has launched a new $20mplant in Chihuahua City, Mexico. The 180,000ft2

site will be used to process sheet-metal for KingAir and Hawker aircraft.

The General Aviation Authority of theUnited Arab Emirates has selected COM-SOFT to provide its CADAS aeronauticalinformation management system in AbuDhabi.

The Airports Authority of India has selected SITAto deliver data link departure clearance (DCL)systems that will enable the exchange of airtraffic control (ATC) messages with data link-equipped airlines.

P&W details GTF testing progressSome 25 hours into ground-testing of its second PurePower PW1524Gproduction-standard geared turbofan for the Bombardier CSeries, andwith 200 hours of ground-testing completed on the first production-stan-dard engine as of January, Pratt & Whitney (P&W) says the PW1524G ison track both for specific fuel consumption and for weight.

“I am extremely pleased with the first engine,” said Bob Saia, vice pres-ident for the new generation product family for Pratt & WhitneyCommercial Engines & Global Services, addressing reporters beside theC-11 test stand at P&W’s 6,800-acre engine test facility near West PalmBeach. The second production-standard PW1524G is mounted on the C-11 stand for ground testing.

At the test stand, Saia said test data had so far shown that PW1524Gspecific fuel consumption is “on track” and that the approximately 2.5-ton engine is also “tracking favourable” on weight, being a little lighterthan P&W originally expected. This is good, he says, because weight mayhave to be added to the engine as it goes through the certificationprocess.

The second PW1524G will accumulate at least 50 hours of ground-test-ing before being sent to the company’s flight-test centre at Mirabel nearMontreal, where the engine will be fitted to one of the two flight-testBoeing 747SPs the company uses for flight-testing new engines.

P&W is using the first four production-standard PW1524Gs for ground-and flight-testing and regards them as experimental engines. Accordingto Saia, none of the four will be delivered to Bombardier for productionCSeries aircraft. The first test engine is extensively instrumented tomeasure the performance of each system within the engine on an indi-vidual basis, focusing particularly on the low-pressure spool.

Testing of engine No. 2 is focusing on performance on the ground and inthe air, while testing of the third engine – to be carried out at P&W’s facil-ities in Connecticut – will focus on the engine’s high-pressure spool andcombustor. Testing of engine No. 4, also to be performed in Connecticut,will primarily focus on endurance, according to Saia.

Meanwhile, with the first PW1217G for the Mitsubishi MRJ having beencompleted in late March, ground-testing of the engine will begin in Aprilat West Palm Beach and will continue for about two and a half months,according to Saia. Apart from fan size (73in for the PW1524G and 56infor the MRJ), the only substantial difference between them is “a slightchange in the gear ratio”, he said. The low-pressure spool on thePW1524G will turn three times for every revolution of the fan, while thelow spool on the PW1217G will turn “slightly less than three times” foreach revolution of the fan.

News_111_News_111 01/04/2011 12:00 Page 6

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IAE unveils V2500 SelectTwoInternational Aero Engines (IAE) has launched V2500 SelectTwo, its nextgeneration V2500 engine. SelectTwo is predicted to reduce fuel burn by0.58 per cent compared to SelectOne, based on a 500 mile A320 flight.The company says that savings for a fleet of 10 A320s flying 2,300flights per year amount to 14,800 tons of CO2 and $4.3m. The engineconsists of a software upgrade for the electronic engine control (EEC) aswell as a new data entry plug (DEP). IAE is currently working with Airbuson a flight test for 2011 which should enable entry into service in 2013.

Rio de Janeiro airport deploys Honeywell’s ATM systemGaleão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, hasinstalled a SmartPath Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) fromHoneywell. The system is designed to modernise air traffic management(ATM) and increase operational capacity. Honeywell says that the firstGBAS to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can sup-port four runways simultaneously, resulting in time, financial and envi-ronmental savings. The modernised ATM capability should help Rio deJaneiro to cope with increased traffic ahead of the 2012 FIFA World Cupand the 2016 Olympics.

ARSA praises the FAA’s reformsThe Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) has said that it sup-ports the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorisation andReform Act of 2011 (HR 658). In a statement, ARSA executive directorSarah MacLeod said: “We congratulate Chairmen Mica and Petri on craft-ing a bill that will ensure more effective FAA oversight of foreign anddomestic repair stations, allow the industry to build on its outstandingsafety record, and ensure the continued competitiveness of the US main-tenance industry.” It also praised the bill for protecting the sector’s274,000 American employees and its $39bn annual contribution to theUnited States economy.

GE Canada and StandardAero to setup research facilityGE Canada and StandardAero haveentered into an agreement to build a$50m aircraft engine research andtechnology centre in Winnipeg. Thefacility will develop advanced testingmethods and equipment for GEAviation engines. It will incorporatetest cell capabilities for engines upto 150 inches in diameter with up to150,000lbs of thrust. It will house alarge wind generator for crosswind,ingestion and icing certification test-ing. The new facility will be con-structed on land leased from theWinnipeg Airports Authority and oper-ated by StandardAero. It will initiallyhave a staff of 10, possibly growingto 50 within five years and ultimatelyable to accommodate 200. It isscheduled to open later in 2011.

Thousandth 767 rolled outA ceremonial rollout of Boeing’s1,000th 767 has taken place at thecompany’s Everett, Washington fac-tory. Hundreds of current employ-ees were joined by Boeing retireeswho worked on the first 767 to cel-ebrate the occasion. The 1,000thaircraft is a 767-300ER bound forAll Nippon Airways (ANA) and wasthe final 767 to complete assemblyon the current production line. Finalproduction work is already under-way on the 1,001st unit in a new,smaller bay that is intended tomake the process more efficient.

FAA reveals secret security measureThe Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) has directed airlines in theUS to disable oxygen generators inaircraft lavatories. Airlines com-pleted the modification on 6,000aircraft on March 4, 2011, but thiswas not made public until March10 owing to security fears.Removal of the generators followedmulti-agency federal advice to elim-inate an unspecified risk. The FAAand aircraft manufacturers are col-laborating on a project to develop areplacement oxygen system; in themeantime crew emergency proce-dures are being reinforced.

MNG’s new hangar now operationalMNG Technic has moved into anew, larger hangar at IstanbulAtaturk International Airport andstarted to receive aircraft there.The 25,000m2 facility can accom-modate up to 16 narrowbody air-craft, or four widebodies pluseight narrowbodies. MNG’s oldhangar has been taken over byOnur Air.

SAS and Alpha Star aim for Riyadh JVSikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS)and Alpha Star Aviation Serviceshave signed a letter of intent (LOI)to form a joint venture (JV) for theprovision of support and mainte-nance services in Saudi Arabia. TheJV would operate from Riyadh,where Alpha Star is based.

Boeing to use Eurotech’s subsystemsBoeing subcontractor ARINCEngineering Services has pur-chased Eurotech subsystems for737 aircraft. Announcing the con-tract, Eurotech said that itsDuraCOR 820 mission computerand DuraMAR 3230 network routersubsytems will be deployed as partof a satellite and communicationsupgrade.

LHT and Panasonic Avionics JV go-aheadThe European Commission hasapproved a cabin systems joint ven-ture (JV) between LufthansaTechnik (LHT) and PanasonicAvionics. The JV will operate underthe branding ‘Idair’ and will offerdesign, manufacture and supply ofspecialised aircraft cabin equip-ment. The Commission passed theJV through its simplified mergerreview procedure.

Qantas looks at sustainable fuels Qantas has announced a collabora-tion with renewable energy com-pany Solazyme. A 12-monthfeasibility study will investigate thepotential use of sustainable avia-tion fuel developed from algae.Solazyme says that its Solajet fuelwas the first of its kind to pass theeleven test specifications to meetASTM D1665 (Jet-A1) standard.The arrangement with Solazymeforms part of Qantas’ broader strat-egy to establish partnerships whichmay improve sustainability. The air-line has come to a similar agree-ment with Solena Group, focusingon waste-based sustainable fuel.

NEWS UPDATE

NEWSHIGHLIGHTS

Lufthansa biofuel flights held backLufthansa has postponed the launch of commercial biofuel flights by aminimum of one month after delays in securing certification. A subcom-mittee of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)International is still finalising certification details for the use ofhydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) fuel in commercial aviation. A six-monthtrial was originally scheduled for Lufthansa’s Frankfurt-Hamburg route inApril, featuring an A321 powered by one out of its two International Aeroengines running on a 50/50 blend of biofuel and kerosene. This has nowbeen pushed back to the end of May.

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Nanotechnology breakthrough couldsee hydrogen emerge as cleanestfuel of allEADS Innovation Works believes thatnanotechnology could pave the wayfor the use of hydrogen as a fuel forpowering aircraft engines; a develop-ment that would bring about dramaticreductions in carbon emissions. Thecompany has unveiled plans to fly anunmanned hydrogen-powered test air-craft in 2014.

The research arm of EADS is work-ing with researchers at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, to find a newsolid state storage system for hydrogen; the team is to use nanotech-nology to overcome the current problems, such as storage, which pre-vent hydrogen being used to power aircraft commercially.

Hydrogen is a clean fuel which produces only water on combustion orwhen combined with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electrical power.However, it is expensive and difficult to store safely — and must bestored in solid form if it is to be of any use. But to do so will require theteam to minimise the weight and volume of the store and to increase thetransfer rate from the tank to a fuel cell or engine — barriers which arecurrently holding back the use of hydrogen on an industrial scale.

The researchers hope that nanotechnology will alter the design andmaterial composition of a storage tank with the aim of increasing effi-ciency to make its use commercially viable.

“Using new active nanomaterials in combination with novel storage tankdesign principles presents a hugely exciting opportunity to address theconsiderable challenges of introducing hydrogen as a fuel for aviation,”commented Duncan Gregory, professor of inorganic materials at theSchool of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, who is leading theresearch. “This collaboration between engineers and chemists andbetween industry and academia provides the pathway to achieve this.”

EADS and professor Gregory’s team believe that the storage problem isthe major barrier to the use of hydrogen as a commercial fuel, and onceovercome, it might yield rapid progress in the field. They are thus seek-ing funding from the European Union to build a European-wide team ofacademic and industrial partners to examine the wider issues relating tothe industrial use of hydrogen to power aircraft and car engines.

GE invests $60m in new test bedGE Aviation has announced a $60m investment in its engine testingfacility in Victorville, California. It will purchase and refurbish a 747-400CF6-80C2 powered aircraft which will be converted into a flying test bedfor the next generation of engines, initially the LEAP-X. The new test bedwill replace the current model, which has been in operation since 1992and is the oldest version of the 747 still in use in the United States. Inpreparation for flight-testing, the wing and strut of the aircraft will beredesigned and reinforced to accommodate a variety of engine sizes andweights. The aircraft will also undergo interior modification and installa-tion of data systems and integration equipment.

Safran and COMAC subsidiaries agree JVSubsidiaries of Safran Group and Commercial Aircraft Corporation ofChina (COMAC) are to form a joint venture (JV) to develop and manufac-ture aircraft wiring. Labinal, of Safran Group, and COMAC’s ShanghaiAircraft Manufacturing Company (SAMC) will produce electrical wiringinterconnection systems (EWIS) for the Asia Pacific market.

Embraer launches US final assem-bly operationsEmbraer has opened its first finalassembly facility in the UnitedStates, at Melbourne InternationalAirport, Florida. The $50m plantand paint shop, which took twoyears to build, covers 150,000ft2and can accommodate 200 per-sonnel. It will be used for the pro-duction of Phenom 100 and 300jets, initially focusing exclusively onclearing a backlog of the Phenom100. The company must nowinstall tooling before manufacturingand delivering the first US-builtPhenom 100, planned for 4Q2011. The customer centre is dueto be completed in November,2011.

EC grants funding for Volvo ICCVolvo Aero is to be granted approx-imately €12m ($16.5m) to developthe intermediate compressor case(ICC) for the Rolls-Royce Trent XWBengine. The European Commissionauthorised under EU State aidrules a repayable advance toSweden for that sum, which thecountry will grant to Volvo Aero. TheCommission found that the aidcomplies with the requirements ofthe EU framework for state aid forresearch, development and innova-tion, because the positive effectsof the aid outweigh the potentialdistortions of competition.

Virgin Blue to build Sydney wide-body hangarVirgin Blue is to build a widebodyhangar at Sydney Airport as part ofa new engineering maintenancebase. Planning for the hangar,which will be able to accommodateup to four narrowbody aircraft, ortwo narrowbodies and one wide-body, is already underway.Construction is expected to becomplete by late 2012.

Airbus signs Aircelle for A320neoAirbus has contracted Aircelle, asubsidiary of Safran Group, to pro-vide a complete integrated nacellepackage for A320neo aircraft pow-ered by CFM International LEAP-Xengines. The agreement alsoinvolves Aircelle’s Nexcelle jointventure (JV) partner, GE’s MiddleRiver Aircraft Systems (MRAS).Aircelle says it is running full-scaledemonstrator programmes to vali-date several innovations whichimprove on A380 nacelle technol-ogy for the A320neo.


New Airbus composites plant opensin ChinaAirbus and a group of its Chinesepartners have inaugurated a jointventure (JV), Harbin Hafei AirbusComposite Manufacturing Centre.The facilities in Harbin will manu-facture composite components forAirbus’ latest aircraft programme,the A350 XWB. Composites manu-facture will comprise a significantproportion of the five per cent ofA350 XWB airframe work packagesto be carried out in China. The newcentre currently covers 33,800m2but will be increased to 80,000 m2of production, technical support,offices and other functions.

EC authorises R&D memorandumThe European Commission hasauthorised the signing and provi-sional application of a memoran-dum of co-operation with the USaimed at promoting civil aviationresearch and development activi-ties. It will also ensure interoper-ability between the next generationof European and US air traffic man-agement programmes, SESAR andNextGen. The memorandum cre-ates a general legally bindingframework, with rules on issuessuch as governance, intellectualproperty rights, reciprocity and lia-bility, to be complemented byaddenda on specific issues.

Airbus approves TAECO as cabin-outfitterAirbus has added Taikoo (Xiamen)Aircraft Engineering Company(TAECO) to its worldwide network ofapproved cabin outfitting centresfor corporate jets, now eight-strong. TAECO, a subsidiary ofHong Kong Aircraft EngineeringCompany (HAECO), is the manufac-turer’s first approved cabin-outfitterin the Asia-Pacific region.

Smith’s (Harlow) Aerospace pro-gresses with Air Baltic projectSmith’s (Harlow) Aerospace hasannounced that it is progressingwith a F50 landing gear repair andoverhaul programme for Air Baltic.The work, which began in December,2010, includes the exchange, repairand overhaul of F50 main gears,nose gears and associated bracesand links. Managing director RobSmith commented: “The Air Balticproject further confirms our positionas a leading F50 gear overhaulerand strengthens our focus onregional aircraft gear repairs.”

NEWS UPDATE

NEWSHIGHLIGHTS

Hydrogenin

Energyout

Water out

Oxygenin

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+

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Hydrogen fuel cell

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News_111_News_111 01/04/2011 12:00 Page 10



n GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes has contracted Delta TechOps to provide aminimum of 50 per cent of its required CFM56-7 engine overhauls andmaintenance services for 737NG components in a five-year deal.n Austrian Airlines has contracted TAT Technologies subsidiary Piedmont Aviation

Component Services to provide maintenance on the auxiliary power units on its 767fleet. The contract runs for a period of five years.n Malaysia Airlines has selected Ancra International to provide four firm main deckcargo loading systems for their four recently ordered A330-200F aircraft.n West Atlantic has awarded StandardAero a long-term contract covering more than80 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW126 and PW126A engines. The agreement is forengine maintenance, field support and consultancy.n Air Mauritius has contracted Air France Industries KLM Engineering and

Maintenance to maintain its A319 and A340 fan thrusters. The agreement is forsix years.n Canadian North has handed two five-year maintenance contracts to Aveos, whichare to include airframe, engine, component and line maintenance services. It alsocovers inventory, engineering, fleet management and records services for theairline’s new 737-300 aircraft.n Pratt & Whitney has been selected by All Nippon Airways to provide repair andmaterial management services on the PW4000 engines powering the carrier’s 777fleet. The 10-year contract is valued at more than $1bn.n Gazpromavia Aviation has selected AFI KLM Engineering & Maintenance to provideAPU overhaul, repair and spares for its three 737 NG aircraft. The contract runs fiveyears and will be carried out by AFI KLM E&M’s wholly owned subsidiary, EPCOR. n Pratt and Whitney has selected Avio for a long-term supply agreement worth€4bn over 20-25 years. The contract is for the PurePower PW1500G.n Alitalia affiliate CAI First has contracted JorAMCo to provide intermediate checksand heavy maintenance on its fleet of six Embraer 170 aircraft.n Emirates has selected Rolls-Royce for a long-term services contract coveringTrent engines for 70 on-order A350 XWB aircraft.n Honeywell has won two new contracts with Sri Lankan Airlines and Jet Airways India.The company will supply maintenance services for Sri Lankan Airlines’ four A320s,which are fitted with Honeywell’s 131-9A auxiliary power units. Jet Airways and itssubsidiary JetLite have contracted Honeywell to provide maintenance support for the131-9B APUs on its 737NG aircraft and the 331-350 APUs on its A330s. n Webjet Linhas Aereas has selected AeroTurbine in a three-year enginemanagement contract. AeroTurbine, a subsidiary of AerCap Holdings, will handle alloff-wing engine maintenance for the airline’s CFM56-3 powered fleet — currently 45engines.n Thomas Cook Airlines has renewed its long-term partnership with Sabena

technics. The new contract covers component support plus line and lightmaintenance of the airline’s seven A320s.n Faroe Islands national airline Atlantic Airways has placed an order with STG

Aerospace for the company’s ‘Wireless Emergency Primary Power System’. Theairline has ordered the kits for its entire fleet of Avro RJs. STG said it had alsoreceived an order for the WEPPS system from Spanish airline Privilege Style for its757-200.n Primera Air Scandinavia has chosen JobAir Technic to supply maintenance andairframe modification services on its 737 NG fleet. The contract covers base andheavy maintenance for 737-700 and 737-800 aircraft.n Saudi Arabian Airlines has selected Boeing to upgrade the interiors of theairline’s 777-200ER fleet. 22 of its 23 777-200ERs will undergo modifications tothe seats and in-flight entertainment systems.n PrivatAir has expanded its 30-year technical support relationship with Lufthansa

Technik to include technical operations management with fleet manager andservice level agreements.n Airberlin, Europe’s third-biggest budget airlines, has extended a contract with SR

Technics for the provision of maintenance services for more than 300 engines.n Bombardier has contracted the composites division of Kaman Corporation tosupport the Learjet 85 programme; it will manufacture composite passenger entryand over-wing exit doors at its facility in Lancashire, United Kingdom.n New Cameroon-based airline Camair-Co, which is due to commence flights onMarch 28, 2011, has signed Lufthansa Technik to provide line maintenance andcomponent services for its four-strong fleet of 737 NG and 767 aircraft.

n Philippine Airlines has contracted AFI KLM Engineering & Maintenance to providemaintenance and engineering support for the GE90 engines powering its fleet of777-300ERs.n Ak Bars Aero has selected Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Technik AERO Alzey

to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for CF34 engines.n NordStar has selected MTU Maintenance Hannover for a time-and-materialcontract which will run for five years.n New operator Mega Maldives has chosen Avtrade to supply full componentsupport for its 767-300 aircraft until 2016.n SunExpress, the joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, hasselected Turkish Technic to provide landing gear maintenance services for its 737-800 aircraft.n New Caledonia-based Aircalin has extended its A320 and A330 componentcontract with Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance.n Low-cost airline AirAsia X has selected Lufthansa Technik Philippines to providelight C-checks throughout 2011 for its fleet of Airbus aircraft.n Embraer has selected Crane Aerospace & Electronics to provide the landing gearand hydraulic control units and associated sensors for the Embraer Legacy 450 and500 Executive Jets.n The Czech Republic’s Travel Service has extended a total engine support contractwith Lufthansa Technik, which has been in place since 2007. It will now continueuntil 2020. LHT will provide a full range of services for CFM56-7B engines in 737-NG aircraft.

l Mxi Technologies has appointed Scott Helmer as chief financial officerand Blair Geddes as director. Helmer has 15 years’ experience in seniorfinancial positions with technology companies in the communicationsand information security markets. Geddes has spent 20 years working inthe telecom, software and defence industries and has significant experi-ence in finance and management. He will chair the board’s audit com-mittee and serve on the compensation committee. l TP Aerospace Technics has appointed Oliver Malinowski as its newmanaging director. He has held a variety of positions at Air Berlin.Malinowski will have responsibility for the day to day operation of theHamburg-based repair shop.l Boeing has appointed Jeffrey Johnson as president of its operations inthe Middle East (ME). He will be based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates(UAE), and will report to president of Boeing International Shep Hill, whois also SVP of business development and strategy.l Baines Simmons, a provider of aviation safety solutions, has appointedIvan Christiansen to its quality consultancy division. Christiansen hasmore than 20 years’ experience in the aviation industry.l Sargent Aerospace and Defense has appointed Gil Jackson to the newposition of technical business development manager, aftermarket serv-ices. The role will involve increasing business opportunities for Sargent’slanding gear component offering as well as power plant exhausts andflight controls. Jackson has more than 24 years’ experience in the land-ing gear business.l Boeing has announced the appointment of Jack Jones as VP and gen-eral manager of its South Carolina (SC) facility, which is handling someof the manufacturing, assembly and systems installation for the 787Dreamliner, and ultimately final assembly and delivery. Jones is replacingTim Coyle, who will lead Boeing’s Aviation Technical Services (ATS) teamin Everett, Washington.l PremiAir, the UK-based aviation services company, has appointed MikePreston as director of engineering & maintenance. He will take responsi-bility for fixed-wing and rotary maintenance at the group’s Oxford, BigginHill and Blackbushe facilities.

NEWS UPDATE

CONTRACTS

PEOPLE

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13❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 111 ❙

NEWS UPDATE

Sunnen says its new SV-410Series vertical CNC honing sys-tem combines a wide choice oftooling options, large work enve-lope, and up to 1524 mm (60”)stroke for bore sizing of small andmedium-sized gas/diesel engineblocks, oil/gas components,hydraulic/pneumatic parts, com-pressors, bearing sleeves, gearhobs and similar small or largemulti-bore parts. A work envelopeof 915 mm x 1015 mm (36” x40”) and weight capacity up to 90

kg (2000 lb) provide versatility for processing a wide range parts.Corena has released Version 6.0 of its S1000D CSDB software. It fea-tures a generic pool suite that supports both types of S1000D technicalinformation repositories (TIRs) plus any reusable content such as warn-ings, cautions, notes, acronyms and international traffic in arms regula-tions (ITAR) statements. Further enhancements include new functionalityfor flexible BREX validation, the CSDB user interface and the transfersuite.Enigma has launched InService MRO 5.0, an upgrade of its existing solu-tion for service and parts processes. The company says the new soft-ware offers enhancements in asset utilisation, inventory optimisationand compliance. It claims that InService MRO 5.0 is the first system inthe world to be able to process SGML (S1000D, ATA2200 and 2300)XML and PDF under a unified approach.Machida has launched two new video-scopes. The first, the Machida 2mmVideoscope, VSC-2-86 has the samesuperior optical quality as the com-pany’s 3mm Videoscope, but in asmaller outer diameter for even moreremote inspections. Meanwhile, theMachida 3mm Working Channel Videoscope, VSC-3-140-NPC, has all thestandard features of the VSC-3-140-N, but also permits the passage oftools to the distal tip for performing inspections and physical tasks atthe examination site.Gulf Air has introduced a portable in-flight entertainment (IFE) solutionfor its premium class passengers. The new system, supplied by digEcor,is a handheld device which is operated by touchscreen and offers accessto a multi-language film library as well as television programmes, gamesand music. digEcor will also provide maintenance and repair services forthe IFE system. Gulf Air says the new system is the first in a series ofupgrades to its onboard products and services.Miro Technologies has launched GOLDesp 11.5, an upgrade of previousMRO, supply and performance-based logistics (PBL) programmes.Version 11.5 includes alterations to supply/material and maintenanceGOLDesp modules. Miro says supply managers can now avail ofenhancements in: shipment status visibility; kitting assembly capabili-ties; disposition scheduling functionality; and item workbench and picklist design. The maintenance module features new Web 2.0 screens forwork recording, workflow and engineering management. Engineeringorders and component data have both been restructured, the latter as amodifiable tree format.Dichtomatik has launched its high performance chemically resistantKalrez O-ring seals, which are rated for operation at temperatures downto -42°C. These products are the latest in the DuPont Kalrez Spectrumperfluoroelastomer range. The Kalrez Spectrum 0040 material is suit-able for performance at high altitudes and arctic latitudes, making themideal for cutting edge operations taking place in some of the most hos-tile environments on the planet.

