ATE&M 114_FC1_Layout 1 28/10/2011 15:10 Page 1
The leading international magazine for the manufacturing and MRO sectors of commercial aviation
AIRLINE AND MRO TECHNICAL TIES THE RISE OF STRATEGIC CO-OPERATIONS n WHERE NEXT FOR THE PMA PARTS MARKET? n NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CABIN LIGHTING n MRO CHALLENGES FOR LEASED ENGINES n AIRCRAFT DE- / ANTI-ICING SOLUTIONS October - November 2011 Issue: 114
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+44 (0)208 447 3436 1-855 AEROINV (US toll free number) “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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C O N T E N T S October - November 2011 • Issue: 114 NEWS UPDATE 4 A round-up of the latest news, contracts, products and people movements.
INDUSTRY FOCUS EDITOR Jason Holland: Jason.Holland@ubmaviation.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Joanne Perry: Joanne.Perry@ubmaviation.com EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Tony Arrowsmith, Chris Kjelgaard PRODUCTION MANAGER Phil Hine: Phil.Hine@ubmaviation.com E-EDITOR & CIRCULATION MANAGER Paul Canessa: Paul.Canessa@ubmaviation.com MEDIA MANAGER - EUROPE, ASIA & AFRICA Alan Samuel: Alan.Samuel@ubmaviation.com PUBLISHER & SALES DIRECTOR - USA Simon Barker: Simon.Barker@ubmaviation.com GROUP PUBLISHER Anthony Smith: Anthony.Smith@ubmaviation.com Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance (ATE&M) (ISSN: 0967-439X - USPS 022-901) is published bi- monthly, in February, April, June, August, October and December with an extra issue in July, plus annual issues of the yearbooks 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. All subscription records are maintained at UBM Aviation Publications Ltd. First Floor, Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 9UY, UK. ATE&M UK annual subscription cost is £150. ATE&M Overseas annual subscription cost is £170 or $300 (USA) ATE&M Single copy cost is £25 (UK) or $50 (USA) All subscriptions enquiries to: Paul Canessa: paul.canessa@ubmaviation.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 579 4873 Fax: +44 (0) 207 579 4848 Website: www.ubmaviationnews.com ATE&M is published by UBM Aviation Publications Ltd. Printed in England by benhamgoodheadprint Ltd. Mailing house: Flostream UK Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance (ATE&M), part of UBM Aviation Publications Ltd, has used its best efforts in collecting and preparing material for inclusion in ATE&M but cannot and does not warrant that the information contained in this product is complete or accurate and does not assume and hereby disclaims, liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in ATE&M whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. This publication may not be reproduced or copied in whole or in part by any means without the express permission of UBM Aviation Publications Limited. Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance™ is a licensed trademark of UBM Aviation Publications Limited. All trademarks used under license from UBM Aviation Publications Ltd. © 1999 – 2011, UBM Aviation Publications Limited. All rights reserved.
14 Aviation focus: BRIC Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC): four nations which are normally grouped together as developing economies. But what is the state of play in their respective aviation industries? 22 In my opinion: Christopher Whiteside, president, A J Walter Aviation A J Walter Aviation has been growing rapidly in recent years despite the backdrop of the global economic gloom. Jason Holland visited the company’s UK headquarters to try and find the reasons for this success — and got a master class on leadership from charismatic president Christopher Whiteside.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION 28 De-icing and anti-icing solutions Ice accretion on aircraft exteriors can cause delays on the ground and disasters in the air. A variety of solutions are employed to keep aircraft flying in inclement weather, including electro-thermal systems, pneumatic equipment, de- and anti-icing fluids, and ice detectors. Joanne Perry reports. 34 Cabin illumination: in the mood for a brighter future Cabin lighting consists of a mixture of systems performing both mundane and critical functions, with implications ranging from the comfort of passengers to the efficiency of the crew and the safety of all on board. Joanne Perry investigates the rise of LED lighting and recent changes to both electrical and non-electrical emergency systems.
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE 42 New lease on life: MRO for leased engines As the number of leased aero engines grows ever higher, and their overall proportion in the total world fleet continues to rise, the specialised MRO considerations for such engines become increasingly important, says Chris Kjelgaard. 50 What next for PMA parts? Questions abound in the PMA parts industry; some long-standing, some very recent. Are lessors beginning to accept PMA parts? Are OEMs about to take a monopoly in the aftermarket? Jason Holland sorts fact from fiction in this assessment of the latest market developments. 58 Technical ties In the MRO business, strategic co-operation between airlines and third-party providers is growing as the industry’s revenues become bigger and the stakes gets higher. Chris Kjelgaard reports.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 68 ERP versus Best of Breed It is a long debated issue that is sure to continue into the future, with everchanging dynamics and a constant stream of new opinions. Tony Arrowsmith spoke with five industry experts and asked the age-old question: ERP or BoB?
