GE Aviation claims modifications to the high-pressure compressor mid-span shroud make the Stage 1 high-pressure compressor blade more impact resistant and reduces blade-related unscheduled engine removals by up to 25%. Compressor durability and performance further get enhanced by the addition of erosion coatings to several stages of blades and vanes that should reduce erosion-related scrap by up to 50%. Enhancements to the lower-emissions combustor liner also improve durability, reducing the frequency of repairs to this component.
A dark, volcanic ash cloud overshadowed European air travel in April, grounding aircraft based in northern Europe and turning the region into a no-fly zone for around seven days. Now, many of the affected companies and individuals are asking if the closure was really necessary—and considering whether they have a case for financial compensation.
LONDON—While lobbyists pressure aviation to clean up its act, the environment itself is undergoing changes that challenge every type of aircraft and engine. Regional and seasonal climatic differences, such as tropical heat and humidity, extreme winter cold, sand and dust over deserts, and salt air around coasts and islands create a conundrum of how to construct and maintain aircraft to cope with them that becomes chemical roulette. Testing Standards
TeamSAI launched a new business focused on technical support services called TeamSAI M&E Solutions, with launch customers World Airways, North American Airlines and United Airlines. David A. Marcontell, a partner in the firm and its former CFO, is president of the subsidiary.
Pemco World Air Services acquired the assets of bankrupt Canadian MRO ExelTech Aerospace and plans to open a new U.S. facility this fall. Pemco CEO Wake Smith said it has not been decided whether to re-open one of ExelTech’s facilities in Canada. “We would certainly need more favorable terms” than those under which ExelTech operated, he said, adding that he expects a U.S. facility to be operating in the third quarter.
AmSafe Bridport acquired Hoffman Air Cargo Equipment in May, which builds its business developing lightweight textile product solutions for the ULD industry.
Associated Air Center delivered two Boeing Business Jets, its 17th and 18th such completions since becoming a BBJ-approved completion and service center in 2001, as well as its 13th Airbus Corporate Jet.
Chromalloy formed a 10-year agreement with AeroTurbine to sell and market $50-million worth of surplus gas turbine engine parts and materials inventory.
Standardization, from one regulatory agency to the next and from one airline’s maintenance program to another, is being debated alongside efforts to drive efficiency. IATA aims to develop a standard for MRO audits to reduce redundancies, while, for example, U.S. government legislation would increase FAA oversight outside the country. Meanwhile, airline executives weigh the incremental benefits of customized maintenance programs against a common approach.
The U.S. Air Force picked Chromalloy to repair F108 engine high-pressure compressor blades for its KC-135 tanker fleet under a contract worth $4.3 million. The contract covers one base year with four one-year options and calls for the repair of 14,984 stage-two blades, 18,268 stage-three blades, 20,976 stage-four blades and 21,303 stage-five blades. The work will take place at Chromalloy's Dallas facility in support of the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City.
The European Commission published its 13th blacklist of airlines banned from operating within EU borders in April. The new list includes all carriers from the Philippines and Sudan, plus Iran Air. The EC acknowledged efforts by authorities to reform civil aviation in the Philippines and noted that PAL and Cebu Air have taken measures. Still, it insists it will—as a precaution—impose a full operating ban.
Lufthansa Technik’s preparations for the Airbus A380 include a newly built parts warehouse at Frankfurt Airport. The building has space for large items such as landing gears as well as an automated storage and retrieval unit for smaller parts. For the aircraft’s service entry with Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik hoped to have some 65,000 part numbers available.
Everyone understands the need for radar. When aircraft are up in the air, it’s important to keep track of a carrier’s most important assets. Keeping track of assets down on the ground is just as important. Knowing how much inventory you have and where it’s located, after all, is a key component of supply chain management.
GE Aviation opened a new facility in Greenville, S.C., to manufacture high-pressure turbine blades for commercial aircraft engines. The site represents an investment of $30 million in new equipment and is expected to grow 100 jobs by 2013.
Why is it that despite revolutionary training, advanced technology and unprecedented knowledge of the causes of errors, we continue to make those errors? That, of course, is the million-dollar question, a question that Atul Gawande, a Harvard Medical School associate professor and thought leader in error reduction, seeks to answer in his book The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Gawande’s research spans multiple industries, including aviation.
The air force’s fleet of 63 MiG-29 fighters will be upgraded with a new identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) system and cryptographic computer. Russian Aircraft Corp.'s MiG subcontracted the work to Thales, which is supplying its TSB 2500 IFF interrogator and transponder, as well as the computer.
A J Walter added MD-11 aircraft to its power-by-the-hour component support portfolio with customers Finnair Technical Services and Belgium’s Avient launching the program. Varna, Bulgaria-based Air Via also renewed and extended its Airbus A320 contract through 2014, and Cyprus Airways added IAE V2500 engine LRUs to its contract for A320 family fleet support. AJ Walter also partnered with Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering to support Air Arabia’s Egyptian fleet of Airbus A320s.
As someone who has spent more decades in the aerospace and defense industry than I care to mention and has seen it from several angles, including military, airline, OEM and consulting, I am convinced that the common factor critical to success in the maintenance, repair and overhaul business is not revenue, workload, facilities, workforce or location: it is leadership. An organization cannot survive and prosper without strong, visible and committed leadership.
As part of the normal maintenance process, aircraft safety systems such as oxygen masks and evacuation slides must be disabled to prevent accidental activation. At TIMCO Aviation Services, hundreds of preventative safety pins typically are inserted at the start of a maintenance process and then removed at the end of the job. If these pins aren’t removed at the end of the service operation, the safety equipment will not function when the aircraft is returned to service, and the flight crew will have no indication that the system is not operative.
Boeing reports the on-time, on-budget completion of Phase 3 rotorcraft upgrades for CH-47D helicopters of the army’s airmobile force. The program’s three phases spanned 10 years and work on 75 projects by Boeing and 20 Spanish companies and institutions.
Faster Exterior Clearcoat/Basecoat Sherwin-Williams Aerospace’s new clearcoat/basecoat system for aircraft exteriors promises faster processing times, easier maintenance and more color.
Mxi Technologies extended its agreement with Lockheed Martin to implement Maintenix software to support additional F-35 Lightning II aircraft under the Joint Strike Fighter program. Contracts Military
Airborne Maintenance & Engineering Services to install CMC Electronics’ PilotView Class 2 electronic flight bag on Boeing 757-200, 757-200CB, 757-200PF and 757-300 series, STC ST02811CH