PRODUCTSC919 completes preliminary designphaseCommercial Aircraft Corporation ofChina (COMAC) says it has com-pleted the preliminary design phaseof its C919 aircraft and is nowbeginning the final design definitionphase. This will lay the foundationfor airworthiness certification andvalidation in 2012, as well as themanufacturing of the first proto-type, testing, final assembly andflight tests. Detailed design shouldbe completed by 2012 to supportthe first flight in 2014. Type certifi-cation is scheduled to be accom-plished by 2016 and themanufacturer says the programmeremains on track for entry into com-mercial service in 2016.

ATR 42-500/72-500 EASA-approvedfor -45°CThe European Aviation SafetyAgency (EASA) has certified ATR42-500 and ATR 72-500 aircraft tooperate at ground temperatures of-45°C. The Interstate AviationCommittee (IAC) of Russia has alsoauthorised operations in Russiaand the Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS). Flightand ground tests were conductedon an ATR 72-500 in Siberia in2010, allowing certification by sim-ilarity of the ATR 42-500. ATR nowaims for Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) approval tosimilarly increase cold weatheroperations in the United Statesfrom -35°C to -45°C.

EMTEQ tail light FAA-approvedThe FAA has passed EMTEQ’s sup-plemental type certificate (STC) forthe tail light in the Bombardierregional jet 1000/200/400 (CL-600-2B19). The company’s LEDanti-collision/position navigationlight is designed to replace theexisting combined light. EMTEQsays the new light can be fitted inunder two hours during overnightmaintenance checks. PartsManufacturer Approval (PMA) isdue to be issued in 1Q, 2011.

Hawker Pacific to expandSingapore operationsHawker Pacific has announcedplans to build an $11.6m customersales and services centre atSeletar Aerospace Park, Singapore.This will expand its existing capa-bilities in the area by the creationof a 32,000ft2 heavy maintenancecentre plus an additional27,000ft2 which includes work-shops, parts storage, undercoverjet parking and fixed base opera-tions (FBO) and training facilities.The new Singapore facility followsthe launch of a similar businessaviation service centre in Shanghaione year ago.

First Asia Pacific certification forPhenom 100, 300Embraer’s Phenom 100 and 300executive jets have been certifiedfor the first time in Asia Pacific,after Indonesia’s DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation approvedthe aircraft. Both aircraft typeswere launched by Embraer in2005. The entry level Phenom 100was certified by the Brazilian CivilAviation Agency (ANAC) and theFederal Aviation Administration(FAA) in December 2008, and bythe European Aviation SafetyAgency (EASA) the following year.The Phenom 300 was certified inBrazil and the US in December2009.

Bombardier adds Challenger 605simulator in DallasBombardier has extended its train-ing capabilities in Dallas with theintroduction of a new level D fullflight simulator (FFS) from CAE. Themove is designed to serve theincreasing number of Challenger605 business jet operators in theUnited States and abroad.

747-8 successfully runs the gauntlet Boeing has announced that the747-8 Intercontinental has com-pleted its final gauntlet test, whichtook two days. The test involvedsimulating flight conditions toensure that all systems are flight-ready. First flight will occur afterfinal flight readiness reviews,receipt of Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) documenta-tion and taxi testing.

News_111_News_111 01/04/2011 12:00 Page 13

14 ❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 111 ❙

INDUSTRY FOCUS

MRO global outlook 2011:An industry on the rebound

AT111_IndFocus_AT111_IndFocus 01/04/2011 12:01 Page 14


INDUSTRY FOCUS

What are the prospects for the MRO industry in 2011, and beyond? Whichregions are making the strongest recovery from the global downturn? JasonHolland assesses the state of play as some of the biggest companies revealthe most important emerging trends and growth strategies in the sector.


16

The MRO industry is set to rebound thisyear from the difficulties endured in 2009and 2010 — a period that was “much

bleaker” than many analysts had foreseen,according to Ron van Manen of VZMManagement Services. The rebound in the sec-tor will take place in 2011-2012, but after thisinitial recovery, growth will be much slower.

“At the global level, short- to medium-termdemand will be driven by some ‘catch up’ in thesystem, such as parked aircraft returning andrequiring deferred maintenance,” says vanManen. “A ‘wave effect’ in deliveries with alarge concentration of new aircraft from a num-ber of peak years, particularly narrowbodies,tends to get heavy maintenance and engineoverhaul to bunch together in peak years, andthis may be about to hit us once again.”

❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 111 ❙

INDUSTRY FOCUS

In fact, van Manen goes so far as to saythat the MRO industry has suffered somethingof a ‘lost decade’ (2001-2010) with growth “vir-tually non-existent”. Although he apportionsmuch of the blame on a succession of majorglobal events — 9/11, the Iraq war, worldwiderecession — he rightly points out that there isno reason to assume other shocks won’t occurgoing forward. The MRO industry’s rebound isthus a welcome, but fragile, one.

Survival of the fittestDespite the aviation industry in general

making something of a recovery from the globalrecession in 2010, with international passen-ger volumes climbing just above pre-crisis lev-els before year-end, the MRO sector itself willby its very nature experience downturns and

Previous page: Canada’s Aveos, now anindependent operator having originally beenthe maintenance arm of Air Canada, countsmore than 100 customers worldwide. Aveoshas a contract with Air Canada to be itsexclusive provider of airframe maintenanceservices until 2013; the MRO says it has“every intention” of continuing this deal.

Among its capabilities as the world’s largest third-party MRO, ST Aerospace has become a GE-approved GEnx On-Wing Support provider.




INDUSTRY FOCUS

recovery much later than the rest of the indus-try. According to Walter Heerdt, SVP marketing& sales at Lufthansa Technik, the MRO marketbegan to show growth in the second half of2010 compared with the previous year: “TheMRO market increased in 2010 by approxi-mately 2.5 per cent to $45bn and shall grow atan average of 4.2 per cent per year over thenext five years.”

MROs were forced to adopt survival strate-gies during the downturn, and the most suc-cessful are now prospering. Despite a widevariety of strategies being adopted, certain

trends still emerged. “The strong survivors inthe MRO industry made significant cost cut-ting investments during the downturn cycle.Process improvement programmes like Leanand Six Sigma have helped many companiescompensate for not being able to pass oncost increases to their customers,” explainsJack Arehart, VP, commercial sales and mar-keting at AAR. “The leading MRO suppliershave strong balance sheets today, withstreamlined operations and an appetite forbeing even more vertically integrated thanbefore.”

Percentage of airframe heavy maintenance spendby region from 2011-2015 and 2015-2019

2011-2015 2015-2019North America 32% 30.6%Western Europe 29.6% 28.9%Asia-Pacific 13.8% 14.3%Middle East 5.7% 6.5%China 5.2% 6.6%Latin America 5.1% 5.0%Eastern Europe 3.5% 3.2%Africa 3.5% 3.1%India 1.5% 1.8%

Source: OAG Aviation


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INDUSTRY FOCUS

Iberia Maintenance & Engineering’s JoseLuis Quirós, sales, marketing & business devel-opment director takes the survival of the fittestconcept further. “In our opinion, if a MRO is notbecoming global, efficient and with enough crit-ical mass to translate to its customers the ben-efit of size, [it] will face severe problems in themidterm.”

Ludovic Loisel, VP strategy at AFI KLM E&M,believes that the pressure on prices thatemerged during the economic downturn willcontinue in 2011, because of “airlines’demands and stronger competition amongMRO players”. Loisel also identifies a signifi-cant shift taking place in the MRO sector. “[It]is on the brink of an important change, as air-craft, engines and components manufacturersare strongly positioning themselves — by everymeans — on after-sell and MRO services fornext-generation aircraft. Such a move is notonly a concern for MRO players but also for air-lines, as it could end in a significant increasein their maintenance costs.”

van Manen believes the impact of the 787programme delay will also be an important fac-tor in the outlook for MRO. “In terms of new air-craft, Airbus has had a field day selling

significant numbers of A330s. In MRO theimpact seems to be a sharp spike in 767events, as several airlines due to receive the787 are being forced to service old 767 fleetsthat had been set to be ridden out to retire-ment. Slots for aircraft checks could be tight —but probably only for a modest one to two yearperiod.”

Looking at other global trends, it seems thatthe majority of MRO work taking place right nowis in the mainstay narrowbody fleet: particularlythe A320 and the ‘NG’ variant of the 737 pro-gramme. As a consequence of this, aircraftmaintenance is changing. Increasingly, C-checklevel maintenance is being spread overphased/equalised maintenance programmes,mainly in the narrowbody sector. “This is goingto have a noticeable — negative — impact onheavy maintenance volumes and demand,”says van Manen.

Meanwhile, accelerated retirement is set tokick in across 747-400, MD-11 and early A340fleets. According to van Manen, these will bereplaced predominantly by the large twin777/787 and A350 aircraft, while the “honey-moon effect” will significantly depress MRO vol-umes at the receiving airlines. At the other end


INDUSTRY FOCUS

AS RARE AS A CFM SHOP VISIT.

In March 2010, the Australian town of Lajamanu experienced a freak downpour of spangled perch. An event almost as rare as a CFM* shop visit. CFM reliability is legendary. 70% of all CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines in the world are yet to make their first shop visit. Over the life of the engine a CFM56 will undergo just three shop visits. In fact, it can be up to 10 years before it is removed for servicing. For a long range forecast on airline profitability, visit www.cfm56.com/reliability-metrics. You’ll see how bright the outlook could be.

*CFM, CFM56 and the CFM logo are all trademarks of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of Snecma and General Electric Co.

of the scale, smaller regional jets are beingreplaced by larger turboprops or 90-110 seatpassenger aircraft. The 50-70 seat regional jetmarket has now almost entirely disappeared.The effect on MRO is delayed, lagging thesefleet trends by up to five years, so the impactof these changing fleets will take some time towork its way through the industry.

To add some context, the world’s fleet of air-craft is forecasted to grow at an annual rate of3.2 per cent, from around 19,000 aircraft todayto more than 36,000 in 2029. The biggestgrowth in fleet is forecast to be in the AsiaPacific region, which is expected to order10,320 new aircraft (approximately 34 per centof new global aircraft orders) valued at $1.3tnover the next 20 years. For MROs, “the MiddleEast, India and Asia Pacific are the double digitgrowth rate regions, therefore it is a must to bethere”, says Quirós.

Regional variationsThe two biggest markets for MRO — North

America and Europe — suffered a sharp down-turn during the global recession, with theeffects much less pronounced in other regions.The BRIC countries — Brazil, India and China

— fared relatively well, while the Middle East,Asia and Latin America can be said to have suf-fered more of a slowdown than a full scaledownturn.

Much harder to predict though have beenthe regional recovery rates. “The rebound inthe North American aviation market was themost pronounced and the more surprisingone,” comments van Manen. AAR’s Arehartsays many positive developments have takenplace. “AAR is seeing increased flying hoursfrom its main customer base, aircraft havebeen re-called from storage and new deliveriesare becoming more common,” he says.“FY2011 is certainly shaping up for AAR, fromboth revenue and profit perspectives.”

The North American sector has seen someairline consolidation, which will have a knock-oneffect on maintenance. The United-Continentalmerger, for example, has seen significantchanges taking place at the former UnitedServices. The MRO is now known as UnitedTechnical Operations and is “100 per centfocused on the new United fleet maintenance”,according to a spokesperson. She said thatMRO services were provided to “selective cus-tomers”.

There will be only a fewmega-regional and global MROproviders, with a fewsubstantially smaller nicheplayers remaining on thefringe.—James Stewart, CEO, SRTechnics



INDUSTRY FOCUS

Although North America has recoveredextremely well, the rebound in Europe has beenmuch more modest and “importantly, it did notcarry a bumper return to profit like in the USsystem,” says van Manen. One of the reasonsfor this discrepancy was the impact of a seriesof unfortunate events in the European sector:volcanic ash causing flights to be cancelledand airports to be shutdown; widespreadindustrial action; and two winters of heavysnow.

Although rebounding now, European MROshave suffered badly in the last few years. “Weare expecting the market to return to growth inthe second half of 2011. However, we have

seen a substantial reduction of MRO marketdemand (through grounding and subsequentphase out of aircraft, against record new air-craft deliveries) as well as the general depres-sion of market pricing over recent years,” saysSR Technics’ CEO James Stewart. “Because ofthis, SR Technics believes the market has per-manently lost two to three years of expansion,which in 2007/8 almost everybody thoughtwould be realised in the coming years.”

One of the side effects of the recession hasbeen a general increase in activity in the prod-uct enhancements sector. Airlines have soughtlie-flat beds, premium economy seating, and in-flight connectivity in high volumes — which is

Percentage of engine maintenance spendby region from 2011-2015 and 2015-2019

2011-2015 2015-2019North America 31% 28.7%Western Europe 25% 23.7%Asia-Pacific 18% 18.7%Middle East 5.8% 6.9%China 6.4% 7.9%Latin America 5.9% 6.3%Eastern Europe 2.6% 2.4%Africa 3.5% 3.1%India 1.7% 1.5%





INDUSTRY FOCUS

How the MROs have bounced back

Walter Heerdt, SVP marketing & sales, Lufthansa Technik

Lufthansa Technik has passed the economic and financial crisis relatively well through increases in efficiency, high utilisationof flexible working hours, and process innovations. This year saw a slight increase in revenue, but as expected we were notquite able to match the record earnings of the year before.

Due to continuing cost pressure on our customers and resulting price pressure for MRO, only providers with competitive unitcosts and attractive packages to offer will be able to profit from the MRO market’s growth. We continue to evaluate businessopportunities in all regions and new markets. We will also invest in our facilities, training, processes, new products and furtherproduct improvement. This has paid off in the past and will be continued in the future.

indicative of a market chasing premium yields.“Yield improvements were the big upside to2010,” states van Manen. AAR’s Arehartagrees: “Many carriers used the recent windowto make investments in aircraft interiors byimproving seating options, adding improved IFEand installing winglets. AAR’s EngineeringServices and Aircraft MRO business units havebeen very active in these modifications.”

Looking at events so far in 2011, it wouldappear that the planet is barreling from crisisto crisis. Unrest in the Middle East has causedoil prices to soar, and the impact of events inJapan will also be felt. “In the beginning of theyear, we were hopeful that the current airlinesupturn would continue and we were expecting

some recovery in our business from mid to late2011, but the current Middle East unrest withits consequential higher fuel prices and theongoing crisis in Japan have cast shadows onthe robustness of this recovery,” commentsChang Cheow Teck, ST Aerospace president.

van Manen fears that, in a mirror image of2010, “the industry profit forecasts will changeon a month-by-month basis, only downwardsthis time. There is not much room left for badnews without global airline margins going neg-ative again in the short term”.

Although the effect of recent events inJapan is likely to be limited to the intra Asianand intercontinental travel to/from Japan mar-kets (with very limited impact on MRO events),

AFI KLM E&M is pursuing a strategy of developing a worldwide MRO network, bringing services closer to its customers’ bases and markets. The MROhas, for instance, partnered with Max Aerospace in India to create Max MRO.

With the MRO markettrying to rebound fromthe global downturn,ATE&M asked aselection of MROsabout their strategiesfor future growth.


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Jose Luis Quirós, sales, marketing & business development director, IberiaMaintenance & EngineeringIberia Maintenance & Engineering’s long term strategy was defined andinitiated three years ago, so we are at this time collecting some of theresults of it. One of the most challenging strategies was to build up a muchmore flexible cost structure that could easily be adjusted to the changes inworkload, together with continuous cost reduction achieved through agreater breakdown of activities. We also started to diversify our portfolio ofservices, stepping into heavy airframe modification, as well as MRO servicesin sectors like defence or corporate aviation, whose cycles are not alwaysfollowing commercial aviation.

We have already started the strategic alignment and synergies capture withBritish Airways Engineering, as a consequence of the merger between theparent airlines. This will bring similar benefits as building up a structureequivalent in size to the sixth largest MRO in the industry, excluding OEMs.

the Middle East situation is cause for muchmore concern. “Despite oil prices respondingnoticeably to the unrest spreading from Tunisiainto Egypt and then beyond, the world at largeseems to be taking the new price realities in itsstride,” comments van Manen. “But add anyserious supply disruption from Saudi Arabia,Bahrain, Qatar or the UAE to the equation, andwe’ll see $200/barrel approaching faster thanhitherto imagined, particularly once strategicstockpiles are run down and winter returns tothe northern hemisphere.”

In the worst case scenarios, air travel wouldonce again be down heading into 2012,although geographic variances would be notice-able. China, India, Brazil and most of Asia andLatin America would simply see a coolingeffect, not a double dip. For airlines, the futurewould then be even more China/Asia-centricthan it is now, and tapping into these growthmarkets would become essential. For MROs,the effects would again lag the airlines, but thevolume shift towards the BRIC, Asian, MiddleEastern and Latin American markets wouldalso continue at an accelerated pace.

But there is no reason to expect the worstjust yet. In fact, Lufthansa Technik’s Heerdt ispredicting that the MRO market will expandboth this year and in the short-term, as therebound effect continues. This expansion will

In the European market, Iberia Maintenance & Engineering is aiming to become “specialists” in certain products, “competing based on lower labour rateson services where relocation in other regions would be anti-economical [such as narrowbody light C checks]” as well as developing lean processes.



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The Magellan Group provides integrated aftermarket aviation support services to the global airline industry. We sell, lease, and manage aircraft, engines, and spare parts to over 250 customers in 50 countries.

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Engine & Parts Sales & LeasingRegional EnginesAll PW100 series,including PW150 CF34 A1/B1 AE3007A1

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Consignments & Purchasing of Surplus Inventory

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be “mainly driven by the emerging markets inthe Middle East, Asia and Latin America, whilethe traditional markets in Europe and NorthAmerica will grow disproportionately in the com-ing years”. But, like van Manen, he notes thatworld events are a cause for concern.“Certainly the situation after the horrible earth-quake in Japan and the political situation inNorth Africa and the Middle East are impactingthe development,” he says. “It is not yet pre-dictable at what scale this will happen.”

In the long term, air traffic demand will con-tinue to grow globally, with a parallel effect onMRO requirements. “With GDP growth acceler-ating, transport demand will pick up and air-lines will — ultimately — get back on thegrowth curve. Expect this too to be unevenlysplit,” says van Manen. “The rebound post2008 has told us that the underlying shift ingrowth to the BRIC economies is fundamental.So we should see new aircraft deliveries andRPK stats to show yet more shift towards the‘East’.”

The North American and Western Europeanair transport systems are mature and will thusremain flat or achieve only a small amount ofgrowth. However, Central and Eastern Europe

Valter Fernandes, operations VP, TAP Maintenance and Engineering BrazilIt was hard to cope during the global crisis, mainly in the widebody market. Ourmain goal was to reduce costs, without slashing capacity and certifications. Themain challenge right now is the weak dollar – something we don’t have controlover and is not helping at all. The short- to medium-term outlook lookspromising and our 2011 expected airframe occupancy rate is better than 2010and 2009.

However we are still trying to thrive on the components market. We need toimprove our customer baseload. We put some strategies in place to enhanceour performance in this specific market.



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and the ‘Near East’ continue to have growthpotential at high single digit levels, according toVZM Management Services projections. “Airtransport growth will be driven from the pulsingeconomies — China, India, plus Brazil & LatinAmerica, and Asia. Resource rich Africaneconomies (e.g. Nigeria, Ghana) will move intothe top 20-30 economies — and fuel air travel;a shift no-one could have dreamt of a few yearsago,” comments van Manen.

He also expects the emerging MiddleEastern hubs such as Dubai to thrive, “contraryto what may be the received wisdom on trafficpotential”. He explains: “The geographicallystrategic positioning is just too good and devel-oping traffic flows from the Indian subcontinentto Europe, North America and Africa can all becaptured. And all that with what will probablybe a competitive advantage in terms of emis-sions trading obligations. The impact on MROwill be a race to attract human capital, andbuild the workforces for the growth envisioned.Resource providers will be Central and EasternEurope, Russia/CIS, India/Pakistan as well asSouth East Asia — where airlines and MROsmay suffer due to the drain on trainedresource. There may also be a flow from the

Chang Cheow Teck, president, ST AerospaceOver the last downturn period, our revenue has remained relatively stable.Although given the general aviation market, some requirements were deferredas airlines tried to conserve cash due to reduced usage. That said, we believeour business is on the right track and we see a recovery in the airline andfreight industry as the economy bottoms out. We remain optimistic about thelonger term growth prospects of the aviation market in the Asia Pacific, as wellas the dynamic growth of the air cargo market.

Going forward, our significant and diverse customer base and geographicpresence, capabilities in both defence and commercial business segments, anda broad base of capabilities in airframes, engines and components MRO, aswell as engineering development, will enable us to achieve sustainable andprofitable growth.

Forecasted MRO spend in US$ by region, 2011-2015 and 2015-2019

Supplier region Total MRO Spend 2011 - 2015 Total MRO Spend 2015 - 2019

Unknown 27.5 Billion 309 Billion

North America 7.9 Million 6.9 MillionWestern Europe 7.4 Million 6.5 MillionEastern Europe 0.56 Million 0.49 MillionLatin America 0.95 Million 0.8 MillionAfrica 0.28 Million 0.19 MillionAsia-Pacific 4.6 Million 4.1 Million

China 2.1 Million 2.3 Million

Middle East 0.89 Million 0.79 Million

India 0.26 Million 0.26 Million


SIAEC says it continues to evaluate all categories of customer and how it can best service them. One area it sees a lot of potential in is the low costcarrier sector. The company’s strategy is to provide “a solution for them in a location where the cost of doing maintenance is lower, like the Philippines”.


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southern Mediterranean (e.g. Egypt / Libya)undermining the local potential for growth.”

Expanding the MRO serviceLet’s turn our attention now to the current

and emerging issues which will impact MROsacross the globe in 2011 and beyond.According to AFI KLM E&M’s Loisel, “the down-turn has accelerated long-term trends ratherthan created new ones”. As mentioned previ-ously, he sees the main challenge facing MROsas being “how the market will cope with thestronger footprint of OEM and OAM on MROservices”. This is an assessment with whichIberia Maintenance’s Quirós concurs, and he isconcerned about the long-term effects. “Notonly because of the downturn, but definitelyaccelerated by the difficult economical situa-tion, the most concerning trend for the inde-pendents is the strong penetration of the OEMsinto the MRO activity, mainly tied to the pur-chase agreements,” he says. “Although thiscould be an interesting option in some cases,less competition in the industry and loss oftechnical knowledge in the airlines might leadto a situation where short term benefits end upbeing a long term disadvantage.”

The increased OEM footprint certainlybrings strong new competition to the MRO mar-ket, and it is putting the traditional players ontheir toes. “They are extremely powerful andoffer to the client an image of reliability,”

How will the industry look differentin five to ten years?

Jack Arehart, VP, commercial sales and marketing, AARIt’s quite possible that in the next five to ten years, the US military willembrace the idea of procuring key support services on commercial terms.With the forecasted defense budget cutbacks, government and defense fleetoperators can gain increased efficiencies by adopting more best-practicesfrom commercial aviation. If this occurs, the commercial MRO world willhave a much broader available marketplace to serve.

Strict cost management and continuous improvements are not only tools to weather a crisis, according to Lufthansa Technik, but permanent tasks evenin better times.



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admits Valter Fernandes, operations VP at TAPMaintenance and Engineering Brazil. “To com-pensate, MROs are offering even smarter solu-tions regarding their products, meaning theclassic MROs’ products are becoming obso-lete.”

These new MRO services are wide ranging.Lufthansa Technic sees a demand for cus-tomisation. Heerdt says: “There is a cleartrend in regard to the customisation of theMRO business. The economic situation, busi-ness models, aircraft types, new technologiesand the operational environment define indi-vidual needs and ask for customised solu-tions. There is no one size fits all. As a MROsupplier one has to take care to create attrac-tive service packages which fit the needs ofthe customer.”

Singapore’s SIA Engineering (SIAEC)believes that the impact of the global recessionwill continue to make carriers re-consider out-sourcing their MRO needs, rather than increas-ing their in-house capabilities. And as the MROindustry evolves, the company expects to seemore airlines wanting not only “a complete air-line solution but also, an OEM solution”. Aspokesperson commented: “The value of theaircraft is extremely important to all aircraftowners, so they want their aircraft to be serv-iced at the highest possible standard, and thisis only possible if they are able to obtain anOEM solution for most of the maintenance

needs.” The company is developing its busi-ness in accordance with these predictions.

AAR’s Arehart has also seen strong indica-tions that more ancillary services such as engi-neering services, reliability analysis, supplychain management and logistics support arebeing outsourced today. “Providers who canbundle the delivery of these key support serv-ices with traditional MRO support services willbe well placed for future growth,” he predicts.

van Manen sees some problems with theways in which MROs are doing business. “Thepressure to manage costs is unrelenting.

AAR invested in growing its government/defenseand manufacturing businesses during thedownturn as a hedge against the de-stockingactivity occurring in the commercial businesssector.



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Ludovic Loisel, VP strategy, AFI KLM E&MOur view is that the downturn has accelerated long-term trends rather thancreated new ones. The main challenge resides in how the market will cope withthe stronger footprint of OEM and OAM on MRO services. We also forecast anew wave of consolidation to generate scale effects, an increase in outsourcingby airlines, and a shift in the market balance towards the Middle East and Asia.Finally, our industry should be impacted by the technological changes thatnext-generation aircraft will bring in the coming years.