DATA & DIRECTIVES 76 Industry data: Boeing 767 79 FAA AD biweekly summary listings
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News_114_News_113 28/10/2011 15:24 Page 4
NEWS UPDATE
INBRIEF
NEWSHIGHLIGHTS
British Prime Minister David Cameron officially opened a £400m wing factory in Broughton, Wales, on behalf of Airbus. The facility will produce composite wings for the A350 XWB. Messier-Bugatti-Dowty has received a contract extension from Airbus for the supply of nose and main landing gears for A320 aircraft, including the A320neo. Vector Aerospace has unveiled a new engine service centre in Grapevine, Texas. The facility will support PW100, PT6A, JT15D and M250 engine types. Lufthansa Technik is to become an official member of the Hamilton Sundstrand 787 MRO supplier network, providing support for bleedless systems, liquid cooling components and other parts. AAR has acquired component repair company Airinmar. The acquisition was paid for using available cash on hand. AAR said it expects the acquisition to be “modestly accretive” to earnings over the balance of its fiscal year 2012. Aviation Turbines International, an AVMATS-related company based in Missouri, US, has become a dealer for JT15D-5 parts manufacturer approval combustion pins. Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services has expanded line maintenance services at its base in Riga, Latvia. The facility will now serve aircraft registered in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Pratt and Whitney has concluded ground testing of the first PW1200G family engine for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, after more than 300 hours and 1,100 cycles. Kazakhstan-based Comlux-KZ has received EASA Part 145 approval to provide line maintenance services to large-cabin Bombardier Challenger aircraft and support AOG requirements in the Central Asia, CIS and Russia region. Global Aviation Technical Solutions has opted to use TRAX Maintenance MRO software to manage its supply organisation for 747-8 aircraft. Boeing has opened a new service centre in Beijing, staffed by pilots and experts in flight operations, spare parts and maintenance engineering. ST Aerospace Technologies (Xiamen) Company, the joint venture between ST Aerospace and Xiamen Aviation Industry Company, has opened an engine facility near Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, China. Air Europa has joined CFM International’s TRUEngine programme, covering the 29 CFM56-7B engines which power its fleet of 737-800 aircraft. A Nigerian airline has selected AeroMechanical Services for a $440,000 contract to install automated flight information reporting system “AFIRS 220”. The technology will be used mainly for global flight tracking and satellite voice communications.
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source: CAFE Foundation
The future of electric aviation Electric aircraft have moved beyond science fiction and their practical use is now “within our grasp”, according to NASA. The agency awarded what it says is the largest prize in aviation history - $1.35m - to the winner of a competition designed to set in motion the development of a fuelefficient electric aircraft industry. NASA’s ‘Green Flight Challenge’, managed by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation, required competitors to fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity. The first and second place teams, which were both electric-powered, achieved twice the fuel efficiency requirement of the competition. This meant they flew 200 miles using just over half a gallon of fuel equivalent per passenger. The practical use of the technologies demonstrated in the competition will be seen in general aviation aircraft rather than in the commercial sector, but NASA is confident that the technologies on show will spawn “new jobs and new industries for the 21st century”. Fourteen teams originally registered for the competition, but only three successfully met all requirements and took part in the final stage at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California. It is interesting that the electric aircraft trumped other competitors, whose aircraft were running on either biofuels or petrol. Pipistrel-USA.com of State College, Pennsylvania, took first place, with the eGenius team, of Ramona, California, taking the second place prize of $120,000. “Two years ago, the thought of flying 200 miles at 100mph in an electric aircraft was pure science fiction,” said Jack Langelaan, team leader of Team Pipistrel-USA.com. “Now, we are all looking forward to the future of electric aviation.” The next stage might be an attempt to break the speed of sound, with Langelaan estimating an electric aircraft could achieve the feat in five years. MTU and AVIC look to collaborate on domestic C919 engine MTU Aero Engines and AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engine Company (ACAE) have agreed “key” terms for a possible collaboration on the development of a “CJ1000” engine for the C919 aircraft from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). ACAE was established in 2009 to develop domestic engines and related products for the C919 and other future aircraft from COMAC. The next step will include a feasibility study and further partner discussions. The companies will evaluate the structure of the possible engine and the criteria for its success in the market.
