Sherwin-Williams has announced its aerospace coatings training program for 2012, which will be held in Andover, Ks. The two-day training sessions will now include work with the SkyScapes basecoat/clearcoat paint system and focus on trends in surface pre-treatments, primer systems and topcoats. The classes are designed for all levels of paint shop personnel and conducted in a training center with electrostatic guns. The cost of the class is $229 per person, including materials, safety equipment and a training certificate.

The Aviation Suppliers Association welcomed Sheri Murray, Air Parts & Supply Co. president and CEO, as a new member of its board of directors. Greg McGowan, Boeing Commercial Airplanes quality leader of product support engineering, returns as a member of the board. Jimmy Wu, Infinity Air president and CEO, also returns.

Prime Turbines has hired Robert Coleman as a sales and service manager for Alaska and the West Coast. Coleman comes to the position after working as a regional sales manager with Dallas Airmotive for 12 years.

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Singapore Technologies Aerospace again sits atop our charts with more than eight million man-hours amassed in 2008, but O&M's biennial survey of the airframe MRO market reveals burgeoning competition in the lower ranks and changes in the middle ground. Data points to a shift among top players and illustrates the impact of the down economy on business. Companies interviewed by O&M cited negative market conditions ranging from parked aircraft to loss of major customers and shut downs of major facilities.

For the past 25 years, most new production airliners have been certified with factory maintenance programs based on the Maintenance Steering Group (MSG) concept, known since 1980 as Maintenance Steering Group 3 (MSG-3). While commercial aircraft OEMs have adopted the evolving maintenance standard, most business jet manufacturers to date have not.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics proposed newly manufactured P-3C Orions to meet joint German and Italian requirements for a maritime patrol aircraft replacement (MPA-R) program. Both countries currently operate twin-turboprop 1960s-vintage Breguet 1150 Atlantic ATL.1s for MPA roles. Lockheed's proposal was formally made July 26 at the Farnborough Air Show. The combined fleets include 13 Atlantics in the German navy, plus four equipped for ELINT roles, and 18 ATL.1s that have been operated by the Italian air force since 1972 on behalf of the navy.