Where is this going to be felt? We think thelabour factor may have been milked to the pointwhere little gains are left,” he says. “But inven-tories are still sky-high, waste is rampant, andMROs and more importantly airlines have beentoo reluctant to move away from a control-cen-tric model where inventory is held just-in-caseinstead of just-in-time. We think there will be alot more effort to push inventory upstream andto share spares.”

He continues: “MROs’ ability to manageinbound pricing and their ‘inflation differential’is dismal, and with new pressure on costs, air-lines and MROs will be pitched together inattempts to control spare parts pricing. Wedon’t think PMA has huge upside potential inmarket share terms, but in pricing terms itsimpact is very significant. Even at 10 per centmarket penetration, an effective replacementPMA part can succeed in bringing OEM pricinginto check. Expect more of this.”

SR Technics’ Stewart believes the MROindustry is moving away from a focus on “fac-tory work.” He says: “Market expectation isthat factory floor work (the maintenance pro-gramme) is fulfilled to a complete and poten-tially excellent level. SR Technics remainsfocused on continuously improving the effi-ciency and quality of our production labour, inorder to support an ability to drive cost reduc-tion internally. This cost reduction has barelybeen able to keep pace with the tremendous

SR Technics says it has implemented several programmes to achieve a higher cost-efficiency for its customers, including a focus on lean / six sigma, aswell a shop floor continuous improvement programme intended to generate ideas for efficiency improvement activities.




INDUSTRY FOCUS

pricing pressure experienced during the down-turn; however, even during the downturn air-lines remained focused on additional valueitems in addition to driving previously not seenpricing on basic production work.”

Customers are now looking well beyondbasic maintenance production. According toStewart, there are three major new things theywant to know — how a MRO is able to: integrateits support and information systems into the air-line, thus providing 100 per cent real time visi-bility into status of parts, repair or cost; providerobust supply chain support which is able todeliver a product with minimal material delay;and provide engineering expertise through a“plug & play” mechanism, which allows eventhe newest or smallest airlines to benefit fromknowledge, reliability and reporting informationthat is normally only available to airlines withvery large fleets and/or many years experience.

MRO recruitment and newtechnologies

Meanwhile, the issue of recruiting and train-ing engineers has been a black cloud on thehorizon for many years now. Western Europeanand North American MROs have long sufferedfrom a general failure to attract people into theMRO workforce. Compounding the problem is

SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC)Airlines of the future will need more than just checks. Instead, they needpartners. Many low-cost carriers will be emerging over the next five to ten yearsand they will need a good partner that can allow them to reach high level ofusage without any problems. More and more airlines will also seek MROpartners that can offer broader solutions on a long-term basis, wherebyassigning heavy checks on an individual basis won’t be on the cards. Newaircraft technology and systems in combination with extended maintenanceintervals on newer aircraft will also be sequentially introduced in the nextdecade. MROs will need to reassess their capabilities and provide extensivetraining for their workforces.

According to Lufthansa Technik, the MRO market increased in 2010 by approximately 2.5 per cent to $45bn and will grow at an average of 4.2 per centper year over the next five years.


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the aging of the current workforce, and thispresents a significant risk to many establishedMROs, particularly in Western Europe. Lesswell known, though, is the demographics ‘timebomb’ ticking in China, according to vanManen. “The impact of the one child policy willkick in within the next two decades,” he says.

Commenting on future trends to do with thisissue, he states: “We will see more work shift toeconomies such as India, Vietnam, and in greaterEurope: Turkey. Depending on the outcome of thecurrent turmoil in the southern Mediterranean,there too we could see a young, technically ori-ented workforce emerging from the formerdefence base that is a force to reckon with.”

AFI KLM E&M’s Loisel notes another majorconsideration for MROs in the next few years —the impact of the technological changes thatnext-generation aircraft will bring. This couldhave a knock-on impact on consolidation,according to Lufthansa Technik’s Heerdt.“Despite new entries, we see an ongoing con-solidation process in the MRO industry,” hesays. “The introduction of new aircraft genera-tions and engines types is combined with highinvestments in infrastructure, tools andemployee training and complex questions aboutintellectual property. These challenges can onlybe handled successfully by MRO providers oper-ating globally and at a certain scale, having theability to tailor packages to individual needs.”

James Stewart, CEO, SR TechnicsWe expect consolidation in the mature markets, as smaller MROs are squeezedinto niche roles between major MROs and OEM entry to the marketplace.Conversely, in the high growth regions we expect to see a trend similar to thatseen in Europe/US over the past 10 years: one of substantial growth ofproviders, followed by over capacity, followed by restructuring, followed byconsolidation. The concept of full service delivery is becoming substantiallymore critical as airlines form a clearer view of their supply chain needs. Theability to differentiate in this market will not solely rely on the ability to provideall maintenance activity, but how well inventory management is seamlesslyintegrated into the actual running of the airline business.

TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil says competition has grown as US MROs now have very competitive man-hour rates. Nevertheless, the companyexpects to increase its revenue for 2011 and reports that occupancy rates are going up significantly.



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The outlook appears to be that, in line withairline trends, MROs will have to get big to sur-vive, whether in a single organisation or as partof a MRO grouping. ST Aerospace’s ChangCheow Teck sums up the challenge neatly: “Asairlines consolidate, there is a need for finan-cial strength, geographical scale and range ofcapabilities to engage more effectively with thebig airline groupings who will, given their scale,demand the best and most cost-effective solu-tions in the market place.”

The barriers to entry into the MRO industryare becoming substantially raised as the land-scape in the sector changes. The need to investheavily in technology and infrastructure to gainthe necessary size to compete, coupled with thestrong entry of the OEMs into the market “makeit almost impossible to see a continuance of theindustry in its current form”, according to SRTechnics’ Stewart. He concludes: “Our expecta-tion is that there will be only a few mega-regionaland global MRO providers, with a few substan-tially smaller niche players remaining on thefringe. In this case a majority of the mid-sizedMROs existing today will either be absorbed bylarger companies, or fail.” ■

Although slow in terms of impact the nextgeneration aircraft, along with the new systemsand components that go with them, will causecritical mass required to invest in new capabilityto go up. In Heerdt’s scenario, only a small groupof global level in-house airline shops and inde-pendent MROs will be able to keep pace withthese developments. Iberia Maintenance &Engineering’s Quirós is another of the increasingnumber of MRO experts to hold this view. “In ouropinion we will see that only the bigger MROs orthe very specialised ones will have leverage andcritical mass to satisfy customers’ expectationsin terms of efficiency, quality and performance,”he says. “Also, and due to the OEMs’ strategy,we foresee stronger co-operation within the MROactivity by airline associated MROs and OEMs,which in the end are also suppliers. This isanother way of getting the appropriate size andto retain access to technical know how.”

In assessing this situation, van Manenstates: “We sense that the OEM game plan isoften to accelerate this exit scenario. Airlines willneed to muster all their negotiating wherewithalto ensure in-service costs are capped/controlled,as the component OEMs will gain share in thesefleets and effectively control the market, as theengine OEMs already effectively do. An areawhere we feel airlines and their MRO partnersshould be more alert is in influencing the productsupport agreements that define the OEM per-formance standards and metrics.”

The leading MRO suppliershave strong balance sheetstoday, with streamlinedoperations and an appetite forbeing even more verticallyintegrated than before.—Jack Arehart, VP, commercialsales and marketing, AAR



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Aviation focus: Florida With a plethora of MRO and

supply chain companieslocated in the third largest USstate by air passenger totals— attracted by the sunnyclimate, strategic location andstate support — Joanne Perryinvestigates Florida’s standingas an aviation hub.

Clear skies, bright sunshine and coastalviews; what better place to fly aircraftthan Florida? But it is not just airlines

which operate in this peninsular of south eastAmerica. Supporting flight operations in andthrough this region are a whole host of aviationcompanies: MROs, parts suppliers, IT providersand many more.

Like other parts of the world, the aviationindustry in Florida is structured around themajor airports, but in this region the airport net-work is especially extensive. A ‘Welcome toFlorida Aviation’ report published by the FloridaDepartment of Transport (FDOT) in 2010 refer-ences 21 commercial, 107 general aviationand 12 main military bases. The thriving natureof Florida’s airports can be measured by theircontribution to the state economy. The 2010airport data for civil aviation is given as follows:$97bn total economic activity (8.5 per cent ofgross state product - GSP), 1m employees anda $30.6bn payroll.

The FDOT report describes internationaltrade and travel/tourism as the largest driversof Florida’s economy. Air cargo accounts for onethird of the total in dollars (economic impact$6.6bn). Air passenger traffic — growth ofwhich the report describes as being double thenational average — had an impact of $59.2bn,from 41.7m commercial airline passengersand 3.7m general aviation passengers(‘Florida: Statewide Aviation Economic ImpactStudy’, March 2010). Indeed, half of all visitorsto Florida arrive by air.

The chief airports are: Miami International(MIA); Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International;Orlando International; and Tampa International.In addition to custom from outside the UnitedStates, these airports see a steady flow ofdomestic traffic, giving Florida one of the high-est air passenger totals in the country — thirdin 2008, according to economic development


40

body Enterprise Florida. MIA itself is one of thekey air transport hubs in America, and thelargest gateway between the US and LatinAmerica. Its success can largely be attributedto its strategic location, not only relative toLatin America but the rest of North America aswell as Europe, and on a smaller scale theinternationally famous local tourist attractions.

With so much traffic passing through theregion, Florida is a magnet for companiesinvolved in the aviation industry supply chain,due to the potential volume of business thatcan be gained from the airlines. Companiesoperating in what Enterprise Florida calls the

third largest MRO cluster in the United Statesinclude: AAR; AA-MRO; TIMCO; PEMCO; andCommercial Jet, which towards the end of lastyear opened a second hangar in Tampa, dou-bling its capabilities there.

Peter Chapman, VP and CCO of AAR, sayshis company operates a “close-to-the-customerbusiness model” aimed at enhancing respon-siveness to client needs. This led AAR toexpand into Florida in 1987 by adding a landinggear maintenance business to its portfolio ofheavy maintenance, parts supply and compo-nent repair services. Today, three out of AAR’sfour operating segments — MRO; aviation sup-ply chain; structures and systems; and govern-ment and defence services — have businessesin Florida. With last year’s acquisition ofAviation Worldwide Services and the relocationof airlift and aircraft modification services toMelbourne and Palm Bay, Chapman says thatapproximately 25 per cent of all AAR employ-ees — around 2,000 — will ultimately bebased in Florida. He believes that, “by its verynature, the aviation industry is agnostic when itcomes to geographic borders” but nonethelessdescribes Florida as “an international hub thathelps AAR better support global customers”.

On the components side, large suppliersand repair shops in Florida include: KellstromIndustries; Chromalloy; GA Telesis; HEICO; andVolvo Aero Services. Chromalloy, a non–OEMprovider of advanced coatings, repairs andreplacement parts for gas turbine engines, iscurrently expanding in the region. In March thisyear, the company began construction of a$5m, 40,000ft2 ceramic core production facility


INDUSTRY FOCUS

Impact category Total employment Total payroll Total Output

Airports 158,861 $7,752,561,600 $28,793,238,700

Visitors arriving by Air 753,353 $19,315,252,400 $59,178,047,200

Construction at Airports 25,321 $1,041,077,200 $2,858,791,800

Air Cargo 69,256 $3,054,598,800 $6,596,812,200

Aviation Education 6,977 $201,195,400 $573,188,000

Military Aviation 116,860 $5,855,976,400 $10,797,219,600

Aviation Businesses 35,986 $1,255,264,800 $5,321,292,400

FAA 4,545 $318,215,600 $617,783,600

Total Annual Economic Benefits 1,171,159 $38,794,142,200 $114,736,373,600

Source: Florida Department of Transportation Aviation Office

Florida’s annual economic benefit from aviation

AIRPORTS

$28.8 billion

VISITORS

$59.2 billion

CONSTRUCTION

$2.9 billion

MILITARY

$10.8 billion

AIR CARGO

$6.6 billion

AVIATION EDUCATION

$573 million

AVIATION BUSINESSES

$5.3 billion

FEDERAL AVIATION

ADMINISTRATION (FAA)

$618 million

51%

25%

9%

6%

5%

1%

1%

2%

Distribution of $114.7 Billion in Annual Economic Impact by Category

Source: Florida Department of Transportation Aviation Office

Aviation’s economic impact in Florida

International trade andtravel/tourism are the largestdrivers of Florida’s economy.Air cargo accounts for $6.6bnand air passenger traffic for$59.2bn.



42

in Tampa. This development, which is sched-uled to open in 2012, joins Chromalloy’s newlyoperational $30m industrial investmentfoundry at the same site. GA Telesis has alsobeen actively developing its offerings in theregion, acquiring Fort Lauderdale-basedUltimate Aircraft Composites in January thisyear, which has been rebranded as GA TelesisComposite Repair Group.

Also providing components services are:Tradewinds Engine Services; Accel Aviation;AeroTurbine; STS Components; AerSale;Sargent Aerospace and Defense; AeroThrust;and Barfield, a Sabena technics company. Thelargest interiors specialist in the region is BE

Aerospace, which also describes itself as a dis-tributor of fasteners and consumables.

Engine MRO specialists in the region include:Complete Turbine Services; FJ Turbine Power;Aviation Engine Service; APECS Engine Center;NewJet Engine Services; Patriot Aviation Services;United Turbine; Wood Group Turbopower; andTurbine Engine Solutions. Involved in the businessof leasing engines are: Kellstrom; GA Telesis;AeroTurbine; Volvo Aero; and Tradewinds EngineServices, amongst others.

Assisting businesses throughout the aero-space supply chain are IT companies such asTRAX, which provides comprehensive manage-ment software.

Beyond proximity to airline operations, thereare numerous reasons why the aviation indus-try flourishes in Florida, covering financial, per-sonal and practical considerations. Theseinclude even prosaic factors such as the cli-mate; the Floridian climate (and associatedlifestyle) being as amenable to aviation employ-ees as it is to flight operators. Chapman saysthe fact that so many AAR employees were will-ing to relocate to Florida during the company’sairlift/modification transfer — at a rate “muchhigher” than the industry norm — demon-strates the attractiveness of the area.

The support of the stateUnderlying the success of the industry is

the active support of the state. Chapman says


INDUSTRY FOCUS

Top: Chromalloy Castings, Tampa.Above: A Chromalloy Castings worker.


43

of AAR’s airlift/modification relocation: “Themove has been very well received and we’regrateful for all the assistance we’ve receivedfrom the various government and developmentgroups in Florida.” He says that the “businessfriendly environment” was a significant factor inthe decision to relocate these services.

In a 2010 study, the FDOT acknowledgedthat “Florida’s economic well-being is intrinsi-cally entwined with its vibrant airport systemand its robust aviation industry”, which “bothsustains and leads economic growth and devel-opment” (‘The Economic Impact of SouthwestFlorida International’ report, March 2010). TheFDOT cites the most significant benefits to theregion as being the ability to capitalise on aglobal marketplace and the sustenance of thestate’s “number one” industry — tourism. Theconcrete data supports this assessment; thestate report shows that the aviation industryprovides a total employment figure of 1.2m,total payroll of $38.8bn and a total output of$114.7bn, representing 15 per cent of GSP.The benefits to the nation are also clear;ranked as the fourth largest GSP, Florida bringsin around $744.1bn per year (‘Welcome toFlorida Aviation’, 2010).

Compared with many other parts of theworld, Florida operates a highly organised andsophisticated programme of development inthe aerospace sphere, based on continualresearch and analysis. This includes the‘Florida Aviation System Plan’, the ‘AviationGrant Program’, the ‘Florida Airport MasterPlans’ and the ‘Airport Pavement ManagementSystem’. Operators are supported by represen-tative bodies such as the Florida Airport


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State aviation funding($Millions)

Fiscal Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Airport improvement programme 85 91 87 86 89

Discretionary Capacity 30 28 31 31 5

Strategic Intermodal System 0 9 24 0 6

Other programmes 7 7 5 8 8

Totals 122 135 147 125 108

Source: Florida Department of Transport, Aviation Office


44

Council (FAC) and, for general aviation, theFlorida Aviation Trades Association (FATA).

The primary agency responsible for encour-aging growth in Florida’s aerospace industry isSpace Florida, created by state legislature in2006 to collaborate and co-ordinate with otherfederal, state and local government entities inattracting commercial investment. The work ofSpace Florida encompasses: education andworkforce development initiatives; researchand development programmes; expansion,recruitment and retention efforts; infrastruc-ture improvements; facilitation of commercialventures through financial and business con-sulting as well as fiscal incentives and start-up

support. Alongside Space Florida, the private,non-profit Florida Aviation and AerospaceAlliance (FAAA) focuses on assisting the indus-try in the areas of: legislation; workforce devel-opment; business-to-business sales andmarketing; and networking.

Floridian companies of all shapes andsizes, such as AAR and engines and parts sup-plier Tradewinds Engine Services, speakapprovingly of the area’s well-educated talentpool. Carolina Davila at IT solutions companyTRAX says education development in spaceand aeronautics is “excellent” and therefore agood source of personnel for Florida’s 2,000aviation and aeronautics companies. On thepiloting side, the FDOT says the state boaststhe largest flight training programme in theworld (‘Welcome to Florida Aviation’, 2010);Enterprise Florida claims that in 2008 thisaccounted for one fifth of the world’s flighttraining.

To attract young workers into the industry,there is a Space and Aeronautics InternshipProgramme (SAIP) run by the Florida SpaceGrant Consortium (FSGC), which is adminis-tered by the University of Central Florida, thethird largest public college or university in thestate. Companies provisionally participating inthe scheme this year include: Florida TurbineTechnologies; Pall Aeropower; and LockheedMartin. On the independent side, there areorganisations such as the Florida Institute of


INDUSTRY FOCUS

Above: Tradewinds, Coconut Creek


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Technology, which in 2009 opened an aviationtraining and research centre at MelbourneInternational Airport. These programmes add totraining provided by large aviation companiessuch as Airbus and Delta.

Florida’s well-trained employees can avail ofanother advantage offered by the regionalauthorities: Florida is one of only nine statesnot to levy an income tax on top of tax at thefederal level. For their part, corporations payjust 5.5 per cent – several points lower thanstates such as California. Tradewinds EngineServices and fuel component MRO AccelAviation agree that attractive financial arrange-ments are a considerable incentive for staff to

work in the area, particularly, notes Accel’sdirector, powerplant programs Gary DeLuca, intoday’s difficult economic climate.

Riding the downturnDeLuca says that for Accel itself, the last

few years have been an opportunity for thecompany to expand its customer base by offer-ing cost savings, improvements to on-wing fuelcomponent longevity and a highly responsiveservice. Accel specialises in repairing and over-hauling fuel components such as jet enginefuel controls and fuel pumps as well as selectauxiliary power unit (APU) fuel controls and ATAchapter 28 booster pumps. The company is aunit of B&E Group and was established in1996, arriving in southwest Florida in 1999. Itoffers both PMA and DER options, both ofwhich enable cost reduction — providing anattractive prospect for operators wrestling withtoday’s economic situation, according toDeLuca. He also points out that DER providesthe opportunity to save money by introducingmodifications which increase product lifespan.

Accel’s worldwide customers — as broadlyspread as Canada, Europe and the Far East —include major commercial carriers, air freightcompanies, jet engine shops and parts distrib-utors. Asked about future developments,DeLuca says: “Accel is planning to expand withthe help of B&E Group and is poised to be a bigpart of that [Group] expansion by offering our


INDUSTRY FOCUS

Top: AAR Composites, Clearwater.Above: Aircraft fuel pumps


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business attitude which services the needs ofour customers as well as offering the intrinsicbenefits of operating a business in SouthwestFlorida.”

DeLuca says that business from Accel’sexisting clients is feeding new sources of rev-enue: “We find our current customers help usto develop relationships with potential cus-tomers in the interest of cost savings, cus-tomer service and product offering.”

AAR, meanwhile, has pursued a policy ofdiversification, which Chapman says was “a keypart” of the company’s growth during the recentdownturn. “By diversifying its commercial anddefence business, broadening its capabilities

and increasing its emphasis on design andmanufacturing, in addition to aftermarket serv-ices, AAR has been able to grow and capitaliseon opportunities to execute its customer-cen-tric business model,” he states.

Davila says that TRAX, too, has fared wellover the past few years, with the company“almost unaffected” by the economic crisis – itin fact won some of its largest contracts duringthis time, including business from Air Canadaand Turkish Technic. TRAX has been in opera-tion since 1997, offering fleet, materials, com-ponent and resource management tools, aswell as electronic data interchange and techni-cal publications. The company has airline andMRO customers around the world and many inFlorida, such as Miami Air and DHL FortLauderdale. Business seems to be on the upfor TRAX; the company recently moved its head-quarters to a larger site in Coconut Grove inanticipation of expansion.

Mark Kreisel, president and CEO ofTradewinds Engine Services, says that theparts supplier emerged unscathed from theeconomic downturn because the companydeals in new generation engine material:“When airlines cut capacity they sit the old air-craft down and continue to fly new generation,more efficient aircraft.” The company wasestablished in 1996 by Kreisel, himself a SouthFloridian who appreciates the career andlifestyle benefits of the area. Kreisel says thatat the time Tradewinds Engine Services was“one of the few companies in the world sellingnew generation engine parts” and the first todisassemble a CFM56-7. A few years ago, hesays, 60 per cent of Tradewinds EngineServices’ business was local, whereas now99.9 per cent originates outside the state, orindeed the country.


INDUSTRY FOCUS

Top: AAR Aircraft Services, Miami.Above: Airframe interior maintenance.


49

Recent changes and future trendsIn considering the way business has

changed in recent times, Chapman perceivesan increasing demand for diverse “bundled,high-value services” such as management andIT solutions. “A fundamental shift has takenplace that builds on solid relationships devel-oped by years of providing individual services,”he says. “Today, customers are looking for sup-pliers that can help them solve their businessproblems, moving from the role of a supplier tothat of a partner.”

Chapman feels that AAR is operating from astrong position in 2011. Recovery in the com-mercial market has benefited the company’scomposites design and production facility, itsheavy maintenance operation and landing gear,wheels and brakes overhaul facility and itsdefence logistics operation in Florida. At thesame time, demand for AAR’sgovernment/defence capabilities, includinglogistics, “remains strong”. Looking to thefuture, he predicts: “There is a lot of opportunityfor the airlift and modifications businesses toexpand as the government continues to reduceits expenses and sharpen its focus on humani-


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With an eye on the future anda sharp focus on ourcustomers’ requirements, weanticipate that Florida willremain a vital part of AAR’sgrowth strategy and globalpresence.—Peter Chapman, VP andCOO, AAR

tarian relief efforts around the world.” With tur-moil of several different types currently sweepingacross large swathes of the world, one suspectsthis could indeed be a growth market.

Asked about the progress of the relocation,Chapman comments: “The move is proceedingnicely and will be complete mid-April. Westarted with a small team in Florida to managethe transition and set up the warehousing andlogistics centre in advance of relocating thefleet. It was essential that the transition wasseamless with minimal disruption to cus-tomers.”

Chapman concludes: “With an eye on thefuture and a sharp focus on our customers’requirements, we anticipate that Florida willremain a vital part of AAR’s growth strategy andglobal presence.”

He is far from being the only one to see thebenefits of a long-term association with Florida.With classic, natural advantages such as astrategic location providing an unchanging,robust platform for generous state investmentand energetic corporate activity, Florida is setto remain an area of focus for the aviationindustry for the foreseeable future. ■


AP&M EXPO is Europe’s premier networking event for everyone work-ing in the commercial aviation after-market. A ‘must attend’ event in the Aviation trade show calendar.

Once again the world’s Commercial Aviation in-dustry is preparing to meet at this year’s Airline Purchasing & Maintenance EXPO & Conference in London. Nine years on from its humble begin-nings of 23 exhibitors in the foyer of the Ren-aissance Hotel out at Heathrow Airport, AP&M EXPO is set to bring together over 250 exhibitors & 2,500 attendees at the prestigious Olympia Grand Hall, in West London.

Maintenance, TES Aviation, L-3 Avionics, Goodrich Wheels & Brakes, and Parker Aerospace.

Supported by some of the biggest names in the business, AP&M EXPO is the event that leads the evolution of face to face networking in Europe. The original premise still rings true; AP&M EXPO levels the playing fi eld giving everyone the same opportunity to make that all important fi rst con-tact with key personnel from amongst the world’s airlines and maintenance companies. The event packs every minute full of precious networking.

Showcasing the most well known companies in aviation, AP&M EXPO is the place to be to meet, learn, ask questions, evaluate the mar-ket and close your business deals.

Attendees will do business with industry lead-ers from the likes of A J Walter Aviation, Aveos Fleet Performance, Bombardier Customer Services, British Airways Engineering, Delta TechOps, Fokker Services, Goodrich Cus-tomer Services, HEICO, Lufthansa Technik, Sabena Technics, Triumph Group, and Zodiac Aerospace and hundreds of other companies.