P&W and Rolls to collaborate on future engines Pratt & Whitney (P&W) and RollsRoyce have agreed a joint venture (JV) to develop new engines for the next generation of mid-size aircraft. P&W will pay Rolls-Royce $1.5bn for its share in International Aero Engines (IAE), which makes the V2500 engine for the A320. Rolls will also receive flight-hour payments on all V2500-powered aircraft for 15 years. P&W said it intends to offer a portion of these shares to its IAE partners MTU Aero Engines and Japanese Aero Engines Corporation. In addition, RollsRoyce will make a “modest” investment in the PW1100G-JM for the A320neo programme. Rolls and P&W will hold an equal share in their new collaboration on engines for 120 to 130-seat passenger aircraft. The venture will focus on high-bypass ratio geared turbofan technology; the pair will also collaborate on future studies for next-generation propulsion systems, including advanced geared engines, open rotor technology and other advanced configurations. “We are building on many years of successful collaboration with Pratt & Whitney in this segment to develop advanced aero engines, which we are confident will set new standards in aviation technology, performance and fuel efficiency,” commented Mark King, president, civil aerospace, Rolls-Royce. AJW acquires four 737-300s forpart out A J Walter Aviation (AJW) has gained four 737-300 aircraft for part out from leasing specialists Pembroke Capital Aircraft (Shannon). AJW says the deal will enable the fast-tracking of its plans to introduce engines to its portfolio of services. The purchase is the first of several planned acquisitions which will supplement AJW’s spares inventories. AJW has secured additional funding to acquire large assets such as engines for short-term lease and teardown and airframes for part out. The focus will be on 737NG and later generation A320 aircraft, although the company says it also has an interest in 747, 777 and A330 aircraft. The newly acquired 737-300 material is already being allocated to AJW bases in Miami and LA, US, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Europe.
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NEWS UPDATE
INBRIEF
NEWSHIGHLIGHTS
Aeroman of the Aveos Group has broken ground on the construction of new hangar space in El Salvador. The facility will accommodate existing A320s and 737s plus future A320neos. Transport Canada Civil Aviation has recertified TAM MRO to provide services for Canadian-registered aircraft and their components. ST Aerospace Academy has opted for a Mechtronix Systems fixed-base flight simulation training device to support the delivery of multicrew pilot licence training. MNG Technic is to perform three A300600 passenger-to-freighter conversions on behalf of MNG Airlines. Baltic Aviation Academy has unveiled an A320 full-flight simulator at its facility in Vilnius, Lithuania, which the organisation says is the first of its kind in the Baltic region. Technical consultancy and asset management agent Avtrac UK has been granted Continuous Airworthiness Management Organisation approval by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bermuda. Summit Aviation has dedicated a new 78,000ft2 expansion, which includes a 37,400ft2 hangar, a 9,200ft2 paint facility, two cold storage units and an additional 11,400ft2 of support and office space.
First PW1500G flight test programme completed Pratt & Whitney (P&W) has completed the first flight test programme for the PurePower PW1500G engine which will power the CSeries aircraft. Flying out of the P&W Mirabel Aerospace Centre in Quebec, Canada, on a 747SP flying test bed, the PW1524G engine logged 25 flights and 115 flight hours. Bob Saia, VP, next generation product family at P&W, said the manufacturer is “very pleased” with the results, which confirmed earlier sea level validation of the overall design. “The engine operated flawlessly enabling us to conduct double the number of flight hours we initially planned,” he stated. Additional flight testing was originally scheduled for early 2012. Further tests will now be conducted at the sea level test facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. Certification is planned for 2012, with entry into service in late 2013.
JetBlue has appointed VAS Aero Services as consignee for the redistribution of certain A320 and E190 spare parts. The International Standards Organisation has certified the engine maintenance and landing gear shops of Delta TechOps. Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research has earned accreditations to ISO/IEC 17025-2005 and ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994. ATR has approved Rheinland Air Services for repair and overhaul of ATR flight control systems. Thales has acquired 100 per cent of Omnisys, of São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. Omnisys was established in 1997 and is already part of the Thales global supply chain, majority-owned by Thales since 2005. Jet Aviation Abu Dhabi is now authorised to provide line maintenance services to business aircraft operators flying into Al Bateen Executive Airport. Timken has completed the construction of an engine test cell for PT6A, PT6T and T53 engines at its facility in Mesa, Arizona. Chromalloy has opened a newly renovated turbine engine repair centre and service depot in San Diego, California. Boeing subsidiary Aviall and Pentagon 2000 Software have expanded the web services offered under their partnership by adding real-time prices and availability information for Aviall’s inventory.
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Trent XWB completes 150-hour endurance test The Trent XWB engine from Rolls-Royce which will power the A350 has completed a 150-hour endurance type test at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA) in Madrid, Spain. Chris Young, Rolls-Royce chief engineer, Trent XWB, said, “The turbine entry temperatures we were able to demonstrate during the testing deliver substantial margin at the full 84,000lb rating for the A350-900, providing further confidence in the on-wing life of the engine. It’s a great result.” Compete strip down and analysis will follow at Derby, UK, where a second engine has successfully completed a bird strike test. Eight engines are progressing through the test programme, one of which was recently delivered to Airbus in Toulouse, France, for installation on a flying test bed later this year. ILFC finalises AeroTurbine acquisition International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) has completed its previously announced acquisition of AeroTurbine from AerCap Holdings. AeroTurbine will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of ILFC. In connection with the transaction, Citigroup Global Markets acted as ILFC’s financial advisor, and Debevoise & Plimpton acted as ILFC’s legal advisor.
