Hawker Beechcraft realigned its customer support divisions under one organization called Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support, which encompasses technical/field support, technical publications, support plus, Hawker Beechcraft Parts & Distribution (formerly RAPID), and the company’s authorized service center network, including Hawker Beechcraft Services.
King Aerospace Commercial brought Gary Hodak on board as director of technical services, based at Addison Airport in Texas. Hodak previously was director of avionics at Associated Air Center.
Lufthansa Technik and bmi signed a five-year agreement covering MRO services for more than 50 IAE V2500 engines that power bmi’s complete Airbus A320-series fleet. The first engine services are expected to be carried out around the end of the first quarter.
StandardAero to install an Aircell high-speed internet system and an optional Aircell cabin telecommunications router on Boeing 737-700 series, STC ST02753CH-D
FlightSafety International promoted J. Scott Hunter to director, maintenance training sales. Hunter, who joined FlightSafety International in 1994, takes over the role for Doug Bowen, who has been named director, maintenance training services.
Aviation Specialties Unlimited amended STC to install a supplemental light system on Eurocopter Canada BO 105 LS A-3 and Eurocopter Deutschland BO-105C and BO-105S helicopters, STC SR01546SE
Ascent Aviation Services in Tucson added John “Jack” Keating as VP operations and director of maintenance and Michael Melvin as controller. Keating most recently was president of Evergreen Maintenance Center; Melvin also joins Ascent from Evergreen, where he served as CFO. At the same time, Ascent realigned internally, shifting Richard “Rick” Dupuy from director of maintenance to director of quality and Charles Stead from director of quality and planning to director of planning.
GE Aviation acquired Ottawa-based BMB Fuel Consulting Services, a privately owned supplier of fuel consulting services, which identify and track operational improvements to reduce fuel consumption.
Delta TechOps will partner with Evergreen Aviation Technologies to provide Tokyo-based Skymark Airlines’ CFM56-7B-powered Boeing 737NG fleet with engine maintenance services under a five-year agreement. EGAT already provides Skymark with comprehensive maintenance.
One of the many things I’ve learned from presiding over a technology-based services company for the past 14-years is that if you are to not only survive but to grow, you need to constantly evaluate how fast to develop and deploy new applications and capabilities. Said another way, it’s really about how fast the market will adapt to advancing technology; how fast they see the value of change.
Aircraft Exterior Decals High-performance decals for aircraft are offered by Color Craft, which provided Olympic-themed decals to Air Canada for one of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to celebrate the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Color Craft produces screen and digitally printed graphics, and its decals can be applied without specialized labor or environmentally controlled hangars, the company says.
GE Aviation selected Premier Turbines as its designated repair center in North and South America for M601 and H80 turboprop engines. Premier Turbines planned to begin accepting M601 engines for repair in the first quarter.
What are your short- and long-term business goals? Liou: EGAT's short-term business goals are applying strong technical skills and depth in technical understanding to the maintenance and repair of aging aircraft, building on the quality conscious culture from the production workplace into a general life-skill, and placing tighter controls on material and manpower costs.
The latest safety statistics released in January by UK-based consultancy Ascend qualify 2009 as “the safest year ever” for airline operations in terms of the number of fatal accidents. That said, high fatalities in several severe accidents pushed the number of passengers and crew killed in 2009 to 732, up 29.1% compared to 567 in 2008.
The Pentagon awarded Bell-Boeing an $11.8-million contract for work on the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (Sirfc) system, which provides protection for USAF Special Operations Command’s CV-22 tiltrotors. The work includes switch-out of two line-replaceable units and antenna radome design modifications. Sirfc was deployed with the aircraft last year in Africa.
When Michael Williams, a professor of business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), first joined the aviation business several decades ago, computers were “unheard of,” he recalls. Today, however, an understanding of technology and computer programs is an essential capability of every maintenance manager. “Being able to use maintenance planning software, scheduling software, being able to communicate electronically—these [skills] are needed more than anything today,” he says.
EVA Air and Thales inked a five-year, repair-by-the-hour contract for avionics services and support of the Taiwanese carrier’s fleet of 11 Airbus A330 aircraft. Thales will ensure the maintenance of the components from its Singapore regional service center.
In Russia, problems related to the SaM146 engine are reported to be behind the delayed delivery of the first Sukhoi Superjet 100, which Aeroflot now expects in mid-2010. The SaM146 engines are developed and produced by Powerjet, a joint venture between Snecma and NPO Saturn.
Southeast Aerospace acquired Global Aerospace Consulting, a systems design, integration, certification and aircraft technical publications company. SEA retained Global Aerospace President N. “J.” Curran as director of engineering and certification at SEA corporate headquarters in Melbourne, Fla. Facilities
Crane acquired Merrimac Industries, a Caldwell, N.J.-based designer and manufacturer of RF microwave components, assemblies and micro-multifunction modules, for about $52 million in a deal expected to close in the first quarter.
The Pakistan defense ministry has awarded Lockheed Martin a $43-million contract to upgrade the avionics of seven navy P-3C Orion aircraft. The work, which will be done in the U.S. at plants in Eagan, Minn., and Greenville, S.C., is a continuation of a program that began in 2007. Lockheed then was named general contractor and paid $186.5 million to install new communication systems, inverse synthetic aperture radar, electronic support measures and acoustic tracking systems.
Top-Loading Oven Grieve offers a new top-loading oven that electronically heats to 500 degrees F for curing components. The oven, No. 1007, features 4-in. insulated walls, an aluminized steel interior and exterior, a motor-operated rear hinge door and a compressed air manifold with eight connections; 60 KW are installed in Nichrome heating elements and three 3-HO recirculating blowers total 9,000 CFM for rear-to-front airflow.