But the show is not built on big names. Its roots are fi rmly planted in the many hundreds of vitally important, though sometimes lesser known, small & medium businesses that are at the beating heart of the industry. Irrespec-tive of whom you are, AP&M EXPO feels like you’re doing business on your turf. Once you decide what the right type of attendance is for your business’ needs, you won’t feel hard done-by. It doesn’t matter if you are the larg-est of MROs turning over hundreds of millions of dollars a year, or a small niche supplier with a handful of staff and a narrow product range, everyone gets treated the same, everyone has equal opportunities to take meetings with air-line representatives and MRO buyers. No one receives preferential treatment.

Bringing you the variety every good business needs, AP&M EXPO adds new exhibitors eve-ry year. 2011 is no exception, including Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, Air Atlanta Aero Engineering, American Airlines MRO, Iberia

The place to meet all your customers or potential customers intwo days in one place

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Alongside the exhibit hall, two day conference and seminar series there are multiple social net-working events hosted by UBM Aviation and its sponsors. The event also holds its famous Meet the Buyers business networking afternoon. More than 1,500 one-on-one meetings will be organ-ised over a mere 3 hours with over 100 airline representatives, providing that all important fi rst meeting for cultivating new business.

So what is behind this annual boost in event sponsors and plethora of new companies exhib-iting in the sold out hall? Managing Director of AP&M Events, Colin Hall, tells us what he thinks is making 2011 such a successful year. “It’s sim-ple - Here at UBM Aviation we regard AP&M as one big family. Once a company joins our family by booking exhibit space or becoming a sponsor, it’s our responsibility to look after them, make them feel looked after and that their money has been well spent. That’s surprisingly rare in the Aviation/Aerospace events sector where many companies are made to feel that their primary function is to act as a money machine that exists to enrich the organiser. You only have to look ay our retention rates and the fact that there hasn’t been a single year since the EXPO started when it has grown both its exhibitor numbers and its attendance levels – even in the harsh conditions last year where we were hit by the volcanic ash cloud, a major recession and the UK General Election, we still grew.”

UBM Aviation will be unveiling a new addition to its event portfolio at the show in May to join the rest of the AP&M family. Details are being kept under wraps at present but according to Colin Hall “this is one of the most exciting develop-ments we’ve seen in the Aviation Event sector for years. My team and I can’t wait to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding it all and start tell people about it at the show.”

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AP&M EXPO Show Preview

7 GREAT REASONS TO VISIT AP&M 2011PROMOTE your company among industry leadersFrom AAR to Zodiac Aerospace, AP&M attracts the biggest names in the commercial aviation aftermarket. Maximise your company’s opportunities and profi le by attending. Bring your colleagues to ensure you have suffi cient resources on hand

NETWORK with peers & engage with your industryOver 2500 people attend the AP&M EXPO. AP&M EXPO is a great opportunity to netowrk with prominent companies like Lufthansa Technik, Airbus, Delta Tech Ops, and Boeing

SOURCE new suppliers, customers & partners for your businessOver 250 companies from the Airline MRO & aftermarket sector will exhibit in 2011. Alongside the prominent MROs and OEMs we bring you a host of alternative suppliers to ensure you fi nd your perfect match. Book meetings with exhibitors in advance via the Contact Us option on the online company profi le pages of the exhibitor list

MEET key suppliers & get immediate answers to your questionsOn average exhibiting companies bring 4 representatives to the event which gives you a great opportunity to sit down face to face and get the information you need

STRENGTHEN existing relationshipsHave you been on the phone to an associate for months but never met? AP&M EXPO is the ideal place to arrange to meet on their exhibit stand or in one of the fi ve cafes in the Grand Hall

LEARN about the latest developments in Aviation ITAttend our free seminar programme, Meet the Experts, for a fresh insight into Aviation IT in the Airline MRO & aftermarket sector. Open up this fl yer for full details of this year’s programme

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Led by industry professionals we present informative topical seminars, practical advice and discussion forums

The 2011 seminar programme explores Aviation IT in the MRO Airlines & Aftermarket Sector

An overview of all the seminars presented in this programme can be read on the AP&M EXPO website. Seating is available on a first come first served basis

This year we are doing our best to get you to the theatre on time. Upon registering for the EXPO identify which seminars you are interested in attending. If you add a mobile number to your registration we will send you a text message 10 minutes before your seminar is about to start.

If you’ve already registered you can amend your registration to include these details via the Visitor Registration link on the website. Text messages will only be sent to visitors who have arrived at the event that day.

New for 2011 - Receive alerts to your mobile phone before your seminars start

On so many occassions, with the best of intentions, you plan your attendance at an event around the seminars you wish to attend. Then, deep in conversation with an old friend or potential new business associate you catch a glimpse of your watch only to realise the seminar started 15 minutes ago.

MEET THE EXPERTSYour free seminarprogramme


12:45-13:45 Seminar Theatre One ILS / Gael Ltd / Approved4BusinessImproving the Quality of Aviation Parts Information by linking technologyPresentation followed by a panel discussion

11:25-11:55 Seminar Theatre One ToolClarityTool and Inventory Accountability - Every Tool, Every time, with RFID

10:45-11:15 Seminar Theatre One TracwareHow to Define, Locate, Select & Implement strategic business soft-ware in an Aviation MRO or Part-21 manufacturing environment

11:00-11:30 Seminar Theatre Two AeroXchangeReducing Cost through Collaborative Sourcing

11:40-12:10 Seminar Theatre Two Bombardier Customer ServicesDeveloping a Digital MRO Presence

12:20-12:50 Seminar Theatre Two Armac SystemsDelivering Management Control Over Inventory Investment

12:05-12:35 Seminar Theatre One AAR CorpBusiness Driven IT Services

13:00-13:30 Seminar Theatre Two Hamilton SundstrandOEM customer care – taking it to the next level

10:45-11:15 Seminar Theatre Two fipart GmbHNeed for Quality rating of aviation parts suppliers and buyers

10:30-11:00 Seminar Theatre One Conduce ConsultingWhat’s up with Aviation IT?

11:25-11:55 Seminar Theatre Two TES Aviation GroupManagement of aircraft engines using bespoke software systems

12:05-12:35 Seminar Theatre Two SITAData, data, and more data:The route from simple EDI to full back-to-birth traceability

11:50-12:20 Seminar Theatre One Cambridge Online Systems LtdCollaboration in a Disjointed World

12:30-13:00 Seminar Theatre One Partsbase.comTechnology and the Inventory Challenge

11:10-11:40 Seminar Theatre One Sofema Aviation ServicesChallenges and benefits in moving from a semi manual (Microsoft) Maintenance, IT system to a fully integrated MRO solution

12:05-12:35 Seminar Theatre Two Supply Point Systems LimitedAutomated Inventory Management

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AIRLINE PURCHASING& MAINTENANCECONFERENCE

EVENT HIGHLIGHTSUpgrade to a Conference Delegate and benefit from a wealth of additional networking opportunities:

WELCOME RECEPTIONAirlines, VIP Exhibitors & Conference Delegates will spend an evening at the Royal Garden Hotel for our annual cocktail party.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMMEAn unrivalled conference agenda featuring international purchasing experts will offer critical market intelligence and the latest best practice and reveal the newest initiatives to maximise your purchasing power and maintenance support.

MEET THE BUYERSSpeed dating; meet with your pick of technical purchasing, maintenance & engineering buyers from the world’s Airlines.

Upgrade toConference Delegate

For additional access and networking opportunities upgrade to a delegate place for £1149+VAT

Register Online atwww.apmexpo.com

The Airline Purchasing & Maintenance Conference is not only a great event to meet new and existing clients and customers, but it will also provide you with the latest on essential purchasing and maintenance trends, forecasts and cost reduction strategies.

Tony de Martines, Aeronautical Purchasing Supervisor Cargolux Airlines International S.A.

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2011?• Franck Terner, President of Air France Industries and Roland van Dijk, President of Fokker Services will open up the conference with their insights into the aviation market

• Air Moldova, Air New Zealand and Norwegian Air Shuttle will examine how different sized airlines overcome similar challenges related to purchasing and maintenance

• Christopher Spafford, Partner for Oliver Wyman will help you understand the role of the consultant in maintenance contract negotiations

• Flybe Aviation Services, myTechnic, MTU Maintenance and Sabena Technics will discuss best practices for negotiating maintenance contracts

AIRLINES ATTENDING IN 2011 INCLUDE:Adria Airways Air BalticAir GreenlandAir New ZealandAmerican Airlines Arik Air Limited Arke Fly Austrian Airlines Avia Express AB Blue Air Blue OyBluebird Cargo bmi Braathens British Airways Cargo Air Ltd Cargolux Airlines International Cimber Air Cityjet

Croatia Airlines Dalmatian.hr Danish Air Transport A/S easyJet Eurolot SA Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG Evergreen International Airlines Farnair Switzerland AG Finnair FlyBE Aviation Services Flylal Group Iberia Iran Air UK & Ireland JAT Airways Jet Air Kuwait Airways Corporation Monarch Airlines Norwegian Air Shuttle Oman Air

Onur Air Pegasus Airlines PGA Portugalia Airlines Saudi Arabian Airlines Southern AirSpanairSriLankan Airlines Ltd Strategic Airlines Pty Sun Express Airlines Swiss International Airlines Tailwind Airlines Inc TAP Portugal Thomas Cook TUI Airlines BelgiumUkraine International AirlinesViking Airlines Virgin Atlantic Airlines Voyageur Airways


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For years, the conversation has been aboutwhen Boeing is going to replace the vener-able 737. The moniker has typically been

737RS, for Replacement Study. In the past 18months, speculation has also been mountingabout whether Boeing might simply re-engine(737RE) the aircraft.

Boeing’s final decision on the future of the737 is expected before or during the Paris AirShow. It’s virtually certain Boeing will con-tinue to enhance the aircraft beyond the cur-rent improvements in aerodynamics andengine performance entering service thisyear. Boeing hopes to wring another 2-3 percent out of the 737 fuel burn between nowand 2016, when the Airbus A320neo isscheduled to enter service. A 737RE seems

increasingly unlikely. But don’t say the newaircraft will be a 737 replacement, accordingto Mike Bair, vice president of advanced 737product development for Boeing CommercialAirplanes.

Bair predicts the current 737NG will be inproduction well into the 2020 decade, rightalongside the new aircraft, which is knowninternally as the Y1.

Aircraft Technology Engineering &Maintenance sat down with Bair to discuss thedevelopment programme.

To RE or not to RE, that is thequestion

Bair affirms what has been widely reportedin that Boeing knows how to re-engine the 737


After months of speculation, Boeing appears to be going with a replacement for the 737 ratherthan a re-engined version — except the company doesn’t see it as a straight replacement, just a“new aircraft”. Here, Scott Hamilton examines Boeing’s possible strategies for this new programme,including technologies, family and size options, use of materials, and likely assembly sites.

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Don’t say 737 replacement

...say new aircraft

AT111_Tech_AT111_Tech 01/04/2011 12:28 Page 56


58

with the CFM International LEAP-X, the Pratt &Whitney (P&W) PW1000G geared turbofan(GTF) or the Rolls-Royce RB282/285 two-stage/three stage engines (also known asAdvance2 and Advance3). All are in develop-ment. (See boxout on page 60 for details ofBair’s view of these three engines.)

“We’ve done a lot of work on that. We under-stand what the assignment would be if we wereto do that,” Bair says. “We’ve been in the windtunnel a number of times, and this is some-thing that’s doable and we have a good handleon the work statement.”

The fuel burn improvement would be in the“low teens,” and “it turns out it’s pretty muchthe same answer Airbus is getting with theirneo,” Bair says, or 10-12 per cent without thesharklets (which reduce fuel burn by another3.5-4 per cent). “We looked at all three enginemanufacturers and the net benefit was prettyclose to a tie,” states Bair.

It’s also been reported that Boeing needs toincrease the length of the nose gear by 6-8inches (15.4-20.3cm) and that additional air-frame/wing changes and systems upgradeswill cost an estimated $2-$3bn or $3-$4bn.Bair believes both figures are “high.”

“The investment amount is not really all thatmaterial because of the rates that you’re on inthese programmes. You pay for investmentsreally, really quickly,” he says. For Boeing,devoting resources to an RE is also an oppor-tunity cost. “Is there a better place to have [theresources] working? Is there another opportu-nity that’s more attractive to us? That’s kind ofwhere we got with the airlines.”

Bair says the net benefit of cash-cost sav-ings for an RE falls to only 1-1.5 per centdespite the low double-digit fuel burn savings ofa re-engined aircraft. “On these kinds of air-planes [a re-engine], a 10 per cent fuel burnsavings is five per cent cash cost because fuelis half the cash operating cost,” Bair says.“That’s without changing maintenance costs.There will be some change in maintenancecosts because the airplanes are heavier. By thetime you’re done you add 5,000lbs to the oper-ating empty weight of the aircraft, so right awaythe costs for wheels and brakes go up.

“Then there is the disruption factor becausefor an airline, that means you have to have dif-ferent spare parts and different engines,” Bairexplains. By the time you add all this andhigher ownership costs, you’re down to 2.5-3



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Mike Bair, Boeing’s vice president of advanced737 product development, predicts the current737NG will be in production well into the 2020decade, right alongside the replacementaircraft.


59

per cent. Finally, if there is a price premium onthe aircraft, the all-in net benefit to the aircraftis just one per cent, according to Bair.

“It’s kind of like, really, is that all?” heremarks. So, “what we have done is taken thisoption and put it on the shelf,” Bair says. “Wecan change our mind and exercise it at anytime…if something happens in the industrythat makes this more compelling. It’s hard toimagine what that would be. We are nowfocused on the new airplane.” (Oil prices werehovering around $100bbl at the time of theinterview.)

A re-engined 737 likely wouldn’t enter serv-ice until 2016 and Bair estimates entry-into-service of a new aircraft would be in the2019-2020 period, even though Boeing CEOJim McNerney remarked during the company’syear-end earnings call that EIS could be in theearly 2020 decade.

Converging technologiesAlthough Airbus believes technology conver-

gence won’t happen until 2025-2027, Bairbelieves “there is a fairly compelling bundle oftechnologies that can be put into that [newBoeing] airplane” in 2019.

Bair says Boeing will have three engines tochoose from: CFM’s LEAP-X, P&W’s geared tur-bofan and the Rolls-Royce Advance2 orAdvance3 engines. He believes that secondgeneration GTF and LEAP-X engines due toenter service from 2013-2016 will be evenmore efficient than those entering servicebetween 2013-2016, making the gamble of anew aircraft worthwhile by 2020 instead of the2025-27 timeframe which Airbus insists willmake a new aircraft feasible.

One engine that doesn’t rate high on the listis the open rotor. Airbus is clearly counting ondevelopment of this engine to be the catalyst forits new A320-class aircraft around 2027, cou-pled with airframe technology advances andimprovements to the air traffic management sys-tem for a total 40 per cent reduction in fuel con-sumption. The open rotor goal is 25-30 per cent.

Sceptics of the open rotor point to weight,size, mounting, maintenance, safety and noiseas issues which need to be overcome. Airbus’John Leahy, COO-customers, responds to theseconcerns by saying “it won’t be the open rotoras we know it”.

As for Bair, the key issue is that as yet thereis no resolution about the safety implications.



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Pratt & Whitney have “done a reallyremarkable job at maturing the technologythey put in” the PW1000G geared turbofanengine, according to Bair, who notes that theengine is exceptionally quiet.


60

“We’ve been working with open rotors eversince the 7J7 [concept aircraft, on which theengine was placed on a 727 fuselage andflight-tested]. Every year we’ve studied them,their potential entry in service has moved ayear or two. The technology continues to moveaway, and not converge.”

Bair notes that while an open rotor can pro-vide “spectacular” improvements in fuel burnon the test stand, the “fundamental thing wecannot figure out is what happens when youlose a blade”. “It’s so big and heavy that youcould lose the airplane,” he explains. Boeingwon’t design an aircraft that has this risk.

The size of the new aircraft has also beena matter of great debate and speculation.“What we are doing is trying to figure out whatthe world wants in 2030-2035, because that’s

when the airplane will be in its prime,” Bairsays. “On the surface it is hard to imaginewhat worked well in 2000 will work well in2030. We are carefully looking at what theoptions are. Clearly, if we end up more towardthe larger size (+150 seats), compositesbecome attractive. If we end up more towardthe smaller size, then the scaling issues withskin thickness catch up to you.”

There will be a family, but Bair says the solu-tion depends on where the family starts, andthis will dictate what the span encompasses.Bair notes that when the 737NG was firstordered, the -700 model was popular but thattoday nearly all deliveries are -800s and -900s.The trip cost for the -800 is nearly the same asthe -700 with far more seats, which he charac-terises as essentially free. “Do we think that



would have to give us a competitive offer-ing, both technically and business-wise,and we’re the judge. If one of these otherguys had come up with something that washugely better than the CFM offering, thenwe would have had the ability to changehorses.

The maintenance and reliability of thegeared turbofan has been heavily scrutinised,how do you see it?

Bair: We like what we see from P&W. Theyhave done a really remarkable job at matur-ing the technology they put in. We’re notsure, at least with this first iteration, it was astep-function change. It could be that with a“Generation 2” it could really give you somehuge benefits. There’s no question thatthere’s going to be maintenance advantagesin the turbine because of fewer blades andfewer disks, but the gearbox will add mainte-nance so there’s going to be a trade-offthere. It wasn’t obvious to us that it is a hugestep forward but we do like what we see andwe’re very happy that Pratt is back in thegame.

How does Boeing compare the geared tur-bofan to the LEAP-X?

Bair: What we looked at was total eco-nomic performance, leaving purchaseprice out. We didn’t see anything thatwould have caused us to move away fromCFM. They are pretty close, at least at thispoint in the assessment. Time will tell. Atleast in our assessment, we didn’t see ahuge advantage to anybody. There is one

caveat, however. The geared turbofan willbe quieter.

Does Boeing have any particular concernsabout the geared turbofan reliability?

Bair: Not really. Everybody has been nerv-ous about the gearbox, but P&W knew that thiswas going to be the biggest issue. If you knowthere is going to be a problem, make sure itdoesn’t happen and they have done everythingone could imagine to prove the robustness ofthat gearbox. It feels very, very unlikely that’sgoing to come back to bite anybody.

How about the Rolls-Royce engines?Bair: They provide us with an attractive

looking engine. Again, it was kind of a three-way tie.

Rolls-Royce doesn’t really have an enginenow. The RB282/285 two-stage, three-stageare concepts, what do you make of this?

Bair: They actually do make engines thatare close to this thrust class. They have apretty big business jet market and there isno reason why they couldn’t take the Trenttechnologies that they make for the 787 andmature those and drive those into an enginein the thrust class that we need. We knowwe’re going to have three engines to choosefrom. We’ll get an offering from CFM, P&W,and Rolls. It’s going to be interesting to seewhere they will be for an engine that’s threeor four years later than the one we looked at[today] and whether any of them will be astandout or whether we will have a nose-to-nose horse race.

THE COMPETITION betweenCFM International andPratt & Whitney (P&W)has already taken on con-troversy as the two com-panies spar over whoseengine is better and thereliance of P&W on thegeared turbofan. MikeBair, vice president of

advanced 737 productdevelopment for Boeing CommercialAirplanes discussed the gear box, its main-tenance and reliability and perhaps summedit up best by saying: “We’re glad Pratt is backin the game.”

Bair gave the following assessment of theLEAP-X and PW1000G as well as the Rolls-Royce Advance2 and Advance3 engines.

Is re-engining the 737 feasible?Bair: The engine installation is about

2,000lbs [more] on each side and this istrue for our friends in Toulouse in terms ofwhat they have to do. We looked at all threeengine manufacturers [Pratt, CFM and Rolls-Royce] and the net benefit was pretty closeto a tie. We didn’t see anybody thatappeared to have a huge advantage in termsof what they could provide performance-wise.Obviously in that case, it means the incum-bent would have an advantage.

Doesn’t Boeing have an exclusive supplieragreement with CFM?

Bair: [The agreement] is exclusive, but ifwe wanted to do something different, they

“We’re glad Pratt is back in the game”



62

trend is going to continue?” Bair asks, answer-ing that Boeing is “trying to get its armsaround” this issue.

Another burning issue is whether Boeingmight abandon the below-150 seat market.“We don’t know,” admits Bair. “It feels like‘abandon’ is a fairly strong word, but we’re dili-gently going through our assessments. Wehaven’t come to our conclusions yet.”

There has been speculation that Boeingwill proceed with two aircraft: one for the150-210 seat market and one for thesmaller, 100-149 seat market. Doing bothwould check the emerging competition fromCanada, Russia, China and the now-antici-pated move by Embraer to proceed with a125-149 seat new aircraft if Boeing does not.But Bair says there will be only one aircraftwith one cross-section.

The prospect of building a single fuselagecross section of varying lengths with a re-wingto cover the broad market segments is tanta-mount to building two aircraft, a prospect onwhich Bair comments: “I don’t think we havethe appetite to do two.”

It is not a given that the larger aircraft willbe constructed using composites, Bair

states. Although it’s highly likely there will becomposites used; “it could have been aneasier thing if the aluminium guys hadn’tdone anything in the last 10 years, butthey’ve been busy. There are some alterna-tives available now that weren’t availablebefore.”

Aluminium lithium (Al-Li), which was chosenby Bombardier for its CSeries, is now easier towork with than it was in the early 1990s. Bairreveals that Boeing tried to work with it for the777 but “basically gave up”. But today’s Al-Li isbetter, workable and while somewhat more dif-ficult to work with than standard aluminium,“it’s a learning curve” and “there are no show-stoppers”.

But Al-Li still has some fatigue and corro-sion issues not present with composites.Further, there is less industrial waste withcomposites than with Al-Li and the ability tomake large monolithic parts is much greaterwith composites. “We’ve learnt a lot from the787 and one of the things we are going to tryto do is leverage that with the new aircraft,”he says. The baseline for this aircraft is allcomposite, but there is no pre-disposition touse it for the next aircraft.



The MRO Yearbook is the annual publication for MRO professionals worldwide!

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If you want to promote in the 2012 edition of The MRO Yearbook, or ifyou would like any other information please contact the Sales Team:Simon Barker, Alan Samuel or Anthony Smith on Tel: +44 (0) 207 5794845 / 46 / 75 or via Email: [email protected] [email protected] or [email protected]

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If we end up more toward thelarger size (+150 seats),composites become attractive.If we end up more toward thesmaller size, then the scalingissues with skin thicknesscatch up to you.—Mike Bair, vice president ofadvanced 737 productdevelopment, Boeing


63

What will Boeing do?Boeing faces new competition from

China’s COMAC and Russia’s Irkut, each hav-ing new engines for their C919 and MS-21airplanes in the 150-210 seat class. Thisnew competition is one of the pressurepoints for Boeing to act, according to conven-tional wisdom. Bair, however, is sceptical.“We would be surprised if either of those willbe as good as the 737,” Bair proclaims. “It’sjust where they are. And that’s one of the rea-sons that doing an all-new airplane is attrac-tive to us. It puts us ahead of everybodyelse.”

Even though the 737RE “is on the shelf,”this doesn’t necessarily mean it is dead.Airbus’ Leahy believes that a few orders fromBoeing customers for the neo will spurBoeing to proceed with the re-engine, whileone aerospace consultant thinks geopoliticaland economic events will force Boeing’shand. If oil prices hit $150 or $200 bbl dueto turmoil in the Middle East — and this con-sultant believes this will happen — Boeingwill have to proceed with a re-engined 737

with a 2015-16 EIS because airlines won’t beable to wait another five years for a new air-craft.

Production rates on the 737 are alreadycommitted to 38 a month by 2013 and thecompany is considering upping this to 42 bymid-2014. Officials are also discussing thepossibility of 50 per month. This commitsthe Renton (WA) facility to huge rates, andBair believes the 737 could sell well into the2020 decade, right alongside the new air-craft.

This begs the question, where will the newaircraft be built? “I have no idea,” says Bair.But he acknowledges that Washington State —its ego still bruised over the selection of SouthCarolina for the second 787 line — will have tocompete for the new aircraft assembly site.“Everyone will,” Bair states.

Bair and other Boeing executives, and ahost of Wall Street aerospace analysts, seemto concur that the company is heading toward anew aircraft. But then, consensus — includingthe same Boeing executives and analysts —seemed convinced EADS would win the US AirForce tanker contract.

Stay tuned. ■



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An aircraft engine exploding mid-flight is anightmare scenario perhaps second onlyto a terrorist atrocity. No one would ever

dispute the importance of an aircraft’s enginesto safe flight, but it takes a near-catastrophe toreally bring the message home. In March,2011, the European Aviation Safety Agency(EASA) declared that operators could cease theengine part inspections which were mandatedafter the uncontained failure of a Rolls-RoyceTrent 900 engine on a Qantas Airways A380flight in November 2010.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau(ATSB) had found that the explosion was

caused by fatigue cracking in a feed pipe, whichled to an oil leak. The ATSB concluded that thepipe had been thinned by misaligned counter-boring. Rolls-Royce and Qantas released finan-cial results in February this year showing costsof £56m and £34m respectively. Qantasexpects the damage to its business ultimatelyto total around £50m and may initiate legalaction against Rolls-Royce if a settlement is notreached.