ATR and SIM Aéro unveil ATR 72500 simulator centre ATR has opened a new pilot training centre in Paris, France, which is equipped with a new full flight simulator (FFS) from Thales that will enable training for ATR 72-500 aircraft. The centre has been established in collaboration with SIM Aéro Training, which will accommodate the FFS and all other teaching tools installed by ATR, in addition to providing technical support. The new centre adds to the existing ATR training network in Toulouse, France, Bangkok, Thailand, and Toronto, Canada, and will soon be joined by bases in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Bangalore, India.
Delta trials flexible flight plans A new scheme to mitigate aviation’s carbon footprint has been trialled by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Delta Air Lines. The project, called iFlex, stipulates flexible flight plans to allow aircraft to take optimum advantage of wind conditions in low-density airspace. On flights from Johannesburg to Atlanta, iFlex routings saw Delta save, on average, 900kg of fuel. According to IATA, that equates to 2.9 tonnes of CO2 emitted. Although iFlex does not change existing air traffic management procedures, separation standards or communication, navigation or surveillance requirements — instead relying on sophisticated airline flight planning systems to validate optimum daily routings — it is only suitable for long-haul routes through low-density airspace. aeroinv.com launches web store Parts supplier aeroinv.com has announced the world wide launch of its new web store. The company has doubled the amount of stock it holds at its Singapore hub to more than $100m. According to the company, customers can purchase new surplus condition parts online within a few clicks on a 24/7 basis for overnight, daily, weekly and C & D maintenance checks.
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AFI_MRO1_210x278_UK_AFM.indd 1
29/07/11 17:07
NEWS UPDATE
NEWSHIGHLIGHTS
United Technologies acquires Goodrich Pratt & Whitney owner United Technologies (UTC) is to purchase Goodrich for $18.4bn, subject to regulatory approvals. North Carolina-based Goodrich had revenues of about $7bn in 2010. The acquisition strengthens UTC — which already owns Hamilton Sundstrand and helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky — in terms of its sheer scale and in adding and integrating complimentary products. It also represents a major commitment to the aerospace industry for a company that had recently been making a series of acquisitions in other sectors. “Goodrich delivers on all of our acquisition criteria. It is strategic to our core, has great technology and people, and strengthens our position in growth markets,” said Louis Chenevert, UTC chairman and CEO. “We are very excited to bring the capabilities of two great companies together, making us more competitive and better able to provide value to both customers and shareholders.” Marshall Larsen, Goodrich chairman, president and CEO, also noted the size and scale of the deal, looking forward to the potential innovations it would make possible. “Goodrich’s long and proud history will enter a new chapter as part of United Technologies,” he said. Larsen will become chairman and CEO of a combined UTC Aerospace Systems business unit, to be based in North Carolina. The acquisition amounts to $127.50 per share in cash, and the total enterprise value of $18.4bn includes $1.9bn in net debt assumed. UTC said it expects to finance the transaction through a combination of debt and equity issuance. The acquisition must now go through customary closing conditions, including regulatory and Goodrich shareholder approvals.
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MTU cements stake in PW1100 programme MTU Aero Engines has taken an 18 per cent share in the PurePower PW1100G-JM engine programme which is currently being developed for the forthcoming A320neo family. According to the agreement with Pratt & Whitney, MTU will take on a portion of the final engine assembly and test of the PW1100G. In addition to the complete low-pressure turbine and the first four stages of the high-pressure compressor (HPC), MTU will also provide brush seals and HPC nickel blisks. Furthermore, both partners have agreed to raise MTU’s stake in the PW1500G engine programme for Bombardier CSeries aircraft from 15 to 17 per cent.
