A J Walter Aviation added work for Royal Jet to its Dubai hub’s customer base with a July agreeement for one Airbus A319 aircraft. AJW also plans to invest $10 million in Airbus A320/A330 inventory in Los Angeles, and it gained a Delta TechOps spares deal worth more than $10 million. In Europe, Dutch carrier Jet Time picked AJW support for its Boeing 737-400s in addition to six already covered 737-300s.
The Problem: British Airways Maintenance facility at Cardiff (BAMC) was using a legacy software system that did not perform inventory assessments efficiently. The system controlled re-ordering and control of stocks but did not calculate accountability levels of production mechanics. The Solution:
These three products have similar goals—measuring the length and quality of your sleep—but take different approaches. This discussion is not an endorsement of a particular product. The ZEO Personal Sleep Coach (about $200, myzeo.com) is a monitoring device that includes access to sleep-coaching software. It collects data through a headband with a brain-activity sensor on your forehead. The accompanying support software aims to help you understand the data and your sleep patterns.
Dunlop has 500 different tire types listed in its catalogue, including those for historic aircraft such as Spitfires. Like other aircraft tire manufacturers, it produces types in batches, even for high-demand tires such as those for Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s, which are produced in almost continuous batches. But Dunlop’s Ian Edmondson maintains that volumes still not are sufficient to justify investing in automated production lines. “That would require volumes way beyond our current highest runners,” he says.
When Koito Industries was found to have falsified safety testing results for some of its airline seating products, there was no great disruption for the rest of the OEMs and their customers, as some might have predicted. Only a few aircraft deliveries have been delayed because of it, says Beverly Holland, a communications specialist at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Hamilton Sundstrand is simulating transactions with All Nippon Airways to ensure operational readiness for its nine systems on the Boeing 787. The company is printing airworthiness approval tags, shipping boxes and moving hardware to double-check that new part numbers and nomenclatures will work before ANA receives its first 787. Hamilton Sundstrand has a 10-year supply chain contract with ANA.
LONDON—Ireland’s place in world aviation took off in 1975 with the creation of Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), a commercial aircraft sales and leasing company that went on to become the world’s largest commercial aircraft lessor. Since the late 1980s, GPA’s fortunes and ownership have fluctuated, forcing many of its former staff to find work with the other aircraft lessors that followed it to Dublin.
BMI picked PDQ Airspares to dispose of surplus Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 consumables under a multi-year contract that initially covers 21,000 line items.
Ametek appointed Richard A. Madamba senior VP aerospace and defense from his former position as VP and general manager MRO. Madamba’s vacancy is filled by Gregory Young, who joins Ametek from Texas Aero Engine Services.
Most aviation maintenance workers and their managers can tell tales of long work hours, most often associated with an aircraft on ground situation. Determination to get the job done and the motivation of overtime pay contribute to the work hours mentioned in off-the-record boasts. The result? Mechanics who perform safety-critical tasks in a mental and physical performance state match that of an alcohol-impaired driver. These employees are not fit for duty.
CFM partners GE Aviation and Snecma are fine-tuning CFM56 aftermarket support to prepare for next-generation Leap-X engine support and to respond to requests for integrated support packages. One step is joint venture CFM Materials, created to offer used serviceable CFM56 parts. The second step is rebranding the Snecma Services and Air China MRO joint venture in Sichuan under the CFM name.
EASA recently published its latest four-year plan for progressing its backlog of requirements and moving ahead with new ones—a plan that some critics have said will more likely take 15 years. Why the procrastination? Because in the current economic climate, the agency may struggle to get sufficient funding from the European Commission to complete this work in the planned timeframe.
FL Technics plans to invest $25 million in 20 new line stations in Europe, starting with one opened at Milan Malpensa airport in June. It operates nine line stations now and aims to run a total of 30 by 2012.
There’s a continuous, almost cacophonous, call out there today that commands commercial aircraft main-tainers to demonstrate compliance to regulators, customers and accrediting agencies. The chosen instrument is the audit, and some claim the industry is all but awash in them.
Aerospace Products International and Transworld Aviation formed an alliance to operate a spare parts distribution center and offer full component MRO services at Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai.
The EU-U.S. bilateral has been signed, at least in principle, but it remains subject to the deliberations of U.S. Congress on FAA reauthorization. At press time, the two houses of Congress held different opinions on the final look of the bill. When they reach a compromise, Congress will produce a consolidated document.
REB Technologies amended STC to install night vision imaging system compatible infrared filters on Eurocopter France AS-350B, B1, B2 and BA helicopters, STC SR09430RC