The November incident, which involved noloss of life, illustrates the business impact ofengine failure: disruption costs for operators;investigation, withdrawal-from-service and


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replacement costs plus compensation claimsfor the manufacturer; and potential loss offuture business to rivals for both operator andmanufacturer due to damaged reputations .

In light of the knock-on effects of engineproblems, it is vital that engine testing is thor-ough during both the manufacturing processand subsequent maintenance. Nor is enginetesting limited to safety concerns; manufactur-ers and operators must adhere to increasinglystringent rules on environmental and noise pol-lution. These considerations factor into threetypes of engine testing: OEM engine develop-ment and production testing; MRO return-to-service testing; and dedicated componenttesting.

In the United States, the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) issues Federal AviationRegulations (FAR), which are mirrored in Europeby the edicts of the Joint Aviation Authorities(JAA) and, since 2002, EASA. An agreementbetween the European Union and the USannounced on March 15, 2011, will see furtherregulatory harmonisation from May 1 this year.

The main FARs relating to engine health are:FAR 33.65 Surge and Stall Characteristics; FAR33.68 Induction System Icing; FAR 33.77 BirdIngestion and Water Ingestion; FAR 33.83Engine Vibration; FAR 33.87 Engine EnduranceTest; and FAR 33.88 Over Temperature Test.The surge and stall characteristics of an engineare tested by subjecting the engines to high

crosswinds. To assess stalling risk in snow orice, engines are sprayed with water at subzerotemperatures. For FAR 33.77, engines mustdemonstrate the ability to survive a bird strikeor a four per cent intake of water in the airflow.The performance of engine parts under vibra-tion is measured over the full operationalrange, including 105 per cent of OEM-specifiedmaximum speed. The engine endurance testinvolves 150 hours of assessment, including45 hours at continuous thrust and 18.75 hoursat rated take-off thrust. During the over tem-perature test, exhaust gas temperature (EGT)limits are exceeded by 75F (24°C) for a mini-mum of five minutes.

Engines are tested on indoor and outdoorstands as well as when integrated into flyingtest beds. For development engines, OEMsconduct between four and six months of groundtesting on stands before testbed testing.Ground testing involves operation of theengines to full power and the running ofwater/hail, bird ingestion, endurance, emis-sions and blade out testing, the last of whichensures that an engine can survive the loss ofa blade. Flying testbed testing consists of run-ning the engine while it is attached to an air-frame which has been modified toaccommodate experimental engines.

GE Aviation announced in March this yearthe acquisition of a new flying testbed toreplace its existing facility. The $60m invest-



Engine testing is not limited tosafety concerns; manufacturersand operators must adhere toincreasingly stringent rules onenvironmental and noisepollution.

GE’s newest flying testbed, with an older testbed in the background.


67

ment at Victorville, California, will help GE totest the next generation of engines, initiallyfocusing on the LEAP-X. This will complementground testing at GE’s Peebles facility in Ohio.Deborah Case, media relations manager, says:“The newer aircraft will expand the flight per-formance envelope, offering increased rangeand payload, avionics that will allow the aircraftto talk with the newer engines and a longerflight test (15 hours versus the current eight tonine hours). So many advantages will be hadwith the newer aircraft.”

Additional testing is conducted by aircraftmanufacturers during an aircraft’s progresstowards first flight. For example, at the begin-ning of March Boeing announced the comple-tion of the first engine runs for the 747-8Intercontinental. During these tests, whichlasted nearly three hours, the engines were runat various power settings while basic systemschecks were conducted, along with vibrationmonitoring. The shutdown logic was assessedduring power down at the end of the test, fol-lowed by inspection and a technical review priorto an eventual restart of the engines.

Beyond the OEMsThe OEMs set requirements for MRO engine

testing, issuing engine test manuals. This formof testing is the most common, as it supportsthe continued operation of the worldwide fleet.During deep maintenance activities, enginesare removed from the aircraft and run in specialfacilities. Power and fuel efficiency arechecked, along with auxiliary systems support-ing anti-icing capability and cabin air-condition-ing. Safety assessment also takes place tovalidate system redundancy, including safemodes. Test facility design thus needs to allowthe control and monitoring of a wide range ofparameters such as power, temperature, pres-sure, vibration, speed, fuel flow and air flow —whilst enabling air supply and exhaust removal.

Business manager Nick Smith from testfacility provider IAC Global Aviation, which hasbeen in business for more than 60 years,explains that a further challenge is the man-agement of the immense noise of an engineunder testing, which he describes as the“Achilles heel” of the process.

Smith agrees with SR Technics’ head ofengine testing Andreas Jost that there is alsopressure to reduce test times, with schedulesbeing set by the OEMs. IAC promotes opera-tional efficiencies by using multiple engine cra-dles to allow the dressing of engines prior toloading onto test stands. Smith says that com-puterised control and instrumentation alsohelp by allowing faster data acquisition andanalysis. Many MROs also offer quick enginechange (QEC) capability. Jost says that a con-

tinual focus on improving turnaround times(TATs) has enabled SR Technics to reduce aver-age heavy shop visits by 20 days to 55 days forCFM engines, and by 28 days to 66 days forPratt & Whitney engines. To this end, the com-pany has introduced T-005 core balancing,which means that N2 vibrations on CFM56-7Bengines can be balanced without removal ofthe core.

Companies such as Schenck and New York-based MTI Instruments specialise in trim bal-ancing and vibration analysis. They provideequipment which can distinguish between



GE’s wind tunnel in Peebles, Ohio.


68

vibration problems and balance problems;before embarking on a maintenance solution itis important to discern whether or not the for-mer is caused by the latter.

Joining IAC in providing OEMs and MROswith engine testing equipment, facilities andassociated services are Cenco International,MDS Aero Support, AneCom and Texas-basedAtec amongst others.

Cenco was founded in 1958 as CentralEngineering Company. The company was thenpurchased by Techspace Aero in 2003 to cre-ate the Safran Group’s Center of Excellence forAero Engine Test Cells, Cenco International.Cenco’s products and services cover all typesof propulsion, from turboshaft engines and aux-iliary power units (APUs) through the largestcivil turbofans to military turbojets. The com-pany has a customer list of more than 150 air-lines, MROs, engine manufacturers andgovernmental organisations.

Facilities provided by Cenco include com-mercial fan and turboshaft test cells and mili-tary hush houses (noise-suppressing facilities).Test equipment encompasses thrust stands,engine adapters which connect engines to test-beds, engine variants and data acquisition andcontrol systems (DACS/DAS, the digital part ofthe test cell interface).

Last year, the company won two contractsfrom Rolls-Royce, one for a production test cellfor the Trent Engine family and a second for a

multi-engine test facility for military turbojets inthe Middle East. These projects follow theaward in 2008 of a component testing facilityin Germany, again for Rolls-Royce. Cencodevotes a significant portion of its business toOEMs but also caters for MROs. Marketingdirector Sébastien David says that last yearCenco won contracts worth over $100m,despite the difficult economic circumstanceswhich have seen MROs delaying investments innew equipment. The past two years have been“a transitional period” during which the MRObusiness has stalled but the OEMs have madesignificant investments in new programmes.David is positive about the current situation:“Ultimately, Cenco achieved a very good con-tract booking in 2010 and we are very confi-dent for 2011.”

SR Technics also noticed a decline indemand for engine testing: “The marketdropped with a certain delay after the reces-sion and is now recovering little by little,” saysJost.

Smith says that the contract postponementeffect was particularly sharp in the business jetsector, but that “with the upturn [operators] arenow pushing for accelerated construction anddelivery to realise the benefits of their invest-ment.” IAC designs and builds multi-engine testcells, providing turnkey packages for turbofans,turbojets, turboshafts and turboprops asneeded: hush houses; ground run-up pens;



A Cenco test cell.


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mobile test cells; APU test facilities; and DACS.Smith describes his company presently as“busy and successful” and “the best keptsecret” of clients who prefer not to publiciseongoing developments.

AneCom AeroTest, a “one-stop-shop”provider of services to the gas turbine industry,is similarly wary of revealing too much aboutcurrent projects, but managing director EdmundAhlers says he is looking to developing marketssuch as India and China to supplement recentcontracts from more traditional sources. “InIndia we have a business relationship alreadyand we signed a project in December last yearto continue that. We are looking forward tomore projects to come. The main customerbase so far is in Europe but there are otherareas we are looking into.”

AneCom benefits from having a client basewhich spreads across a number of industries.Says Ahlers: “We had a recession in 2009 inthe aerospace industry but fortunately in thepowerplant and industrial gas turbine worldthere was a lot more work, so that helped us tosurvive.” AneCom focuses on engine compo-nent development through aerodynamic testingand found that during the recession many aero-space OEMs concentrated on protecting theirown employment figures by maximising use ofin-house resources: “They had decided forsome of the projects that we were envisagingto do the work internally, to employ their own

people, because there was less need for themin other areas, and we suffered from that as asupplier.”

AneCom provides turnkey solutions, cover-ing everything from consultancy through designand project management to analysis and test-ing. The company is a relatively young player inthe market, founded in Germany in 2002 as aspin-off from Rolls-Royce, which is an originalshareholder along with MDS (24.9 per cent and38.6 per cent respectively). AneCom uses testfacilities previously owned by the manufacturer,especially those for compressors.

Established in 1985, MDS provides testfacilities for all types and sizes of aeroengines, whether turbofans, military thrustengines, turbojets, turboprops or APUs. In2002, the company upgraded the overhaulfacilities of SR Technics, replacing DACS andengine control systems. Many of the test pro-cedures are now automated, operating accord-ing to programmable parameters.

Ahlers is keen to emphasise AneCom’sindependence: “They are only in there to makesure that this company doesn’t come under thecontrol of any of their competitors, so they arenot involved in the daily business. They havegiven us this in writing and we can deal with anyother customer including their competition.”The concept from day one was that the share-holders’ customer networks could be used topromote AneCom’s services to supplement



[During the recession] OEMsdecided to do some projectsinternally, to employ their ownpeople, and we suffered fromthat as a supplier.—Edmund Ahlers, managingdirector, AneCom AeroTest

An AneCom compressor testbed.


71

their own services. Asked about the outlook forthe future, Ahlers was notably enthusiastic:“Business is picking up quite a lot in 2010 andwe are very positively looking into the futurenow; we have some very good developments asa company.”

Key trendsWhen envisioning the future, companies

involved in the engine testing business need tobear in mind two key trends in the aviationindustry: firstly, increasing engine power andcomplexity; and secondly, greater regulatory,corporate and public pressure for reduced envi-ronmental pollution – both emissions andnoise.

Of the first issue, David says: “Globally thetrend in turbofan engine design is for higher by-pass ratio engines. Not only are those enginesfar more complex and digitised than their pred-ecessors, but their aerodynamic characteristicsare far beyond [what went before]. The directconsequence is that test cells we supplied 20years ago (up to 10 or 12m in section) cannotaccommodate such powerful engines.” He saysthat 14m test cells are becoming more com-mon, as they can handle engines such as theGE90, the Trent 900, the GP7200 — and willbe likely to cope with their future variants.

On the topic of digital technology, Case saysthat few revelations have occurred since fullauthority digital electronic controls (FADEC)were first used in GE engines in the late1980s. However, she notes that Boeing’s forth-coming 787 Dreamliner features electrical sys-tems on the airframe which were previouslypneumatic or air-powered from the engines.This has resulted in GE installing dischargemechanisms for these systems during GEnxtesting. These adaptations have been made toGE’s test cells in Peebles as well as its currentflying testbed in Victorville.

Interestingly, Smith says that a notableincrease in the power demands on modern

engines originates from on-board systems,especially those delivering in-flight entertain-ment.

Mostly it seems to be the test proceduresthemselves which have become loaded withcomplex information technology. Says Smith:“The test facilities for engine development[now] demand far more instrumentation toanalyse characteristics throughout the engineand supporting systems.” As an example hepoints out that IAC has supplied cells with over5000 channels. David agrees: “Data acquisi-tion and instrumentation is a very dynamicbusiness, where many manufacturers regularlypropose interesting new technologies.”



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A 14m Cenco test cell for Rolls-Royce in progress in Seletar, Singapore.


72

According to Smith, control and monitoring sys-tems have historically consisted of bespokehardware, single source software and variousspecialist conditioning units. This meant thatcustomers were obliged to pay hefty bills formodifications and upgrades. IAC hasresponded to this situation by developing anoff-the-shelf control and DACS offering.

Jost sees benefits to digital technology onthe MRO side: “Digital technology has theadvantage that almost all required test parame-ters are measured by the electronic control ofthe engine; only a few additional probes need tobe installed.” However, he warns that the elec-trical trouble-shooting burden can increase.

For AneCom, the IT sophistication of mod-ern engine testing lies in the computer aideddesign (CAD) of engine components, modellingand analysis. Ahlers believes this has gener-ated mixed results: “The complexity of enginesrequires less need for testing on the one handbecause the modelling is getting better and theneed for validation has gone down, but on theother hand the less need the OEM has for test-ing the more attractive it is to outsource, so forus it does mean a better perspective in thefuture because the tendency for outsourcingwill increase.”

The informational aspect of engine testingtoday crosses over into another key issue ofour times: concern over environmental impact.Ahlers sees business potential in this trend:“Green technology for future engines requiressome key developments which will need test-ing. Also, in engine noise investigations thereis still a big need for validation tests where justmodels don’t help.”

The engine testing business has somecatching up to do when it comes to innovations

lessening environmental impact, in compari-son with the constant stream of new enginesfrom OEMs which claim ever lower fuel burn.David comments: “Unfortunately, there is notmuch that can be done to reduce emissionsdue to an engine run, but the shorter theengine test, the fewer the emissions. This isthe kind of green that our customers appreci-ate, because optimising the engine testing pro-cedures means saving fuel as well as theenvironment.”

However, Cenco is exploring options suchas recovering energy expended during test-ing, which is currently untapped. The com-pany has also developed the first test cell inthe world to receive Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design (LEED) recognitionfrom the US Green Building Council, forShanghai Pratt & Whitney in 2009. Yet muchwork remains to be done; this projectfocuses on the environmental footprint of thebuilding itself rather than the activitieswithin. David describes it as “only a firststep”.

As regards the noise pollution of increasinglypowerful engines, Ahlers is optimistic that inno-vations designed to reduce noise will involvenew architectures that require significant test-ing, because early modelling and analysis is dif-ficult. Thus, long-term plans by national andtransnational authorities for noise reductionover the coming years should favour AneCom’sservices. David agrees that the drive for alesser noise impact is one of two strong trendshe detects in the business today, alongside per-petual demand for greater accuracy from OEMsand operators. Indeed, Smith describes increas-ingly stringent noise emission regulations as“the key influence” on IAC. ■



AneCom’s anechoic chamber for noise testing.




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1100 N Wood Dale Rd. 727 series All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 prop repair capability,Wood Dale, IL 60191 737-200/-300/-400/-500 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Brakes, airframe comp. rep.Tel: 630-227-2352 CRJ200/700/900 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Composites, welding/NDT,Fax: 630-227-2349 DC-9 series All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Exterior/interior refurbs.E-mail: [email protected] Dornier 328P/J All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Avionics

MD-90 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Aircraft modsMD-80 series All MPD/MSG2/MSG3SF340 A/B/B+ All MPD/MSG2/MSG3

Aeroframe Services Bruce Campbell A300 A-D 5 hangars for aircraft up to Letter checks, heavy maint.Headquarters: Director of sales and marketing A310 A-D A340/B747 repairs, overhauls, Lake Charles, LA 1945 Merganser Street A318/A319/A320/A321 A-D 2 bays fully equipped for strip/paint preservation/storage, Chennault Airpark (KCWF) Lake Charles, LA 70615 A330 A-D 12 w/b bays for up to 16 n/b a/c A/C parking, teardown,

Tel: 337 312 2672 A340 A-D mods/completions, Fax: 337 312 2699 DC-10/KC-10 A-D Total area: 650,000 sq ft electrical, hydraulics, CPCP,

Aeroframe Airepairs E-mail: [email protected] MD-10/MD-11 A-D Ramp: 100 acres SSI, STCs, Subsidiary: www.aeroframe.com Airepairs also includes: 120,000 sq ft of shop, and support SBs, ADs, EOs, EAs, ageing, Memphis, TN www.airepairs.com 717, 727, 737, 747, 30,000 sq ft of climate-controlled engineering,

757, 767, 777, DC-9, warehouse facilities L/G replace, structural repairs, Lear 35/36, CRJ-100, 10,700ft runway IFE, avionics, strip/paint, CRJ-200 sheet metal,

field supp., backshops, firebottles,composites, machining, manufacturing, welding, NDT, borescope, calibration, batteries, FAA/EASA 145, ISO9100

AA-MRO Cindy Herrin A300 A-D 8 w/b, 13 n/b Tulsa Engine repairs and overhauls(American Airlines) Manager, MRO support 737 A-D 6 w/b Alliance Fort Worth Field and line maintenance

3900 N Mingo Rd 757 A-D Aircraft mods.MD 535 767 A-D Landing gearTulsa 777 A-D AvionicsOK 74116 USA MD-80 A-D APUsTel: 918-292-1589 Wheels and brakesCell: 918-810-7490 Component reps and o/haulsFax: 918-292-3900 Floor boardsE-mail: [email protected] Compositeswww.AA-MRO.com Calibration lab

Leasing - engines, landing gear, APUs

Airborne Maintenance & Brad Heath 727 A - C Wilmington, OH facilities: FAA/EASA 145 repair stationEngineering Services Director of business development 737 A - C 210,000 sq ft, 3 hangars Heavy maintenance:(AMES) 145 Hunter Dr 757 A - C 100,000 sq ft component Pickle fork and fail-safe

Wilmington 767 A - C repairs & overhauls strap replacement; OH 45177 MD-80 A - C interior refurbishment; Tel: 937-366-2167 DC-9 A - C Erlanger, KY, and Miami, FL: SIP mods; flat panel E-mail: [email protected] Line maintenance stations display modswww.airbornemx.com Line Maintenance:

Worldwide 24/7 AOG supportComponent reps and overhauls:AS9100: 2004 certified; ISO9001: 2008 certified; 13,000+ line items; nacelles;wheels/brakes; composites; electronics

AT111_E&M_AT111_E&M 01/04/2011 12:34 Page 74

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Airframe heavy maintenance directory — Americas (cont...)Company Contact details Aircraft Checks Facilities Specialist capabilitiesAMES cont... and avionics; flight controls

Engineering and manufacturing:AS9100: 2004 certified; ISO9001: 2008 certified; airline support; airframe and systems mods; retrofit programs; part manufacturing; kitting; support to CRO and HVM; DER staffMaterial sales:ASA-100 accredited supplier; domesticand int/l 24/7 AOG; 26 years’ experience; consignments with 52,000 line items for sale

Ascent Aviation Services R Rick Townsend 727 series All 34,000 sq ft 2-bay hangar facility MSG 2/3 heavy maintenanceSVP, sales and business development 737 classics All 88,000 sq ft back shop and Structural inspections/6901 S Park Avenue 737NG series All warehouse facilities major repairsTucson International Airport DC9 series All 26 acre concrete a/c storage facility Interior refurbishmentTucson, AZ 85734-1746 MD80 series All Exterior refurbishmentUSA MD90’s All Avionics upgradesTel: 520 294 3481 717 All Aircraft modificationsFax: 520 741 1430 CRJ100/200 All HushkittingE-mail: [email protected] Transition services

Aircraft storageAircraft reclamationInventory consignment sales

Associated Air Center Gene Carter 707 A-D 3 hangars for w/b and n/b aircraft Interior modificationsDirector of maintenance sales 727 A-D Avionics upgrades8321 Lemmon Ave 737 A-D New avionics systemsDallas TX 75209 747 A-D In-flight entertainmentTel: 972 559 7040 757 A-D STCsFax: 214 351 2375 767 A-D CPCPE-mail: [email protected] DC-8 A-D Structural repairs

DC-9 A-D NDTMD-87 A-DA319 A-DA320 A-D

Aveos Mark Iddon A310 A-D Montreal - 4 lines Comp. repairs, eng. overhauls,Director of sales and marketing A319/320/321 A-D Toronto - 1 line (paint) mods and cabin conversions,2311 Alfred Nobel Blvd A330/A340 A-D Winnipeg - 5 lines avionics upgrades, land gear,Zip 8064 767 A-D Vancouver - 4 lines composite repairs, mechanic Saint Laurent, QC E170/190 A-D El Salvador - 4 lines training, CPCP,H4S 2B6 Canada A-D hushkitting, interiors, inventoryTel: 514/856-7209 A-D management, NDT, strip/paint,Cell: 514/591-6237 SATCOM/IFEE-mail: [email protected]

Aviation Technical Phil Fields 717 A-D 27 n/b bays Heavy maintenanceServices VP, airframe business development 727 A-D 8 w/b bays Component repairs & o/hauls

3121 109th St. SW 737/BBJ A-D 1,000,000 sq ft of hangar, VIP modsEverett 747 A-D backshop and office space Wi-Fi & IFE removals/installsWA 98204 USA 757 A-D Post delivery modsTel: 425 423 3604 767 A-D Winglet installationsFax: 425 423 3508 777 A-D Composite structure repairsE-mail: [email protected] A320/ACJ A-D P-F conversions

DC-9 A-D Avionics upgradesGreg Buller DC-10 A-D Paint/strip (n/b and w/b)GM/VP component services MD-80 All phase checks CPCP(address as above) Engineering servicesTel: 425 423 3204 Technical publicationsFax: 425 423 6064 Component specific: rotable/pieceE-mail: greg.buller@atsmroaero part exchange; product improv.

Cascade Aerospace Lorna Thomassen Lockheed Martin C-130 A-D 230,000 sq ft Major modificationsDirector, marketing 737 and 757, all models A-D Avionics upgrades1337 Townline Rd Bombardier DHC-8 All IFE installationsAbbotsford STCs and engineeringBritish Columbia Structural repairsV2T 6E1 Canada Comp. repairs and overhaulsTel: 604 850 7372 Cargo conversionsFax: 604 557 2655 Fleet managementE-mail: [email protected] Program management

Integrated logistics supportAircraft modification kits

Commercial Jet David M Sandri 707 A-D 1 hangar: InteriorsPresident 727 A-D 89,000 sq ft Strip/paintMiami International Airport 737 A-D CPCP, SSID4600 NW 36 Street Bldg 896 757 A-D Ramp: CompositesMiami, FL 33166 767 A-D 100,000 sq ft Modifications

MD-80 A-D Avionics upgradesMail: DC-8 A-D 727/737 cargo conversionsPO Box 668500 DC-9 A-D Sheet metal, NDTMiami, FL 33166 DC-10 A-D Graphic design, VIP config.