Wizz to wash with P&W’s ‘EcoPower’ Wizz Air has opted to use the ‘EcoPower’ engine wash system from Pratt & Whitney (P&W) for its A320 fleet. Under a five-year agreement, the airline will perform engine washes at Budapest International Airport as well as other airports within its route network courtesy of mobile wash capability. EcoPower will replace the conventional shepherd’s hook method, reducing fuel burn and operational costs while contributing to a cleaner environment. Multicore avionics working group formed to standardise certification A Multicore for Avionics (MCFA) working group has been established by Freescale Semiconductor and avionics manufacturers in Europe and North America in order to define information requirements for multicore processors. The group includes EADS, Boeing, BAE Systems, GE Aviation, Thales, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Hamilton Sundstrand and ELBIT, as well as Freescale Semiconductor. An MCFA proposal for addressing the certification advantages and challenges of multicore technology was recently put before the DO-254 Users Group, recommending a common and consistent certification methodology. Fred Fisher, of the Aerospace Vehicle Systems Institute (AVSI), said that the proposal “provides the direction needed for the certification of systems with complex SoC [system-on-chip] microprocessors”. Membership of MCFA is open to all companies interested in certifying commercial aviation systems or subsystems. P&WC and AVIC establish MRO JV in China Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) and China Aviation Engine Holdings (AVIC Engine Holdings) are embarking on a JV maintenance, repair and overhaul business in Zhuzhou, Hunan, China. Zhuzhou Tonghui Aero Engine Maintenance Company (AEMC) will service PW100 and PT6A series engines installed on commercial turboprop aircraft in China and similar Chinese-manufactured aircraft in the Asia Pacific region. Capabilities will be evolved from line maintenance through to heavy maintenance and finally overhaul. AVIC and P&WC representatives will sit on the AEMC board of directors, including a GM from P&WC and a CFO from AVIC. The JV will be legally structured through General Aviation Engine Company (GAEC), a subsidiary of China National South Aviation Industry Company (SAIC) and United Technologies Far East (UTFE), with a 75-25 ownership split. The JV is for 25 years, with an option for renewal.
MIT pioneers black box accident prevention tool A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has led the development of a black box detection tool which heads off emerging safety problems. John Hansman and colleagues have devised a cluster analysis technique which filters data into subsets — clusters of flights sharing common patterns. Flight data outside the clusters are flagged as abnormal, enabling further investigation. Hansman said: “The beauty of this is, you don’t have to know ahead of time what ‘normal’ is because the method finds what’s normal by looking at the cluster.” He is acquiring extra flight data for further testing. A paper on the subject was presented at the 30th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) in Seattle, Washington, in October 2011. AAR strengthened by Telair and Nordisk acquisitions AAR has agreed to purchase Telair International and Nordisk Aviation Products for $280m from Teleflex. Telair designs, manufactures and supports cargo loading systems, operating from facilities in Germany, Scandinavia and Singapore. Nordisk designs and manufactures heavy duty pallets and lightweight cargo containers for commercial airlines at plants in Norway and China. AAR says the acquisitions will add significantly to its commercial manufacturing strength, enhancing its ability to capitalise on aircraft build cycles as a Tier-1 supplier to Airbus and Boeing. The businesses will operate as part of AAR’s Structures and Systems segment and are expected to generate revenue of $225m in 2013. Mxi launches Cloud-based service Mxi Technologies has launched a Cloud-based service for its ‘Maintenix’ MRO software. The company says the service provides seamless support user training and complements the organisation’s training and education service suite. AJ Harris, VP professional services, said: “The move to the Cloud using a live production release of Maintenix further affirms our commitment to delivering a solution more reflective of our clients’ individual understanding and day-to-day use of their maintenance management solution.”
News_114_News_113 28/10/2011 15:25 Page 9
NEWSHIGHLIGHTS flights, but the problem is even more widespread than this. Palm oil is used in a huge number of everyday products — but is not clearly identified in most ingredients lists. Thus, consumers are unwittingly contributing to the widespread destruction of rainforests, the loss of animal species, and are generally causing more environmental damage than they realise. It is this lack of knowledge on a wider scale that is partly causing this crisis, and many pressure groups have demanded legislation that makes it clear to consumers when palm oil has
been used, giving them the “freedom of choice” to help stop the massive rainforest destruction. Some groups are, by extension, calling for a suspension of biofuel use in aviation. Thomson, while conceding that the fuel it is using is in short supply, reaffirmed that the waste cooking oil is entirely sustainable, and said it was “proud to be flying with biofuel”. But what happens when airline demand increases and the supply of sustainable fuel runs out?