MD-11 A-D TAWS/HF/GPS/TCASTel: 305 341 5150 A300 A-D ER fuel tanksFax: 305 871 0076 A310 A-DE-mail: [email protected] A320 A-D

AT111_E&M_AT111_E&M 01/04/2011 12:34 Page 76

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Airframe heavy maintenance directory — Americas (cont...)Company Contact details Aircraft Checks Facilities Specialist capabilitiesCoopesa Rodolfo Solis A320 C,D 6 n/b Ageing mods./struct. repairs

Director, sales and marketing 727 C,D,MSG-3 86,000 sq ft CPCP/SSID300 Mts Oeste 737CL C,D,MSG-3 727 cargo conversionsAeropuerto Intl Juan Santamaria 737NG C,MSG-3 Flight controls/compositesSan Jose 757 C,D GPS,TAWS,DFDR,AFIRSCosta Rica DC-9 C,D,MSG-3 HushkittingTel: (+506) 2437 2830 / 2828 MD-80 C,D,MSG-3 Interiors refurbish. and paintFax: (+506) 2437 2829 / 437 28 01 NDT, strip/paintE-mail: [email protected] TCAS, w/shear, ELT

Delta TechOps Jack Turnbill 737 A-D 16 bays - Atlanta Full support repair facilityVP - technical sales and marketing 757 A-D 8 bays - Minneapolis Composite and inventory supportDept 460, 1775 Aviation Boulevard 767 A-D 1 bay - Salt Lake City Eng/APU repairs and o/haulsAtlanta 777 A-D 1 bay - Cincinnati Engine condition monitoringGA 30354 USA MD-80/-90/-11 A-D 1 bay - Boston Strip/paintTel: 404 714 4949 Tech. training and eng. supportFax: 404 714 3281 Disabled aircraft recovery -E-mail: [email protected] structural repairs

Embraer Aircraft Steve Stayshich 135/140/145 A-D 90,000 sq ft hangar space Avionics reps and installationsMaintenance Services Director - customer services E170/195 A-D 28,000 sq ft paint hangar Accessory repairs

10 Airways Boulevard Saab 340 A-D 35,000 sq ft component repair/ Landing gear overhaulsNashville overhaul shops Composite repairsTN 37217 USA 15,000 sq ft composite repairs Interior component repairs Tel: 615 367 2100 and refurbishmentFax: 615 367 4327 Aircraft modificationsE-mail: [email protected] Aircraft painting

Glenn BrownSales managerTel: 954-359-3838E-mail: [email protected]

Empire Aero Center David O’Neill or Rob Tilson 707 A-D W/b and n/b InteriorsDirector, sales and marketing 727 A-D 12 bays Seat overhauls394 Hangar Road 737 A-D Hangar space: 500,000 sq ft Ageing a/c mods.Rome 747 A-D Ramp space: 225,000 sq ft CPCPNY 13441 757 A-D Avionics upgradesTel: 604 512 4550 or 514 755 7676 DC-8 A-D PaintingFax: 315 838 1515 A319, A320, A321, A330 A-D Winglet modifications

MD-80 A-D IFE modificationsDC-10 A-D

Evergreen Maintenance Fernando A Pereyra 727 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 5 bays: 110,000 sq ft CPCP and SSIDCenter VP sales and marketing 737-200/-300/-400/-500 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Component overhauls

Pinal Air Park, 737NG All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 NDT, strip/paint MARANA, AZ 85653-9501 USA 757/767 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 TrainingTel: 520 682 4181 Ext 5472 747 series All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Storage/parkingFax: 520 616 5065 777 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Teardowns, letter checksE-mail: [email protected] DC-9/MD-80, MD-90 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Avionics upgrades

DC-10/MD-11 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Structure repairsA320 All MPD/MSG2/MSG3 Composite repairs

Interiors, structural repairsVIP corp mx servicesField team supportEASA certified

First Air Maintenance Rashwan Domloge 737-200C A,B 28 commuter bases; 6 maint. bases AircraftServices VP, maintenance and engineering 737-217 A,B 4 hangars Avionics

20 Cope Drive 737-2L9 A,B Total area: 110,280 sq ft StructuresKanata, Ontario 767-223 A EnginesK2M 2V8 L382G A,B ComponentsCanada ATR42-300 A NDTTel: 613 254 6282 ATR42-320 A InstrumentationFax: 613 254 6398 ATR72-212 A Engineering

Training

Mexicana MRO Hector Cobo A318 A,C,D,E Mexico City base: Heavy maintenanceServices Maintenance director A319 A,C,D,E Modifications

Av 602, No. 161-A A320 A,C,D,E Main hangar: 97,951 sq ft for ADs, SBs, SLsCol. San Juan de Aragon A321 A,C,D,E 1 w/b and 3 n/b or 4 n/b Ageing, SSI and CPCPDel. Venustiano Carranza A330 A-D Painting hangar: 45,208 sq ft Major comp. replacementMexico City, 15620 727 A-D Exterior platform: 1,568,237 sq ft NDTMexico 737 A,C for more than 40 A/C Line maint. (40+ locations)Tel: (+5255) 57 86 65 34 757 A,C,D,E Spare parts warehouse: 22,605 sq ftPaintingFax: (+5255) 57 62 15 42 767 A-D Avionics and electricalE-mail: [email protected] F100 A-D Guadalajara City base: ATEC 5000 and 6000

InstrumentsMain hangar: 53,206 sq ft for Communicationstwo n/b Sheet metalExterior platform: 1,002,647.5 sq ftHydraulic, fuel, oil,

pneumatics and accessories shopsComposite repairsInteriorsEmergency equipmentCargo conversionHushkittingEngineering servicesA/C parkingTrainingAirbus MRO Network member

AT111_E&M_AT111_E&M 01/04/2011 12:34 Page 78

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Airframe heavy maintenance directory — Americas (cont...)Company Contact details Aircraft Checks Facilities Specialist capabilitiesPacific Aerospace Resources Dave Graham 717 A-C 2 w/b, 1 n/b Heavy maintenanceand Technologies VP tech. support and customer relations 727 A-C 250,000 sq ft Line maintenance

18200 Phantom West 737 A-C Back shops ModificationsVictorville 747 A-D Aircraft disassemblyCA 92394 757 A-CTel: 760 530 1767 767 A-CFax: 760 246 5159 777 A-CE-mail: [email protected] DC-9, MD-80 A-Cwww.pacificaerospacegroup.com DC-10 A-C

MD-11 A-CA320 A-CA330 A-CL-1011 A-CEMB120

STA Panama Stephen Lim 737 A-D 2 hangars Letter checksSVP marketing, Americas A320 A-D 6 n/b aircraft CPCPBuilding 241, Bryant Avenue E190 A-D 260,000 sq ft EO/SB modificationsHoward, PO Box 0843-03036 Avionics modific. and upgradesBalboa, Panama NDTTel : 210 854 9169 FabricationFax : 210 293 2638 Composite shopE-mail: [email protected] Strip/paint

IFE/interiors completion

PEMCO World Air Services Kevin Casey 737 A-D Dothan, AL: 737-300/400 freighter,President 747 A,B 588,000 sq ft quick change and combi conversionsPemco 757 A-D 7 w/b and 10 n/b CPCP4102 N. Westshore Blvd 767 A-D Ageing aircraftTampa, FL 33614 DC-8 A-D Tampa, FL: Paint/stripUSA DC-9 A-D 310,500 sq ft Avionics upgradesTel: 813 322 9600 MD-80/90 A-D 2-3 w/b or 5-6 n/b Interior reconfigurationFax: 813 549 6039 DC-10 A-D Seats/galleys/lavs.E-mail: [email protected] MD-11 A-D Cincinatti, OH NDT

A300 A-D 160,000 sq ft Composite repairsA320 A-D 6 = RJ Acft Engineering

CRJ200/700/900 Overnight, phase, SpecialE145/170/190 Visit Line, Mods, C

STA San Antonio Stephen Lim 727 A-D 7 hangars Letter checksSVP marketing, Americas 737 A-D 700,000 sq ft CPCP9800, John Saunders Road 747 A-D 8 w/b and 7 n/b aircraft EO/SB modificationsSan Antonio 757 A-D Avionics modific. and upgradesTexas 78216 767 A-D NDTUSA 777 A-D FabricationTel : 210 854 9169 A300 A-D Composite shopFax : 210 293 2638 A310 A-D Strip/paintE-mail: [email protected] A320 A-D Interior refurbishment

DC-9 A-D IFE/interiors completionDC-10 A-D VIP/corporate jets/heads of stateMD-11 A-DMD-80 A-DERJ-135/145 A-CCRJ-200/700 A-C

SEMAN Peru Carlos Rodriguez DC-8 A-D 4 hangars Avionics upgradesGeneral manager DC-10 A-D Smallest: 1,250m2 StandardisationsAvenida Coronel L-382 A-D Largest: 4,900m2; accommodates Composite repairsEP Edmundo Aguilar 727 A-D 2 DC-8s CPCP - ageing mods.Pastor S/N 737 A-D Structural repairsLima 4 NDI: X-ray, ultrasonicPeru eddy current,Tel: (+511) 477 5570 LP, MP inspectionFax: (+511) 477 0877 RVSM, TAWS

Paint-stripping

Stambaugh MR Stambaugh Jr All n/b a/c A-D 2 n/b 727 and 737 cargoAviation Accountable manager 747 A,B,C 8+ commuter Door conversions

1000 Jetport Road DC-10 A,B Over 23,250m2 InteriorsBrunswick Paint/stripGA 31525 USA CPCP-ageing modsTel: 912-265-7244 Avionics upgradesFax: 912-262-0225 Prototype workE-mail: [email protected] NDI and engine borescope

Engine managementVIP

STA Mobile Stephen Lim 737 A-D 8 hangars Letter checksSVP marketing, Americas 747 A-D 900,000 sq ft CPCP2100 9th Street 757 A-D 8 w/b, 10 n/b aircraft EO/SB modificationsBrookley Complex 767 A-D Avionics modific. and upgradesMobile 777 A-D NDT; FabricationAL 36615 USA A300 A-D Composite shop; Interior refurbish.Tel : 210 854 9169 A310 A-D IFE/interiors completionFax : 210 293 2638 A320 A-D Passenger-to-freighter conversionsE-mail: [email protected] A330 A-D Line maintenance services

DC-9 A-D Ageing aircraft modificationsDC-10 A-D Winglet installationMD-11 A-D Pylon modificationsMD-80 A-D Damage assessment/repair

AT111_E&M_AT111_E&M 01/04/2011 12:34 Page 80



Airframe heavy maintenance directory — Americas (cont...)Company Contact details Aircraft Checks Facilities Specialist capabilitiesTAP Maintenance and Ricardo Vituzzo 727-100/200 A-D Rio de Janeiro Heavy maintenanceEngineering Brazil General manager - sales 737-200/300/400/500 A-D Hangars: 1 Component overhauls

Estrada das Can·rias, 1862 737-700/800/900 A, C Capacity: 4 w/b Landing gears21941-480 747-200/300 A, C, D Area: 14,500m2 Engines and APUsRio de Janeiro / RJ 757-200 A, C Total area: 250,000m2 AvionicsBrazil 767-200/300 A, C HydraulicsTel: (+55-21) 3383 2140 777-200 A, C Porto Alegre Mechanical accessoriesFax: (+55-21) 3383 2300 DC-10 A, C Hangars: 5 PneumaticsE-mail: [email protected] MD-11 A, C Capacity: 1 w/b, 5 n/b Wheels and brakeswww.tapme.com.br A300 A, C Area: 12,500 m2 Plating shop

A300-600 C Total area: 140,000 m2 NDTA310 C PaintingA330 C InteriorsA340 C CalibrationEMB120 A, CERJ-145 A, CE170/175 Up to 24.000hs checkE190/195 Up to 24.000hs check

TIMCO - John Eichten, SVP sales 727 A-D 7 w/b StructuralGreensboro, NC 623 Radar Rd 737 A-D 14 n/b Composites

Greensboro 757 A-D 704,000 sq ft AvionicsNC 27410 USA 767 A-D Modifications (int/ext)Tel: 336 668 4410 ext 3019 A300/A310 A-D Maintenance programmeFax: 336 665 9011 DC-10/KC-10/MD-11 A-D WingletsE-mail: [email protected] Avionics upgrades

InteriorsCPCP

TIMCO - Lake City, FL John Eichten, SVP sales 707/KC-135 A-D 11 bays maintenance StructuralPO Box 1909 727 A-D 2 bays dedicated paint Composites5530 East Highway 737 A-D 7 hangars Avionics90 Lake City Airport 757 A-D 632,000 sq ft Modifications (int/ext)Lake City A319/A320 A-D Aircraft paintFL 32025 USA C130/C141/P3 A-D InteriorsTel: 336 668 4410 ext 3019 DC-9/MD-80 A-D WingletsFax: 336 665 9011E-mail: [email protected]

TIMCO - Macon, GA John Eichten, SVP sales 737 A-D 3 bays n/b up to 757 StructuralMiddle Georgia Regional Airport 757 A-D 2 hangars Modifications (int/ext)150 First Drive, PO Box 10136 767 A-D 116,000 sq ft Avionics upgradesMacon, GA A319/A320 A-D NDT31297 USA DC-9 / MD-80 A-D WingletsTel: 336 668 4410 ext 3019 InteriorsFax: 336 665 9011E-mail: [email protected]

United Technical OperationsPaul Lochab 747 A-C 10 n/b bays FAA 121 operator(formerly United Services) MD, supply chain and sales 757 A-C 90+ line stations w/line network FAA 145 repair station

United Technical Operations 767 A-C 2.9 million sq ft AvionicsSan Francisco 777 A-C Engine overhaulsCA 94128 USA A319 A-C Landing gearTel: 650 634 4269 A320 A-C ComponentsFax: 650 634 5926 APUsE-mail: [email protected] ISO 9000:2001 compliant

Engine test cellGlobal emergency/AOG maint.ModificationsIFE/interiorsLine maintenance

Any companies not listed in this survey which wish to be included in future directories are asked to contact [email protected].

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Without efficient ways of getting spareparts to airlines and MRO operators,and of supplying OEMs with compo-

nents in timely fashion for final assembly of air-craft and engines, the entire air transportindustry would grind to a halt very quickly.

Airlines would soon be bankrupted if theycouldn’t rapidly replace any broken parts ormalfunctioning assemblies grounding their air-craft at airports distant from their main bases.The aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situation is surelythe commonest emergency in the airline busi-ness, occurring several to many times a daythroughout the world — but every AOG is anoperational emergency, nevertheless, and istaken extremely seriously.

A strange incident in January 1986 servesto illustrate how significant a problem the logis-

tics of spares provisioning for AOG emergen-cies was in the dark days before widespreadcomputerisation. A Northwest Airlines Boeing747-100 on which this reporter was travellingfrom Prestwick to New York JFK via ShannonAirport was grounded at Shannon when theoperator of the motorised air bridge to the air-craft forgot to lock the bridge’s movement con-trols after the bridge was positioned againstthe aircraft. A small boy disembarking from the747 spotted the wheel controlling the bridge’sup-and-down movement and spun it round. Thisraised the bridge, forcing the 747’s main pas-senger door off its hinges.

No replacement 747 door was available inIreland, so Northwest had to fly one in on aspecial flight from its main base atMinneapolis/St. Paul, along with a mainte-

Logical logisticsEfficient supply-chain management is crucial to the running of the air transport business — but thehigh-value nature of commercial aircraft and their parts create uniquely intensive logisticschallenges. This makes logistics providers, and the transportation options they choose,fundamental to the smooth operation of the industry, as Chris Kjelgaard reports.


AT111_E&M_AT111_E&M 01/04/2011 17:25 Page 82



nance crew. The aircraft was grounded for morethan 24 hours and the airline had to accom-modate in local hotels the nearly 400 passen-gers travelling on the flight.

Because the fuselage skin and the struc-ture surrounding the 747’s door was also dam-aged and the maintenance crew fitted anemergency patch to allow the aircraft to fly theday after the incident, Northwest had to makesure that nobody would be endangered by apotential sudden depressurisation. So whenthe 747 took off the next day the carrier had tomove all the first-class passengers on the flightback into economy class, suffering not-incon-siderable revenue consequences in theprocess.

After the aircraft reached New York and dis-embarked its passengers, Northwest flew itnon-revenue back to Minneapolis/St. Paul andhangared it there for four days to repair the air-craft, leaving the 747 unable to fly its normalschedule and creating delays throughout theairline’s system. The incident — the result ofabout two seconds of a small boy’s time —cost the carrier more than $750,000,Northwest later confirmed.

Twenty-five years later, the aerospace logis-tics business has developed very sophisticatedsystems and processes to minimise thechances of such problems proving asintractable and as expensive to solve. “Themovement of aircraft spare parts is one of thebiggest challenges for logistics serviceproviders, due to the diverse nature and themultitude of parts and the time constraintsneeded to fit them,” explains Ralph Perkins,managing director of the Aviation LogisticsNetwork (ALN).

Aerospace parts logisticsnetworks

Created by UK freight forwarder DaviesTurner & Company along with French for-warder QualitAir & Sea and German CentralGlobal Cargo (all three of which had largespecialist aerospace divisions) in 2006, ALNis one of several co-operative networks oflogistics providers created to offer global cov-erage to the aviation and aerospace indus-tries. ALN now has more than 50 memberforwarders, which together offer local cover-age in 106 locations worldwide. Membershipis only by invitation and all prospective newmembers of ALN must demonstrate that theycan respond appropriately to AOG situations.Another such specialist network is AerospaceLogistics Group, which offers coverage at184 locations.

“We are 100 per cent aerospace-focused,as opposed to a lot of companies that are for-warders first and dabble,” says Perkins.

Airlines, MROs or aerospace companies whichuse non-specialist forwarders to move theirspares or AOG parts run risks, he notes. “Wesometimes see packaging that is not alwaysthe best. We’ve seen cardboard boxes beingused for $35,000 or $50,000 components.”

In addition to offering fully integrated supply-chain management employing Red Prairie soft-ware which can process and track severalthousand part numbers, ALN has developed itsown packing solutions for aerospace parts.One is Com4Cube, a re-usable, flat-pack com-ponent container which comes in various sizesand is able to handle weights of up to 500kg.

AT111_E&M_AT111_E&M 01/04/2011 17:25 Page 83



The movement ofaircraft spare partsis one of thebiggest challengesfor logistics serviceproviders, due tothe diverse natureand the multitude

of parts and the timeconstraints needed to fit them.—Ralph Perkins, managingdirector, Aviation LogisticsNetwork

Each Com4Cube features RFID coding for easeof tracking.

Another ALN product is Securium, effectivelya portable warehouse which provides a nightsafe for urgent AOG spares. Opened by meansof a chip-and-PIN lock, a Securium can beplaced outside a client’s premises and col-lected again the next morning after the clienthas placed the AOG part inside it for shipment.Once a signed collection note is processed, thepart can be dispatched and ALN’s system GPS-tracks the box all the way through to its desti-nation. ALN has also developed and patented afoldable, transportable engine crate and inte-grated engine stand for Pratt & Whitney CanadaPW100-series turboprop engines and small jetengines.

ALN provides various other specialisedservices for its aerospace logistics cus-tomers. “Customer-profiling software linked toour database ensures that any specialrequirements or collection options, or specificneeds of the shipper and consignee, are ful-filled as part of the contract review on eachand every consignment,” says Perkins. “Wealso provide KPI (key performance indicator)information to both shipper and consignee onAOG, critical and routine shipments. Thesereports can be sent on a daily, monthly orquarterly basis.”

Typically, KPI measurements includewhether the part was picked up from the con-signer on schedule; if it was on the flight thatALN had told its customer it was going to be;

and if it was delivered to the end-user airline ontime. One customer’s KPI reporting require-ments are so strenuous that the list of meas-urements is more than four feet long whenprinted out, according to Perkins.

A recent example of ALN’s capabilities tohandle a logistics crisis even bigger and moreurgent than an AOG emergency comes fromQualitAir & Sea. In mid-March, the French for-warder chartered an Air France Boeing 747-400F on behalf of the French government totransport 96 tons of nuclear-protection equip-ment and boric acid (a nuclear-reactioninhibitor) supplied by French company Areva,the world’s largest manufacturer of nuclearreactors. The material was urgently requiredat a Japanese nuclear power station poweredby Mitsubishi Heavy Industries reactors. (Thepower station was not either of the highlyendangered Fukushima stations, since nei-ther has any Mitsubishi reactors — but 23Japanese nuclear power stations do.)QualitAir & Sea then monitored all ground-handling and customs clearance for anotherflight of nuclear-protection equipment the fol-lowing week by the Antonov An-225, theworld’s largest fixed-wing aircraft, in a charterarranged by Air Partner.

Large logistics companies andspares-and-logistics providers

Some logistics companies, such as the DBSchenker division of Deutsche Bahn, are solarge that they represent themselves through-

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out the world rather than belonging to a net-work. DB Schenker, which combines all ofDeutsche Bahn’s third-party logistics and trans-portation activities in one unit, employs morethan 91,000 staff in about 2,000 locationsacross 130 countries and generates revenuesof more than €15bn a year. Like ALN, DBSchenker provides specialist services to theaerospace industry.

“The aerospace industry has specificrequirements, language, pre-requisites thatmust be addressed properly,” explains DBSchenker spokesman Dr Peter Sauer. “Weoperate solutions 100 per cent-dedicated tothe aerospace industry, with staff and teamsfrom both the transport/logistics world andthe aerospace industry, implemented world-wide. We design and operate transport andlogistics solutions customised to aerospacecompanies, whether they are OEMs, MROs, air-lines,” or other aerospace firms.

Meanwhile Boeing subsidiary Aviall, aDallas-based company, is both a major spare-parts supplier and a logistics company. Avialllists more than two million parts in its inven-tory management system and holds morethan $1bn-worth of spares in its warehouses.

For companies in the aerospace business,Aviall offers specialised logistics solutionssuch as consolidations, special packaging,documentation, kitting, inspections and otherservices, according to Sam Carter, director ofAviall’s CDC operations. (‘CDC’ is an abbrevi-ation of Central Distribution Center, the com-pany’s central warehouse in Dallas.)

Dealing with AOG situationsBecause AOG events are so critically impor-

tant within the aviation industry, Aviall, ALN andDB Schenker have created special organisa-tions specifically to deal with them. “DBSchenker has a dedicated worldwide network of35 AOG desks, available 24/7/365 with dutyofficers,” says Sauer. The company also has adedicated AOG information-technology tool itcalls ATOL (AOG Tool On Line) to follow itsresponse to each AOG situation step by step.This real-time, online, interactive IT platform pro-vides for creating the necessary documentationto ship and track the part and clear it throughcustoms; managing the AOG response in realtime; and generating all relevant KPIs.

“Every AOG is different and special,” notesAviall’s Carter. “We have a dedicated AOG team

on call and available 24/7/365, ready to makethe most appropriate response. Our goal is toship AOG orders within four hours.”

ALN has specialist teams on call on a 24-hour basis, 365 days a year, throughout itsnetwork to deal with AOG emergencies. Thenetwork offers a special AOG telephone num-ber at every gateway it serves, connecting thecustomer with the nearest ALN AOG centre. Ateach centre, trained aerospace-industrystaffers handle each call. “We have access tocharter carriers, run our own on-board couri-ers, and have accounts with air taxi operatorsand, of course, every major airline,” saysPerkins.

Because major express-cargo integratorssuch as United Parcel Service and FedExExpress are of necessity airlines as well asfreight forwarders, such companies are wellaware of their aerospace clients’ special require-ments – particularly when an AOG situation isinvolved. UPS, FedEx, DHL and other integratorssuffer AOG events and so they are sympatheticto providing assistance in AOG emergencies.

“UPS, as part of the airline community, par-ticipates in parts-pooling arrangements andworks with other carriers to loan or borrow

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UPS says that, as part of the airline community, it participates in parts-pooling arrangements and works with other carriers to loan or borrow parts insupport of daily operations.

parts in support of daily operations,” says UPSAirlines spokesman Michael Mangeot. “Theseservices are often supplied on an AOG basis.We work co-operatively within the aviation com-munity, as our ability to help often comes onthe heels of something we may need.”

Cargo integrators and the spareslogistics business

Aerospace logistics providers use cargointegrators extensively in shipping parts totheir customers. Some customers demand thatthe spares provider use a particularly cargointegrator or airline all the time, but if a cus-tomer doesn’t specify, the spares company orlogistics provider will select the transportationoption which best meets the client’s time andcost requirements.

“A provider must analyse the traffic lanes itsupports. Look for the carrier that is the mostcost-effective with the best on-time deliveryrecord in the particular destination area,” saysCarter. “For example, the best carriers for theUS aren’t always the best carriers for Europe.”

UPS does business with many aerospacecompanies, both as a shipper and as a customer.“Not surprisingly, we require all our vendors to

ship via UPS when sending parts to us,” saysMangeot. “Some do tell us that they use UPS forall their shipments. Certainly, the speed of ourexpress-shipping network and its global reachmake UPS well-suited to handle AOG situations.”

As a logistics provider and shipper, UPSsays it does business every day in approxi-mately 800 airports and 220 countries world-wide, according to Mangeot. “So, no matterwhere the situation, we have options for get-ting an urgent shipment where it needs tobe.” (Officially there are actually only 195countries in the world, so Mangeot mustmean the number of territories in which UPSdoes business.)

As a transporter of parts and also a logis-tics specialist, UPS has a variety of shippingoptions it can offer aviation parts companies,airlines and aerospace logistics providers.“Transportation of aviation parts and compo-nents could be classified under a wide rangeof services, depending on what the customerneeds,” says Mangeot. “We can certainlytransport smaller items as part of our airexpress network, or even in our ground sys-tem for parts that aren’t required as urgently.In terms of our freight offerings, we move jet

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Providers must have thetechnology and networks inplace to make readily availablethe inventory that customersneed. It is critical to have partsin locations as close to ourcustomers as possible.—Sam Carter, director, CDCoperations, Aviall

engines in our aircraft — UPS Air Cargo —and more often via truck, UPS Freight.”

Supporting the customerVarious considerations face parts suppliers

and aerospace logistics providers in supportingtheir customers. From the parts-provider’s pointof view, of most importance is “knowing yourcustomers and their needs,” according toAviall’s Carter. “Providers must have the tech-nology and networks in place to make readilyavailable the inventory that customers need. Itis critical to have parts in locations as close toour customers as possible,” he says.

Adds Carter: “Ideally, providers shouldhave an expansive global network thatincludes a sales force with local presence inkey areas focused on meeting customers’needs. Inventory should be located in eachgeographic region based on the uniqueneeds of customers in that area. Next-dayservice for our customers is essential, soproximity to a major transportation hub suchas an airport is ideal. Providers must also becapable of using multiple transportationservices, including those that serve interna-tional markets.”

From the logistics provider’s viewpoint,“inter-continental and inter-regional logisticsflows must be addressed properly,” notes DBSchenker’s Sauer. “Logistics providers must beable to support a dense network of experts,offices and facilities, in line with the aerospacemarkets worldwide,” he says. “Services mustalso cover a large range of capabilities, frombasic transport solutions to emergency AOGoperations, or from basic warehousing servicesto complex reverse logistics solutions.”(Reverse logistics is the term the logisticsindustry uses for getting used material back tothe supplier for recycling or repair.) “A logisticsupplier should be able to design a customisedand effective solution for each customer-spe-cific issue raised by its supply-chain organisa-tion.”