Like Dubai, Aventure continues to reach new heights When biofuels aren’t environmentally friendly In the clamour to go green — or at least create this perception — it is easy to assume that biofuel will be an environmentally-friendly solution to some of aviation’s biggest problems. But what if the reality is that they cause more damage to the environment than traditional fossil fuels? That is the argument being put forward by an increasing number of environmental campaigners. In the latest example, Friends of the Earth has attacked the UK’s first commercial flight to run on biofuels as a “hollow PR stunt”. One of the engines on the Thomson Airways flight from Birmingham to Lanzarote was partially powered by a biofuel made from waste cooking oil. But the campaigners say this fuel is not even close to being viable — having calculated that each of the 232 passengers onboard the flight would have to save all of their chip fat for 100 years in order to provide enough to power the aircraft. They claim that this is symptomatic of a general lack of sustainable biofuel, which will inevitably cause (and has caused) airlines to turn to unsustainable sources, which in turn will have a devastating impact on the environment. “Biofuels won’t make flying any greener their production is wrecking rainforests, pushing up food prices and causing yet more climate-changing emissions,” said Friends of the Earth campaigner Kenneth Richter. While groups like Friends of the Earth initially praised the potential of biofuels, their view has shifted dramatically. The natural oils used in many biofuels are highly valuable commercially, and the desire to grow them has led to an extraordinary and unprecedented destruction of rainforests. A particular problem is palm oil. Its usage has been linked to previous biofuel
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❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 114 ❙
9
NEWS UPDATE
Embraer and Jet Aviation sign MoU for Legacy jet support Embraer and Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop maintenance capabilities for Legacy 600/650 aircraft. A comprehensive inventory of OEM parts situated in Moscow will enable 24/7 aircraft-on-ground (AOG) support. The plans, agreed at the Russian International Business Aviation Exhibition, JetExpo 2011, will be implemented in December 2011 after the contract is signed. Precision receives aircraft for 757200PCC Combi programme Precision Conversions has received a conformity aircraft from Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) as part of a 757200PCC Combi programme. The 757-200 has been inducted at the Flightstar Aircraft Services facility in Jacksonville, Florida, where it is undergoing modification to include 10 cargo positions and 48 passenger seats. The conversion is part of a two-aircraft deal.
NEWSHIGHLIGHTS
Major capacity expansion at LHT Sofia Lufthansa Technik Sofia (LHT Sofia) is expanding its narrowbody hangar capacity with the addition of two new bays designed for heavy checks. A separate hangar will also be constructed in which the MRO will conduct line maintenance operations as well as lighter checks. Joint venture partners Lufthansa Technik and Bulgarian Aviation Group will invest about €15m ($21m) in the construction. The first bay of the new 56,000ft2 hangar is expected to be operational in 1Q 2012, with the second to follow a few months later.
Engine order plus MRO deal nets Rolls $400m Rolls-Royce’s share of an order from China Eastern Airlines for V2500 engines to power 50 A320 aircraft has been valued at $400m. That figure includes a long-term engine maintenance agreement. Deliveries for the aircraft and engines will run from 2012 to 2015. The V2500 is produced by IAE, a joint venture between RollsRoyce and Pratt & Whitney. Wencor buys Alabama repair station Wencor has acquired Aerospace Coatings International (ACI), a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) repair station in Alabama with ISO 9001:2008 qualification and approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). ACI specialises in hydraulic, pneumatic and landing gear piece part repairs.
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First A350 XWB forward fuselage completed Premium Aerotec, an Airbus aerostructures partner, has produced the first A350 XWB forward fuselage at Nordenham, Germany. The fuselage is composite and consists of four panels and the floor grid, measuring 13m in length. Structural assembly work will progress over the next few weeks before transportation by boat to the Airbus Hamburg site for systems installation. AerData to offer aircraft and engine technical services AerData has formed a new business unit, AerData Technical Services (ADTS). The new division will provide a range of services based on the software AerData supplies to aircraft and engine operators, lessors and MROs.
Goodrich CTG starts work on new composites centre, UK Goodrich CTG has begun constructing a 137,000ft2 “UK Composite Centre of Excellence” in Banbury, UK, which will consolidate the company’s existing five sites into two. The expansion follows a rise in staff numbers since the business was acquired by Goodrich in June 2010, and foreshadows a planned increase from 175 personnel to 450 over the next few years. The design of the facility will follow a lean philosophy designed to increase output per square foot by over 80 per cent, linkage and flow up by 50 per cent and reduce wasted space by at least 30 per cent. Dominic Cartwright, MD, Goodrich CTG, said the new development will enhance “teamwork and synergy” between departments. Work on the new centre is due for completion in July 2012. GKN to move NLF wings to Clean Sky phase two GKN Aerospace is increasing its participation in the Joint Technology Initiative of the EU’s Clean Sky programme. The design and evaluation work of the natural laminar flow (NLF) wings has already been completed in the first phase of Clean Sky, but GKN will now lead phase two, the development of a groundbased structural systems demonstrator. The company will design and manufacture major components for the demonstrator such as the metallic leading edge and composite upper cover. The flight demonstrator platform will be an A340 with the outer third of the wing formed by NLF wing development sections. Flight tests are scheduled for 2014/2015.
ALN attains ISO 9001:2008 and joins ASA Aviation Logistics Network (ALN) has achieved ISO 9001:2008 accreditation. Ralph Perkins, MD of ALN, commented that members and customers can now be “reassured that ALN is serious about delivering the highest standards by approaching all of our tasks in a systematic and process-driven manner”. ALN has also become a member of the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA).
GE Aviation
We know it best because we knew it first. Even before the first CFM56 engine took to the skies, GE was there. As a CFM partner, GE has designed, supported, serviced and monitored nearly 25,000 CFM56 engines for more than 30 years. GE is a TRUEngine™ MRO provider with the OEM expertise and global network to perform overhauls that get your engines back on wing fast and with best-in-class CFM reliability. Through our flexible commercial solutions, we are uniquely positioned to meet any and every overhaul need. After all, no one knows the CFM56 engine better. To plan your next shop visit, contact your GE representative or call the GE Aviation Operations Center at +1.513.552.3272.
The TRUEngine trademark is licensed by GE. CFM56 is a registered trademark of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE and Snecma (Safran Group).
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NEWS UPDATE
CONTRACTS n Virgin Atlantic has contracted Lufthansa Technik for C checks on its 747-400s and thrust reverser services on its CF6-80 engines. The contract will run for eight years and form part of general terms agreement negotiations. n Air New Zealand, Southern Air and V Australia have selected MTU Maintenance Hannover to service the GE90-110B and GE90-115B engines that power 777 widebodies. MTU says the combined value of the contracts is about $550m. n SR Technics has signed a five-year integrated component solutions contract with Spanish airline Air Europa. The deal covers a complete package of components, including auxiliary power unit and engine line-replaceable units, and covers component exchange, maintenance and repair, and logistics services. n Goodrich has been selected by US regional airline group Mesa Air to provide landing gear maintenance services for its fleet of Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 aircraft. n Bulgaria Air signed Lufthansa Technik Sofia for component, line and fleet base maintenance services. The ‘Total Component Support’ contract will run for 10 years and includes local stock in Sofia plus access to a pool of parts for A319, A320 and 737 classic aircraft. n Onur Air has selected Turkish Technic to conduct C checks on two A321 aircraft. The work will be carried out at the MRO provider’s facilities in Istanbul, Turkey during 4Q 2011. n British Airways has selected Iberia Maintenance to conduct the maintenance, repair and overhaul of CFM56-5B engines powering A318 aircraft on the London City–New York JFK route. The contract will run for five years. n Aer Lingus has awarded Dublin Aerospace a contract covering the overhaul of eight A320 aircraft for winter 2011/2012 and a similar number in 2012/2013. The deal follows the completion of an “Aer Lingus Aircraft Overhaul” programme last year. n Air Europa has extended an integrated component solution contract with SR Technics. The new agreement will run from 2013 until 2017 and covers A330, 767 and 737-800 aircraft. SR Technics will be responsible for component exchange, maintenance and repair and logistics. n EADS EFW has selected AAR to manufacture main deck cargo loading systems for its A300-600 and A310-300 freighter conversion programmes. The systems will be produced by AAR’s Cargo Systems division in Goldsboro, North Carolina. n Europe Airpost has selected FL Technics to provide maintenance services for its three 737 CL aircraft. Under the terms of the agreement, FL Technics will perform comprehensive heavy maintenance services, including but not limited to C and D checks, components supply, and corrosion prevention programmes. n Alitalia has contracted Monarch Aircraft Engineering to provide line maintenance support for the A330 aircraft it operates in the Maldives. n Jet Airways has selected JorAMCo to conduct heavy maintenance on six 737NG aircraft, including thrust reverser removal/installation, landing gear and paint checks. n Caribbean airline InselAir has signed a FLYFokker “ABACUS” exchange and repair contract covering three Fokker 50 aircraft. As the OEM and type certificate holder, Fokker Services will support the airline with a large inventory of high value rotables. n RAK Airways, based in the United Arab Emirates, has contracted A J Walter Aviation to provide power-by-the-hour and MBK lease support for its A320 fleet. n Japan Airlines has selected Lufthansa Technik to provide component support for its 35 new 787s, beginning as soon as the first aircraft is delivered. The “Total Component Support” contract will run for ten years. n Cargolux Airlines has signed an engine management programme agreement with Pratt & Whitney which includes engine health monitoring. n EasyJet has chosen GKN Aerospace for an A320 replacement windshield contract worth around $1m up to 2014. GKN says its front windshields exceed industry benchmarks for cockpit transparencies as well as protecting against moisture ingress, delamination and electrical system failure, thus reducing premature removals and aircraft downtime. n Congo-based Compagnie Africaine d’Aviation has extended a maintenance arrangement with Sabena technics to cover newly acquired Fokker 100 aircraft as well as the A320 fleet the MRO already supports. n Russian airline Air Tartarstan has chosen Lufthansa Technik Sofia for a 10-year base maintenance contract covering five 737 and one A319 aircraft. n Skynet Asia Airways has selected MTU Maintenance Zhuhai to maintain its CFM56-7 engines over a period of five years. A possible five-year extension would incorporate the engines powering the airline’s 13 new 737NG aircraft.