ALN’s Perkins agrees. “Flexibility, the abilityto be responsive and to demonstrate innovativesolutions to often-complex and changing needs”are crucial, he says. “For instance, a routinereplacement part scheduled for delivery to aMRO centre may, within the space of a fewhours, turn into a time-sensitive consignment,”particularly if a failure of that part number on anaircraft leads to an AOG emergency. “This pro-

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❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 111 ❙88

An Aviation Logistics Network 12 ton capacityforklift loads an engine. The network now hasmore than 50 member forwarders, whichtogether offer local coverage in 106 locationsworldwide.

A new era in aerospace logistics

SDV’s Lee Purdy, business development manager – aerospace, explains the key to a suc-cessful delivery and why fundamental changes are occurring in the aerospace logisticssector.

In the logistics industry it is important that nothing is left to chance, particularly withinaerospace, for all movements – regardless of size, budget conditions and service require-ment. Contingency plans must be organised and quickly put into place, should any part of theprocess fail.

If shipments are not processed correctly, and the status should change to AOG, the logis-tics provider must have the flexibility to quickly react and upgrade any purchase order. Thesame also applies to items moving through a repair process – any delay has a knock on effectand can quickly result in additional cost for the customer.

The planning, preparation and monitoring for all movements is key to a successful delivery– this is critical for more sensitive items such as engines and APUs. Clear defined processesfor the correct handling throughout the supply chain must be in place, covering all partiesinvolved. An incorrectly strapped engine, or an engine arriving on a non air-ride vehicle cancost companies thousands just to investigate the possible damage to the bearings – this iswhy precise management for all areas of the transportation is key.

I believe that we are entering a new era in aerospace logistics and that over the next fiveto ten years we may see the OEM/MROs insisting on full supply chain management beingmanaged through only class A suppliers, for improved pricing, visibility and flexibility in the pro-vision of transport. It will be interesting to understand how this moves forward and how theface of the industry changes with ever more consolidation of major groups of companies.

duces challenges for the logistics supplier to beable to route the part via the quickest, safestand most cost-effective method, allied to theurgency.” Additionally, “The relationship betweenparts supplier and the logistics contractor isvitally important. Parts suppliers need to knowthat they are in capable hands with experts whoknow the difference between a routine shippingrequirement and a true AOG situation.”

The futureTransporting aviation spares will always cre-

ate unique challenges for logistics companies.“One minute we can be arranging the trans-portation of an aircraft engine worth $10m andthe next a washer with a $35 value — and yeteither could have the ability to ground an air-craft,” notes Perkins. “The one thing you canguarantee is that nothing ever stays the same.”

Some of the changes affecting the globaldynamics of the spares-logistics industry areclearly defined. For parts suppliers, advancesin technology and evolving customer require-ments mean that “our success will depend onour ability to accurately predict or forecast thecorrect parts to procure and stock”, saysCarter.

Companies such as Aviall need to continue toinvest in technology, systems and networks andto keep improving the efficiency and accuracy oftheir supply-chain activities, says Carter. They

also need to enhance their business intelligence;and by integrating their systems more com-pletely, give their suppliers and customers theability to see the location of products in parts-suppliers’ warehouses on a real-time basis.

Sauer says parts suppliers and end-userswill increasingly continue to outsource theirtransport and logistics requirements. In paral-lel, increasing globalisation will create morejoint ventures, and more co-operation pro-grammes among parts suppliers, logistics firmsand airlines. Total-support care packages andpower-by-the-hour agreements will continue toproliferate.

“We certainly see a trend towards morepartnering between parts and supplies organi-sations who are looking to outsource the non-core-revenue-generating areas of theiroperations, such as warehousing and freightmanagement, to organisations such as ourown,” in an attempt to look holistically atimproving turn-round times and cutting costs,remarks Perkins.

Meanwhile, he concludes, “Over the pastfew years we have seen considerable growth ofthe BRICs markets and there will undoubtedlycontinue to be a migration of spend away fromEurope into those markets.” Companiesinvolved in the aerospace-spares logistics busi-ness will have to keep their wits about them inorder to thrive. ■

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Avionics repair and NFF testing

Independent avionics repair shops face a challenging future as OEMs move to limit access tosupport data, according to Bernard Fitzsimons. Meanwhile, the long battle to reduce the incidenceof no fault found testing continues.


month we take several items off our supportlist because another OEM has said that docu-mentation is now proprietary,” says David Tripp,sales and marketing manager with AeroInstruments & Avionics in New York state. “Wealready have the tooling, we have the books,but if you want to make sure the book is up todate you’ve got to ask the OEM or you have toget a service bulletin, and every time we askthey say that’s now proprietary.”

The problem is compounded by consolidationamong the manufacturers as traditional namesare swallowed up by the bigger players, he says:“We have fewer friendly vendors to work with,and it keeps eating away at the number of com-

Avionics account for about 15 per cent ofthe component maintenance costs of atypical airliner, according to a recent

Aerostrategy study for the US AeronauticalRepair Station Association. The manufacturersof the equipment do about 45 per cent of thework, airlines do 30 per cent of it in house, andthe remaining 25 per cent is third party workconducted by either airlines or independentshops.

The independents, though, are watchingthat share erode as the OEMs move to tightentheir grip on the aftermarket by restrictingaccess to the documentation needed to keeptest and repair procedures current. “Every

90

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ponents we can repair.” And while the 100 tech-nicians on Aero’s staff still cover 30,000 partnumbers and hundreds of OEMs, Tripp says, forsmall, specialist shops dependent on just a fewvendors, “it can get very scary”.

Bob Eriksen, vice president of Ontario-head-quartered Otto Instrument Service, echoes Tripp’sconcerns. “Our primary challenge right now isbeing able to maintain test equipment that hasthe capability to support modern avionics,” hesays. Writing programmes for the test equipmentoften requires access to the definition of the pro-prietary software that many LRUs contain.

In some cases the OEMs are willing tolicense that intellectual property in return for a

royalty for use of the data, or for the repairs car-ried out. “But some of the larger OEMs choosenot to support third party repair stations,” hesays. “They will support the airlines directlythat choose to establish this capability, pur-chase the test stands and build an avionicsshop to support their avionic components. Butthat’s as far as it goes. They’re trying to drawthe work back through their own shops, so sup-porting someone like Otto Instrument would beviewed as supporting the competition.”

Without that support, expensively acquiredautomatic test equipment (ATE) becomes use-less, says Tripp. “The vendors are either leav-ing the business or they have a new tester andthey’re deleting support for the older tester.We’re always trying to buy new test equipment,but the test equipment is getting so complexwith the further integration of the boxes, moreand more software intensive, more and moreATE required to test. So the OEMs fund theirtest equipment vendor to create a tester forthem and their service centres and they makethat available to tier one airlines only — United,Delta, those few airlines that still have shops— but the vendor cannot sell to anyone unlessthe OEM approves it, and they’ve told him notto sell to third party vendors so it’s gettingtougher and tougher.”

The OEMs, of course, have good reasons forwanting more of the aftermarket. “Their marginon new production going into the airplane is



Aero Instruments & Avionics employs more than 100 technicians, covering 30,000 part numbers and hundreds of OEMs.

An Aerotech avionics test bench.

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being reduced,” says John Ardussi, a formerdesign and service engineer for avionics OEMswho is now director of business developmentwith test equipment manufacturer AeroflexAvionics. “The aircraft manufacturers try to getthe suppliers to become what they call part-ners, which means buying into the programme.And that’s why aircraft spares, whether it’sradios or anything else, the prices are reallyhigh. Because that’s where the OEMs canmake their money.”

Aero’s David Tripp has some sympathy. “TheOEMs have high overheads because they havehigh engineering costs to develop these prod-ucts,” he says. “OEMs are now risk sharingpartners and they don’t get any revenue tillboxes start actually delivering to customers.So they’ve put quite a few vendors right nearthe brink and the vendors are looking for otherrevenue sources to replace what used to becharged as non-recurring engineering up front.”

The only way around the data roadblock,says Otto’s Eriksen, is when an airline wants todevelop a second source for repairs and is will-ing to share the information. “We have foundsome airline customers that are willing to dothat and that allows us not only to support

them but then we can develop new capabilityoutside support from the OEM and try to helpother operators in the process.”

In-house development can sometimes help,he adds: “There are some avionics shops thathave some very brilliant engineers, they’vebeen able to take the LRU component and insome cases develop their own test equipment.Not only that, they’ve also been able to writetheir own automated test procedures in a soft-ware format based on the maintenance manualrequirements and their knowledge of how theLRU function.”

Aero takes a pragmatic approach, saysTripp: “We just say, ‘pleasure doing businesswith you, we’ve got other things to do’ and weturn our attention elsewhere.”

Otto, says Eriksen, has aligned itself withone of the biggest OEMs, taking over theHoneywell Avionics Repair Center in Sun Valley,California, in 2003. “They’ve licensed us fortheir equipment and actually transferred theequipment from one of their facilities to ourlocation and then supported us with the manu-als and software programming. But that’s veryspecific to the components that they wanted usto support. We’re only supporting work that



Every month we take severalitems off our support listbecause another OEM has saidthat documentation is nowproprietary.—David Tripp, sales andmarketing manager, AeroInstruments & Avionics

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they send to us, we don’t have use of thatequipment and technical data to work directlywith others.”

Aeroflex, too, is working with OEMs on itsnew equipment, notably the ATB7300 auto-matic test bench and the RFEM RF extensionmodule for the Cassidian Test & Services ATEC6. “We’re working with Cassidian,” Ardussisays. “We have developed a new extension totheir ATEC in co-operation with them. It’sentirely Aeroflex developed and manufactured,and it just rolls up, plugs into their ATEC andallows them to do testing of RF equipmentwhereas previously they were only able to doanalogue and digital. We’ve already delivered

one to All Nippon Airways. Our initial launchwas 787 customers, but we’re adding a libraryfor more stuff retroactively as well.”

The idea behind the ATB7300, he says, “isto have a complete test bench that can do bothtransmitting and analysis of RF signals and tosome extent the digital and analogue signalsfrom a given product”. He adds: “Our strategyis to work closely with OEMs and get them toadopt our product, and then under controlledrules allow them to flow out to other shopswhere they would want to use them, especiallyairline shops but also, if possible, to generalshops. Because it’s software driven, it’s pro-grammed in a PXI chassis and allows us towrite additional tools essentially as softwarerather than additional hardware. So we can addnew types of capability with a lot less effort. Inthe old days we had to completely redo a pieceof hardware.”

NFF testingThe new Aeroflex boxes should help

address the perennial problem of no faultfound, which remains the outcome of around30 per cent of tests. A box removed from anaircraft, shipped to the repair shop, tested andreturned to the operator not only wastesresources, it means a spare has to be installedin its place, increasing inventory costs.

Ardussi actually wrote the book on the sub-ject (one of them, anyway, the 1996 ARINC



Ontario-headquartered Otto Instrument Servicesays its primary challenge is in being able tomaintain test equipment that has thecapability to support modern avionics.

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Report 431 No Fault Found — A Case Study,which looked at a specific LRU on the MD-80;ARINC subsequently produced Report 672Guidelines for The Reduction of NFF in 2008,while Ardussi also points to Report 625-2Industry Guide for Component TestDevelopment and Management and 668Guidance for Tool and Test Equipment (TTE)Equivalency).

He says the problem drove a change in therelationship between airline and vendor. “Itused to be that if you returned a box to OEMXYZ they’d say this is NFF, we’ll charge you$350 for a NFF return charge. And airlineswould get peppered with these charges which

they got no value out of from their perspective.”The airlines insisted that the airframersaddress the problem, which they did by requir-ing component OEMs to take responsibility forat least part of the NFF cost.

“The airlines have to keep their recordswell, but if they do they can go back to the OEMsupplier and say, ‘you need to refund such andsuch for NFF charges’. But the whole thing hasforced the aircraft manufacturers and the OEMavionics suppliers to do a better job of makingsure that they reduce the NFF problem at theoutset. And they’ve been quite successful. Sothe NFF issue has, I think, run down dramati-cally compared to what it was 20 years ago.I’ve been in the business more than 20 years,and boxes are more reliable, and the built-introubleshooting systems are more sophisti-cated and more reliable than they once were.”

NFF is still a big part of Aero’s business,says David Tripp. A lot of them are from brokerswanting equipment they are buying or sellingtested to give them an up-to-date AD130 orEASA Form 1 tag. Others come from operators:“We charge them the minimum charge for ourtime and we send it back as tested, and we willtell them on the repair done report that if theyindicated a complaint, that complaint was notverified.”

From his perspective, he sees the complex-ity of modern aircraft, allied to pressure on lineengineers to demonstrate that action has been



In many cases I'll hear the airlines complaining about particularsupport from a certain OEM and that very few seem willing toextend themselves past that point and actually work with anindependent shop to help develop an alternate source.—Bob Eriksen, vice president, Otto Instrument Service

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taken, as one factor behind the phenomenon.“It’s hard to know everything about the airplanefrom front to back, so they misdiagnose. It’sgenerally a case of ‘pull the most convenientbox, one we have in store here that we canreplace.’ And it’s amplified by some airlines’policy that says if a pilot squawks, somethinghas to occur at the line station before that air-plane can be despatched. So you combinethose two traditional things and no fault foundis never going to get any better.”

The support agreements that commonlycover new aircraft for a flat rate per hour mayalso contribute to the problem by making it eas-ier to pull a box than look for the underlyingproblem, says Eriksen: “That type of agreementreally would hinder an airline’s ability to under-stand why they’re pulling the boxes off. If theyjust pull them off and swap them out every timethere’s a problem they may not understandwhether there really was a problem with thatcomponent or whether it is with the operator’ssystem. They might reduce the level of troubleshooting, and they still expend the labour toremove and replace the boxes.”

Whatever happens, Tripp concludes, the air-lines will end up being deprived of choice whenit comes to avionics repairs. “We haven’t reallyentered the 777 or A340 markets, and any newairplane going forward we can’t really enter andplay in the game like we did in the past. So theend result is the airlines won’t have repairoptions, they’ll have to buy spares or dependon spares being pooled somewhere, and some-body will be paying for that.”

Like Tripp, Eriksen has found the airlinessupportive at events such as ARINC’s annualAvionics Maintenance Conference: “In manycases I’ll hear the airlines complaining aboutparticular support from a certain OEM and thatvery few seem willing to extend themselvespast that point and actually work with an inde-pendent shop to help develop an alternatesource.”

Everybody agrees there is a problem with anavionics component being supported by anOEM, he says, whether it is turnaround time ordelivery performance. “We’ve always steppedforward and said we’re willing to work with anyairline that would like to break free of thatobstacle. We have the technical knowledge towork on those components, we have the engi-neering ability to design and develop testequipment, and certainly the ability to purchaseequipment we might need. All we really needfrom the airline is support and sharing the tech-nical data that will enable us to develop theautomated test procedures and support anyupdates.”

But he remains convinced that the airlinesare ultimately interested in trying to reduce their

maintenance costs: “These avionic componentsare very expensive LRUs. Even if the only prob-lem were long lead times for return deliveryfrom OEMs that hold the key to that support, ifit means that the airline needs to stock two orthree components to accommodate that repairturnaround time as opposed to one or two, andyou multiply that by the number of componentsinstalled on the aircraft and by the number ofaircraft in their fleet, there would be a sizablesaving if they were able to work with a more flex-ible, nimble, smaller supplier that could returnthe components quicker.” ■



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TRAXChris Reed, managing director of TRAX,believes that the essentials of effective main-tenance and planning software lie in having thecorrect data, aircraft inspection requirements,flight schedules, manpower, materials andhangar space available. “Then it is having theability to link all of that data together to makea picture of what is required, when it isrequired, and how you intend to accomplish it,”he told ATE&M.

The company’s TRAX Maintenance softwareprovides a graphical planning tool for short,medium and long term planning, according toReed. Additionally, the TRAX long term planning

module has been developed in collaborationwith the company’s customers to provide up toa ten-year detail plan and a 20 year summaryplan of maintenance requirements.

The company has been working on RFID pro-vision within the application for supportingtracking components on the new generation ofaircraft. “We have programs in place for spe-cific developments regarding new aircraft suchas the 787 which has a high level of softwarebased components,” says Reed. “This includesa new long-term planning module, more mobiledevice support; complete web based installa-tions, electronic signature and enhanced digitaldocumentation support.”


Predicting things before they happen could be the saviour of many industries. In aviation, thisnotion is even more telling than in others because the lives of passengers are continually on theline. Automated IT planning and scheduling tools are a key factor in integrated software solutionsthat enable proactive planning. Tony Arrowsmith looks at some of the latest packages.

Maintenance planning andscheduling

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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TRAX software is used by a number of airlinesof different sizes and complexities due to the factthat it contains functions and features that areadvantageous at all levels. Reed says: “One ofthe benefits that our customers find is that eventhe smaller carriers often have good develop-ment ideas for the package as they tend to bemore efficient in the usage of their resources andrely more heavily on the software tool to do thejob for them, hence higher levels of automation.”

Reed adds that his clientele’s selectionprocesses “were very thorough and it was alwaysa tough competition to get the business, how-ever, TRAX provides very strong customer supportand implementation services.” Naturally, theseservices are essential in making the complex anddifficult process of implementing such software aless difficult ride. The software is highly devel-oped and contains the majority of the functionsthat the market requires; “out-of-the-box ratherthan going through expensive and time consum-ing development programs,” he says.

Cimber Air DataDenmark’s Cimber Air Data is about to

release the ‘Next Generation’ (NG) update ofits AMICOS software — a fully web enabled

solution with facilities to integrate “best ofbreed” solutions that interface and share com-mon data with AMICOS.

Rune Hagen, president and CEO says theproduct gives customers “the possibility toview and monitor all activities and data bygraphical components” giving operators theedge “both in long term planning as well asdetailed planning/hangar floor planning”.

Another module, especially designed forMROs, has also been released recently, encom-passing a wide range of functionality. “Oneexample is that you can incorporate the variouscontracts you might have, a full cost collectionfacility, ability to generate invoice documents,including pre, down and post payment,” saysHagen. “It is fully integrated to AMICOS NG andthe work package generation, including workpapers directly linked with graphical inputsfrom vendor — or your own.”

AMICOS solutions, says Hagen, are basedon the standards and business requirementsthat are effective for the aviation industry.Unlike many other solutions available to mar-ket, he says they “are not modified productionplanning systems and as such we have fromthe beginning incorporated all requirements,

In order to gain the trueadvantages available throughautomated workflows,e-signatures, and otheradvanced business processes,a significant amount of trainingand change management mustoccur in an organisation.—Evan Butler-Jones, productmarketing manager, MxiTechnologies

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philosophies and expressions that are specialfor the industry”.

The integrated architecture enables the sys-tem to generate work packages, materialrequests, allocations and reserve tools in orderto identify the skill and competences required.This in turn acts to streamline the planning andmaintenance process.

The ability to identify shortages of mate-rial and tools early in the planning processallows purchasing departments to takeappropriate action which, again, helps toreduce costs and increase reliability —ensuring aircraft are released for serviceaccording to plan.

As aircraft become more computerised,Hagen expects to see an increase in systemsthat can integrate directly to the aircraft. Hesays: “We will see more of EFB [electronic flightbags] as a means of cost reduction. Systemlike ours must either integrate to EFB or create‘Apps’ that are compatible and share data withthe main solution.”

Looking to the future, he makes two pre-dictions. “I expect the winners in our industryto be those vendors who will be able to under-stand and secondly incorporate solutions thatare improving their clients’ quality and econ-omy,” he comments. He also believes therewill be more consolidation in the business.Companies will “join forces with previous com-petitors” or “incorporate smaller vendors aspart of the large players’ portfolio of solu-tions”.

Omega Airline SoftwareOmega Airline Software is the developer of

Ames, an enterprise software suite dedicatedto managing maintenance schedules of com-mercial aircraft. Michael Formby, director ofmarketing, believes automated planning andscheduling tools are now operating at such asophisticated level because of “computerprocessor speed and power” in addition tomemory being so inexpensive it has allowedcompanies “to integrate more power into thescheduling engine”.



TRAX Maintenance software provides agraphical planning tool for short, medium andlong term planning.

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In the past, there was a lot of concern aboutthe speed of the operation and how much inter-nal memory was being used; now those thingsaren’t really a problem. This allows companiesto open up the scheduling engine to do more forthe planner before he or she even gets started.

The package specifics of Omega AirlineSoftware are manifold. For example, the LRPcreates an optimised maintenance plan for anyfleet size or configuration for up to 20 yearsand includes budget and fleet planning (avail-ability) functionality. In addition, the eventscheduler interfaces with the long range plan-ning module to maintain and add detail to theplan as each visit nears production.

It can also schedule Line/RON, which takesmaintenance requirements from varioussources and consolidates them into a visualtool for creating the line and/or RON mainte-nance schedule. This in itself incorporatesshop scheduling, package builders, base visits,which schedules and build packages forbase/heavy check maintenance, andAmesMRO — a labour and facility managementfor MRO organisations.

Formby has identified a shift in recent timesfrom Windows-based apps to a web/browser

based platform. This move will make imple-menting, using, and maintaining an Ames sys-tem easier than it’s ever been.

“We offer the only functionality of its kind inthe marketplace,” claims Formby. “Ames hasbeen in use since 1991 and it has been undercontinuous improvement since then. All of ourcustomers have contributed something to mak-ing Ames better.”

Each customer has its own specific require-ments. An optimisation function in the softwareallows prioritisation of whatever goal the cus-tomer is trying to achieve, whether it is aircraftavailability, revenue, yield or maintenance cost,available resources or MRO utilisation.

Another benefit of the software is in timing.“Ames greatly reduces response time wheninformation is needed,” says Formby. “If man-agement needs to know the effects of a changeto the business environment, a planner withAmes can tell them in minutes rather thanhours or days.” Ames also increases visibilityof vital data as well as the quality, accuracy,detail and stability of that information.

“Anyone in a planning department can tellyou that being a planner also means you haveto be an amateur desktop publisher from all of



AMOSA STORY OF SUCCESS–“THE BEST FIT IN TERMS OF FUNCTIONALITY, PRICE AND MARKET STANDING,” STATES EASYJET

READ MORE ABOUT THE WORLD-CLASS M&E SOFTWARE SYSTEM AT

SWISS-AS.COM

Ames has been in use since1991 and it has been undercontinuous improvement sincethen. All of our customers havecontributed something tomaking Ames better.—Michael Formby, director ofmarketing, Omega AirlineSoftware

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the Excel sheets and charts and graphs andthings you have to build in order to distributethe plan across the organisation to anyone whoneeds it,” concludes Formby. “Ames makes thispart of the job easy with web based viewing andreporting on the plan plus many ways of gettingthe information that is needed out of the plan.”

Mxi TechnologiesDue to the fact that aviation maintenance is

a very information-intensive business, MxiTechnologies’ has developed a third generationMaintenix solution that enables an environ-ment where maintenance information is accu-rate, up to date, and available on demand.

“Just as importantly,” says Evan Butler-Jones, the company’s product marketing man-ager, “Maintenix software also shortens thereaction time to respond to new situations.Other solutions on the market today simply actas a data repository, or provide users with com-plex screens filled with massive amounts ofdata that do not provide real business benefitto an organisation.”

Instead, the information housed within theMaintenix solution can effectively and effi-ciently be used to enable process automation,enforce business and regulatory rules andshorten reaction times in the event of non-rou-tines or unexpected operational changes.

In contrast to legacy systems and a numberof currently-marketed solutions, third genera-tion business systems are designed to enablean optimised maintenance enterprise, by look-ing at the business of maintenance holistically,and looking for ways to use information andprocess models to find the most effective wayto run the business.

Maintenix has been developed over the last15 years — in conjunction with many of theworld’s leading maintenance organisations —to enable an optimised third generationapproach to maintenance. A third generation



Top: The Ames planning GUI is a fullyinteractive planning tool that can displaymaintenance plans out as far as 20 years.Centre: All of the data grids in Ames aremulti-function, planners can filter data, movecolumns, and export the grid in WYSIWYGmode for quick reports.Below: The tabular view of the plan gives theplanner all of the information they need toanalyse the plan. This view can be exportedinto Microsoft Excel and manipulated fromthere.

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approach includes modelling the data, the busi-ness processes and rules, the standard regu-latory rules, and other decision points directlyinto software.

“Using these rules along with the real timeinformation contained within solution,Maintenix is able to simplify the work of themaintenance organisation. As one example,several customers have seen this approachreduce the effort required to create and sched-ule work packages by 30-60 per cent, whilereducing the potential for human error in theprocess,” said Butler-Jones.

The Maintenix software is broken down intofive key modules, with several sub-modulesfalling under each. The key modules comprisemaintenance engineering and information man-agement, maintenance planning, maintenanceexecution, material management and finally,business support.

“Most of Mxi’s customers look at their adop-tion of Maintenix as a key enabler in moving toa new way of doing business. Our customersoften hit upon two challenges, common inenterprise software projects, when implement-ing Maintenix,” said Butler-Jones.

One of the challenges, he says, is organisa-

tional change management. “In order to gainthe true advantages available through auto-mated workflows, e-signatures, and otheradvanced business processes, a significantamount of training and change managementmust occur in an organisation.”

Often, according to Mxi, the adoption ofMaintenix means a significant shift in the day-to-day work of many people in the organisation,as their roles change from repetitive data pro-cessing and paper based communications tomore proactive activities. “Recognising theimportance of each individual’s understandingof the new business approach, Mxi works withour customers to ensure the transition is assmooth as possible.”

The second challenge is in improving infor-mation cleanliness and accuracy. “In theprocess of adopting the Maintenix solution,customers often find that data held within theirexisting systems is out of date, or inaccurate.Maintenix software’s sophisticated data check-ing rules flag these inaccuracies as soon asthey enter the system, where previously theymay have gone uncorrected. Cleaning the dataas it is moved from old systems into Maintenixsoftware is an important factor in ensuring that



AMOSA STORY OF SUCCESS–“AMOS HAS CLEARLY MET THE EXPECTATIONS AS A FULL SYSTEM FOR MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS,” SAYS FINNISH AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE

READ MORE ABOUT THE WORLD-CLASS M&E SOFTWARE

SYSTEM AT SWISS-AS.COM

Those companies thatunderstand the relationshipbetween the aircraftmaintenance operations andcore enterprise resourceplanning have made the largeststeps in the industry.—John Stone, director, productand market management,Ramco Systems

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mechanics and materials managers are notbothered by ‘bad data’ when the new system isturned on.”

RamcoRamco’s director, product and market man-

agement, John Stone, believes the key to effec-tive maintenance and planning software issimplicity and visibility. “There is no single keyto effective software, rather a combination offunctions that enable overall effectiveness,” hecomments.

Within these constraints, he lists graphicalrepresentations of maintenance due in relationto due date, estimated ground time, and mainte-nance program yield, constraint management,

task dependency representation and graphicaldrag and drop into maintenance slots as thedefining factors in successful software platforms.

“Specifically, those companies that under-stand the relationship between the aircraftmaintenance operations and core enterpriseresource planning have made the largest stepsin the industry. It is not enough to have a plan-ning engine that runs against rule sets and dis-plays in a project Gantt chart. The softwaremust be developed first and foremost aroundthe concepts specific to maintenance pro-grams and their execution.”

This allows for reliable tracking of the air-craft and component compliance while ensur-ing that manpower constraints, supply chainperformance and maintenance base utilisationcan be accounted for and maximised.

As part of the Series 5 product for M&E andMRO, Ramco has incorporated a user friendlyplanning board. The planning board providesgraphical views that can be filtered to showindividual aircraft, fleets and medications in asingle view. Maintenance program items can beeasily collected into work packages and a fullview into the materials, tooling and other con-straints is provided.

Once the planner has created the workpackage, these can be moved (via drag anddrop) to a graphical slot planner. Slots can bepredefined to maintenance bases, flight sched-ule opportunities, hangar bays and shop loca-tions. Once work is assigned to specificlocations, materials are automatically pickedfor the local warehouses as appropriate, ormovement requests are generated to transferthe materials from one location to another, ifrequired.



Mxi Technologies’ Maintenix software is brokendown into five key modules, with severalsub-modules falling under each.

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“As you can imagine, developing softwarelike this is quite complex. Skills are required inenterprise resource planning systems, data-base architecture, aircraft maintenance pro-grams and planning, user centric design andhuman factors engineering, and many higherend specialty skills aside from the meat andpotatoes application development engineers,”says Stone.

He believes that the greatest challenge issolving the usability issue and understandingthe right pieces to automate. Ensuring that theplanning system meets the core objective ofthe planning department is critical. With thissolved, user adoption and maximum benefitgain is ensured.

The latest advancements in Ramco pack-ages are twofold. These being the graphicaldepiction of the maintenance plan while repre-senting the critical decision making informationon a single screen and the ‘available anywhere’nature of deploying the solution over the webthrough a secure Internet browser.

Two of the major benefits of the Ramcoapproach to planning are higher aircraft utilisa-tions and more efficient usage of human andsupply chain resources. As aircraft operationalcosts continue to rise, increasing the “lift”, orthe daily utilisation of an aircraft, is critical toensuring operational profitability.

“Squeezing more flying time out of an air-craft every day helps to reduce overall fleetoperating costs, and maximising the yield ofthe maintenance program helps to boost thelift as well as reduce the maintenance costs,”Stone states. “It is now possible to reduce thenumber of A-Checks, and other scheduledmaintenance activities, performed in a year

without compromising safety or maintenanceprogram compliance.”

Stone believes that in the future, many ofthe immature point solutions for automaticplanning and optimisation will stabilise and findtheir way into the mainstream as standard fea-tures. This process could take a few years asmost of the solutions that exist today are sci-ence projects that require a tremendousamount of care and feeding, data configurationand user intervention.

He concludes: “We are also looking forwardto the commoditisation of larger touch-screendisplays on the desktops of the back office per-sonnel. This will allow for a more robust userexperience as the planning process becomesmore about quality interactions with theprocess and information and less about thetechnology and screens that are delivering thesolution.” ■



The world of aviation maintenance is evolving. Maintenance organizations looking to maintain their competitive edge and safeguard their future need adaptable maintenance software.

With its unparalleled commitment to quality and innovation, Mxi Technologies delivers industry-leading software that lets you keep pace.

Don’t just react to changes in the aviation industry. Evolve with them.

Join the Evolution. mxi.com/evolveEVOLVE

Anyone in a planningdepartment can tell you thatbeing a planner also meansyou have to be an amateurdesktop publisher from all ofthe Excel sheets and chartsand graphs and things youhave to build.—Michael Formby, director ofmarketing, Omega AirlineSoftware

As part of the Ramco Systems’ Series 5 product for M&E and MRO, Ramco has incorporated auser friendly planning board.

AT111_IT_AT111_IT 01/04/2011 12:44 Page 105


Aircraft data: A340-500/-600

AIRBUS FRANCE OTHER A340-500/600 TRENT500 2123 1 4 8491ALGERIAN GOVERNMENT ALGERIA OTHER A340-500/600 TRENT500 237 1 4 950ARIK AIR NIGERIA PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 6263 2 8 25052CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS HONG KONG PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 1846 1 4 7385CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CHINA PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 16282 5 20 65126CHINA SONANGOL INT/L HOLDING HONG KONG OTHER A340-500/600 TRENT500 1029 2 8 4115EMIRATES UNITED ARAB EMIRATES PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 41222 10 40 164887ETIHAD AIRWAYS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 53188 12 48 212754HAINAN AIRLINES CHINA PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 2860 2 8 11438IBERIA SPAIN PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 70530 15 60 282122JORDANIAN GOVERNMENT JORDAN OTHER A340-500/600 TRENT500 479 1 4 1915LUFTHANSA GERMANY (PRE-10/90 W.G) PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 113706 24 96 454825NATIONAL AIR SERVICES SAUDI ARABIA OTHER A340-500/600 TRENT500 479 1 4 1915QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 15508 4 16 62032QATAR AIRWAYS AMIRI FLIGHT QATAR OTHER A340-500/600 TRENT500 479 1 4 1915SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 22500 5 20 89998SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 35669 9 36 142674TAM LINHAS AEREAS BRAZIL PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 7436 2 8 29744THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL THAILAND PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 37896 10 40 151586UNKNOWN UNKNOWN PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 8455 2 8 33821UNKNOWN UNKNOWN PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 8858 2 8 35432VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS UNITED KINGDOM PASSENGER A340-500/600 TRENT500 81506 21 84 326023


WESTERN EUROPE Airframe Heavy Maintenance PASSENGER 21,648UNKNOWN Airframe Heavy Maintenance PASSENGER 36,034UNKNOWN Airframe Heavy Maintenance OTHER 963MIDDLE EAST Airframe Heavy Maintenance PASSENGER 12,564CHINA Airframe Heavy Maintenance PASSENGER 762ASIA PACIFIC Airframe Heavy Maintenance PASSENGER 1,120AFRICA Airframe Heavy Maintenance PASSENGER 1,424

Operator fleet listing with engine

Airframe heavy maintenance expense by region 2011

Operator Operator Equipment Equipment Engine Equip A/C Eng EngineCountry role Type Family Utilisation Count Count Utilisation

Supplier region Expense category Equipment role Total spend (US$,000)

DATA & DIRECTIVES


AT111_DataDir_AT111_DD 01/04/2011 12:47 Page 106



DATA & DIRECTIVES

Total MRO spend by event type, 2011-2015

2011 A CHECK 15,1362011 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MAJOR 52,3642011 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MINOR 22,1502011 AVIONICS & SYSTEMS MODS 49,3892011 CH21 11,0172011 CH22 5,8062011 CH23 4,4672011 CH24 6,0092011 CH25 16,1682011 CH26 1,0562011 CH27 12,0722011 CH28 2,2542011 CH29 16,0252011 CH31 7,2362011 CH32 LDG 4,9782011 CH32 W&B 16,3172011 CH34 12,8642011 CH35 2532011 CH36 7,4892011 CH49 17,2772011 CH73 26,0412011 CH75 7512011 CH76 4962011 CH77 9832011 CH78 NON-TR 2,0442011 CH78 TR 02011 CH79 2,9502011 CH80 3,4422011 DAILY + WEEKLY CHECK 48,9332011 ENGINE 454,5312011 IFE COMPONENTS 36,3322011 IFE MODS 30,1282011 INTERIORS MODS 72,2292011 PAINTING 5,5652011 PTF 02011 TRANSIT CHECK 23,0772012 A CHECK 15,0932012 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MAJOR 50,8162012 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MINOR 18,6852012 AVIONICS & SYSTEMS MODS 58,5132012 CH21 11,7812012 CH22 6,2322012 CH23 4,7942012 CH24 6,4262012 CH25 17,2892012 CH26 1,1292012 CH27 12,9092012 CH28 2,4102012 CH29 17,1362012 CH31 7,7662012 CH32 LDG 21,3552012 CH32 W&B 17,4272012 CH34 13,8062012 CH35 2692012 CH36 8,0082012 CH49 18,4202012 CH73 27,8452012 CH75 8032012 CH76 5242012 CH77 1,0392012 CH78 NON-TR 2,1852012 CH78 TR 38,8902012 CH79 3,1162012 CH80 3,6362012 DAILY + WEEKLY CHECK 48,4442012 ENGINE 409,0002012 IFE COMPONENTS 40,3272012 IFE MODS 35,2102012 INTERIORS MODS 95,2752012 PAINTING 6,3602012 PTF 02012 TRANSIT CHECK 22,8472013 A CHECK 15,0492013 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MAJOR 55,4372013 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MINOR 26,2402013 AVIONICS & SYSTEMS MODS 64,910

Year Event Type Total MRO Spend (US$,000)

2013 CH21 11,7472013 CH22 6,5042013 CH23 5,0032013 CH24 6,4072013 CH25 17,2392013 CH26 1,1262013 CH27 12,8722013 CH28 2,4032013 CH29 17,0862013 CH31 8,1052013 CH32 LDG 39,0312013 CH32 W&B 17,2532013 CH34 14,4092013 CH35 2662013 CH36 7,9852013 CH49 36,4722013 CH73 27,7652013 CH75 8012013 CH76 5392013 CH77 1,0682013 CH78 NON-TR 2,1792013 CH78 TR 32,0842013 CH79 3,2042013 CH80 3,7382013 DAILY + WEEKLY CHECK 47,9592013 ENGINE 300,9362013 IFE COMPONENTS 41,9202013 IFE MODS 52,5652013 INTERIORS MODS 99,4002013 PAINTING 6,4482013 PTF 02013 TRANSIT CHECK 22,6182014 A CHECK 15,0052014 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MAJOR 46,9132014 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MINOR 24,8432014 AVIONICS & SYSTEMS MODS 50,9942014 CH21 11,7122014 CH22 6,9542014 CH23 5,3492014 CH24 6,3882014 CH25 17,1882014 CH26 1,1222014 CH27 12,8342014 CH28 2,3962014 CH29 17,0362014 CH31 8,6662014 CH32 LDG 30,5902014 CH32 W&B 17,0802014 CH34 15,4062014 CH35 2632014 CH36 7,9622014 CH49 19,3432014 CH73 27,6832014 CH75 7992014 CH76 5372014 CH77 1,0652014 CH78 NON-TR 2,1732014 CH78 TR 30,1752014 CH79 3,1942014 CH80 3,7272014 DAILY + WEEKLY CHECK 47,4802014 ENGINE 456,0952014 IFE COMPONENTS 43,5762014 IFE MODS 30,8302014 INTERIORS MODS 88,6252014 PAINTING 3,9752014 PTF 02014 TRANSIT CHECK 22,3922015 A CHECK 14,9602015 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MAJOR 94,0382015 AIRFRAME HEAVY MAINT-MINOR 15,4822015 AVIONICS & SYSTEMS MODS 55,3242015 CH21 11,6772015 CH22 6,9332015 CH23 5,3332015 CH24 6,369

Year Event Type Total MRO Spend (US$,000)



DATA & DIRECTIVES

DIMENSIONS

Overall length: 222ft 10in 67.93m

Cabin length: 175ft 9in 53.56m

Fuselage width: 18ft 6in 5.64m

Max cabin width: 17ft 4in 5.28m

Wing span (geometric) 208ft 2in 63.45m

Height 56ft 8in 17.28m

Track 35ft 1in 10.69m

Wheelbase 90ft 6in 27.59m

CAPACITY

Pax: Typical seating: 313 (3-class)

Max: 375

Freight LD3 capacity underflr 30 (31) 30 (31)

Max pallet number 10 10

Bulk hold volumes 695 (486) ft3 (13.76) m3

Total volumes 5,435 (5,384) ft3 (LD3+bulk)

153.9 (152.5)m3 (LD3+bulk)

PERFORMANCE

Range 900nm 16,670km

Mmo M0.86

Max ramp weight 822.8 (840.4) lb x 10000 373.2 (381.2) tonnes

Max takeoff weight 820.1 (837.8) lb x 1000 243.0 (246.0) tonnes

Max zero fuel weight 506.9 (511.3) lb x 1000 230.0 (232.0) tonnes

Max fuel capacity 56,870 (58,875) USG 215,260 (222,850) litres

ENGINES

RR Trent 500x4

Thrust range: 53,000 (56,000) lb slst 235 (249) kN

A340-500 Specifications

Source: Airbus

A340-600 Specifications

DIMENSIONS

Overall length: 247ft 3in 75.36m

Cabin length: 200ft 1in 60.98m

Fuselage width: 18ft 6in 5.64m

Max cabin width: 17ft 4in 5.28m

Wing span (geometric) 208ft 2in 63.45m

Height 56ft 6in 17.22m

Track 35ft 1in 10.69m

Wheelbase 107ft 11in 32.89m

CAPACITY

Pax: Typical seating: 380 (3-class)

Max: 475

Freight LD3 capacity underflr 42 (43) 42 (43)

Max pallet number 14 14

Bulk hold volumes 695 (486) ft3 19.7 (13.76) m3

Total volumes 7,331 (7,280)ft3 (LD3+bulk)

207.6 (206.2)m3 (LD3+bulk)

PERFORMANCE

Range 7,900nm 14,600km

Mmo M0.86

Max ramp weight 813.9 (840.4) lb x 1000 369.2 (381.2) tonnes

Max takeoff weight 811.3 (837.8) lb x 1000 368.0 (380.0) tonnes

Max zero fuel weight 540.0 (553.2) lb x 1000 245.0 (251.0) tonnes

Max fuel capacity 51,750 (54,020) USG 195,520 (204,500) litres

ENGINES

RR Trent 500x4

Thrust range: 56,000 (60,000) lb slst 249 kN

Total MRO spend by event type, 2011-2015 (cont...)

Year Event Type Total MRO Spend (US$,000) Year Event Type Total MRO Spend (US$,000)

2015 CH25 17,1362015 CH26 1,1192015 CH27 12,7952015 CH28 2,3882015 CH29 16,9852015 CH31 8,6402015 CH32 LDG 30,2852015 CH32 W&B 16,9092015 CH34 15,3592015 CH35 2612015 CH36 7,9382015 CH49 23,6182015 CH73 27,6002015 CH75 7962015 CH76 536

2015 CH77 1,0622015 CH78 NON-TR 2,1662015 CH78 TR 31,4452015 CH79 3,1852015 CH80 3,7152015 DAILY + WEEKLY CHECK 47,0052015 ENGINE 510,3582015 IFE COMPONENTS 45,2972015 IFE MODS 43,0702015 INTERIORS MODS 91,8752015 PAINTING 5,5652015 PTF 02015 TRANSIT CHECK 22,168




DATA & DIRECTIVES

FAA airworthiness directives - large aircraftSummary of biweekly listings for the last two months

Biweekly 2010-25

2010-23-26S Airbus A300 Supersedes AD 2006-12-13. Perform a detailed inspection for cracking at the applicable locations.

2010-23-27 Airbus A340-541 and A340-642 Modify the equipment and the wiring connected to the main and standby pumps in the left and right wing, IAW SB A340-28-5050.

2010-24-01 Boeing 737-900ER Do a one-time general visual inspection for a keyway in the fuel tank access door cutouts 531BB and 631BB IAW SB 737-57A1308. If any access door has a keyway, do a high frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspection for cracking of the keyway. Repair if any crack found is greater than 0.030 inch in length.

2010-24-02 Dassault Aviation FALCON 7X Install a shield plate on the rear fuel tank structure IAW SB 7X-104.

2010-24-05 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A and PW305B Update AWL section of PW305 EMM P/N 30B1402, to incorporate Pratt & Whitney Canada Temporary Revision (TR) AL-8, dated January 20, 2010, for compliance with the revised in-service limits for the affected Impellers.

2010-24-08 Dassault Aviation MYSTERE-FALCON 50 Do a general visual inspection for correct installation of the emergency brake system number 2 IAW SB F50-515.

2010-24-09 Pratt & Whitney PW4000 Perform a one-time visual inspection of the exterior of the No. 3 bearing oil pressure tube for cracks and evidence of being repaired.

2010-24-11 Boeing 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, -900 Seal the fasteners on the front and rear spars inside the main fuel tank and on the lower panel of the centre fuel tank, as applicable, IAW SB 737-57A1279.

Biweekly 2010-26

2010-24-07 Airbus A318, A319, A320, A321 Do a special detailed inspection of the 80VU racklower lateral fittings for damage of the 80VU rack lower lateral fittings.

2010-24-12 Boeing 777-200, -300, and -300ER Install Teflon sleeving under the clamps of certain wire bundles routed along the fuel tank boundary structure and cap seal certain penetrating fasteners of the fuel tanks IAW SB 777-57A0050.

2010-24-13 Boeing 747 series For aircraft with a P10 panel installed, add two new indicator lights on the P10 panel to inform the captain and first officer of a low pressure condition in the left and right override/jettison pumps of the center wing tanks, and, for aircraft that do not have the warning panel (P10 panel) installed, add a mounting bracket and two new indicator lights to the Autopilot Flight Director panel; and replace the left and right override/jettison switches on the M154 fuel control module on the P4 panel with improved switches; and do the associated wiring changes.

2010-24-14 Pratt & Whitney PW4000 Remove the low-pressure turbine (LPT) shaft and borescope-inspect (BSI) for cracks in the AVT shelf slots on the 10th stage disk of the HPC drum rotor disk assembly.

2010-25-03 Airbus A300 Do a detailed visual inspection for metallic particles, cracks, scratches, and missing materials of the THSA upper attachment and screw shaft IAW SB A300-27-0203.

2010-25-04 McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Modify the fuel boost pumps for the centre wing, and forward or aft auxiliary fuel tanks IAW applicable SB.

2010-25-05 Rolls-Royce Deutschland BR700 Initially replace the HPT stage 1 or HPT stage 2 discs with serviceable discs.

2010-26-01 Boeing 777-200 Install a new insulation blanket on the latch beam firewall of each T/R half IAW SB 777-78A0066.

Biweekly 2011-01

2010-25-06 Boeing 737-200, -300, -400, and -500 Do a detailed or HFEC inspection for cracking of the replacement frame section (frame webs, inner chord, and outer chord); and do all applicable related investigative and corrective actions; IAW SB 737-53A1254.

2010-26-05 Dassault Aviation Falcon & Mystere-Falcon Inspect for overpressure tightness on both regulating valves. If any leak is found during inspection replace the affected valve with a serviceable unit.


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DATA & DIRECTIVES

FAA airworthiness directives — large aircraft (cont...)2010-26-06 Boeing 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, and -900 Do detailed external inspections for scribe lines in the

fuselage skin at lap joints, the splice strap at certain butt joints, the skin or doubler at certain approved repair doublers, and the skin at decals; and do all applicable related investigative and corrective actions.

2010-26-07 Boeing 747 series Do an external detailed inspection for cracks in the body skin around the aft corners of the nose wheel well, and skin splice plate at the aft corners of the nose wheel well IAW SB 747-53A2305.

2010-26-08 Boeing 767-200, -300, -300F, and -400ER Perform a detailed inspection: for pin migration at either end of the hinge assembly and to detect damage to the pin; for correct crimp at both ends and to detect damage to hinge stock; of the ceiling area for any visible cosmetic and tie-rod chafing that could be caused by a migrated hinge pin; and for wire damage and breakage.

2010-26-10S Boeing 747-200C, -200F, -400, -400D, -400F Supersedes AD 2006-05-09. Do an external HFEC inspection of the lap joints in Sections 41, 42, and 46 for cracks, by doing all the actions, including all applicable related investigative and corrective actions IAW SB 747-53A2499.

2010-26-12 Airbus A321-211, -212, -231, and -232 Inspect the ring tags of the wing tank harnesses (QT circuit) for integrity and do all applicable corrective actions IAW A320-28A1173.

2010-26-13 Bombardier DHC-8-301, -311, and -315 Install a new aileron input quadrant support bracket by incorporating MODSUM 8Q101250 IAW SB 8-57-43.

Biweekly 2011-02

2010-02-05 Airbus Airbus aircraft Modify the cockpit door, IAW applicable SB.2010-24-05C Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A and PW305B Update AWL section of your PW305 EMM

P/N 30B1402, to incorporate Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Temporary Revision (TR) AL-8.

2010-24-06S Short Brothers SD3 series Revise the AWL section of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness by incorporating maintenance manual Sections 5-20-01 and 5-20-02 as introduced by the Bombardier and Shorts TRs specified.

2011-01-01S Embraer EMB-135BJ Supersedes AD 2008-13-15. Perform corrective actions as stated in AD.

2011-01-02 Airbus A330 & A340 series Install flight warning computer (FWC) software standard T3 (part number (P/N) LA2E20202T30000) on both FWCs, IAW SB A330-31-3146.

2011-01-05 Boeing 727 series Perform a detailed inspection for cracking on the aft side of the aft pressure bulkhead web between water line (WL) 217 to WL 230, and buttock line (BL) 48 left to BL 66 left IAW SB 727-53-0232.

2011-01-06S Airbus A310 series Supersedes AD 2007-02-22. Accomplishment of the actions required do not terminate the repetitive inspections required by AD.

2011-01-07 Support Services 328-100 & 328-300 Replace the aileron trim tab fittings P/N 001B576A2101000 (LH) and P/N 001B576A2101003 (RH) with P/N 001B576A2101004 (LH) and P/N 001B576A2101007 (RH) respectively; and replace the rudder spring tab fitting P/N 001A554A1711000 with P/N 001A554A1711006 IAW SB-328-27-488.

2011-01-08S Fokker Services F.28 Mark 0100 Supersedes AD 2008-22-14. Remove the tie-wrap, P/N MS3367-2-9, from the lower bolts of the horizontal stabilizer control unit. Remove the lower bolts, P/N 23233-1, of the horizontal stabilizer control unit and install bolts, P/N 23233-3.

2011-01-09 B/E Aerospace (PBE) units P/N 119003-11 Replace the PBE with a serviceable PBE.2011-01-10 Bombardier BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 Relocate the No. 2 and No. 3 hydraulic system lines

in the wing auxiliary spar area on the left side of the aircraft, and modify the left wing rib and left and right debris shields IAW SB 700-29-021.

2011-01-11 Boeing MD-90-30 Do a high frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspection for cracking on the hinge bearing lugs of the left and right sides of the center section ribs of the horizontal stabilizer, and do all applicable related investigative actions IAW SB MD90-55A016.

Note: The letter ‘C’ after the AD number denotes a correction to the original ADThe letter ‘S’ after the AD number indicates that the AD supersedes a previous ADThe letter ‘R’ after the AD number indicates a revision to the original AD The letter ‘E’ after the AD number indicates an emergency ADThe letters ‘FR’ indicate the final rule of an emergency ADPlease note that the above information is quoted for interest purposes. The latest versions of the ADs issued by the FAA must be used for reference purposes


ACS_Ad_2 [210mm x 278mm], fc.indd 1 2/17/2011 1:42:23 PM

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Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance issue 111