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n XL Airways France has renewed an agreement with Monarch Aircraft Engineering for line maintenance technical handling. n Delta TechOps, has signed a five-year agreement with Air Canada to provide repair and overhaul services to the airline’s fleet of Pratt & Whitney 4060 engines. The time and materials with flat rates deal covers Air Canada’s 18 PW4060 engines with four spares, three of which already are inducted at Delta TechOps. n AAR is to provide Unison parts and support to Kansas Aviation of Independence, which overhauls and repairs engine accessories on the PT6A, PT6T, PW100, PW300, JT15D, CJ610, CF700, Allison 250, CF34 and PW901 engines. n Pegasus Airlines has selected Turkish Technic for 737CL base maintenance. The agreement covers one 737-500 re-delivery check and one 737-400 C check. Neos Air has selected the MRO for two base maintenance C checks on 737-800 aircraft and one livery painting on a 737-800. n Garuda Indonesia has signed a memorandum of understanding with CFM International for long-term support of the CFM56-7B engines powering the airline’s 63 737-800 aircraft. Under the potential rate per flight hour contract, CFM would provide comprehensive engine maintenance services and guarantee maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis. n Bombardier and GE Aviation have entered into two engine service agreements. GE’s ‘OnPoint’ solutions will be offered for CF34 engines on Challenger aircraft as well as Passport engines on Global 7000/8000s. n Start-up airline Peach Aviation, based in Japan, has signed Lufthansa Technik for a multi-year component supply contract. n TAP has awarded Marshall Aerospace an interior cabin upgrade contract covering four A340-300s. The contract includes the installation of new seating featuring enhanced in-flight entertainment systems. n Japanese low-fare airline Solaseed Air has contracted ST Aerospace to support the CFM56-7B and CFM56-7BE engines powering its fleet of 13 737NGs. n Brussels Airlines has chosen Lufthansa Technik Malta for A330 base maintenance. The MRO provider will conduct C checks for the airline’s five A330s and will also implement a full cabin retrofit for the aircraft in February 2012. n Germany’s MTU Aero Engines has contracted China’s Xi’an Aero-Engine to supply 52 different finished parts for assembly into V2500, GP7000, PW2000 and smaller Pratt & Whitney Canada engines. The first deliveries are scheduled to arrive at MTU in Munich in 1Q 2012. n Somon Air of Tajikistan has selected IFE Services to provide in-flight entertainment. Content will be delivered in English, Russian and Arabic through the airline’s onboard audio visual on-demand system.
First A350 XWB wing lower cover delivered for assembly Airbus has transported the first wing lower cover (WLC) for the A350 XWB from its composites manufacturing site in Illescas, Spain, to the wing assembly site in Broughton, UK. The manufacturer says the part, measuring 32m x 6m, is the largest carbon fibre component yet produced in commercial aviation. EADS SECA now providing engineering services for P&WC engines EADS SECA is to extend its services by offering engine health monitoring and trending services for turboprop, turbofan and turboshaft engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) using the internet-based ‘WebEC’ tool. The service package will include: troubleshooting; continued airworthiness management; oil consumption analysis; maintenance tracking; and maintenance programme evolution.
NEWS UPDATE
PRODUCTS AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings has announced the development of a chrome-free pretreatment in collaboration with Pantheon Enterprises. The product will be sold as ‘Metaflex SP’ through AkzoNobel’s distribution network. AkzoNobel selected Pantheon as a partner after market-wide testing of available technologies. “We found that in filiform corrosion testing especially, the Pantheon technology showed significantly better corrosion resistance in combination with our systems,” stated Kevin Fleetwood, sBU director, AkzoNobel. “This led to us deciding not to develop our own technology from scratch but to work with Pantheon”. AkzoNobel says the pre-treatment meets the AMS3095 specification and will be launched “in the near future”. Heatcon Composite Systems has introduced a new portable hot bonder, the HCS8800, with improved features. The lightweight portable HCS8800 retains the functionality of larger, more traditional, hot bonder units, according to Heatcon, but the size and weight of the unit increases portability which can improve both technician response time and access to difficult repair environments. An enhanced operator interface includes a display with improved graphic representation and facilitates operator interpretation of cure process results. MyGoFlight has launched a new series of flight bags which have been designed from the ground up for the paperless cockpit. “The paperless cockpit is gaining tremendous momentum as pilots move to using iPads as EFB devices,” said CEO Charles Schneider. “However, the flight bags pilots carry weren’t designed for the paperless cockpit. The ‘Flight Bag’ series of bags are the only flight bags containing a protective pouch for the iPad or similar tablet or laptop computer. They will hold all contents that conventional flight bags would carry, but more accessibly.” The flight bags augment a product line that already includes kneeboards, cases, mounts and accessories for the iPad in-flight. Bombardier has released ‘Aircraft Diagnostics Solutions (ADS) Plus’ for Dash 8/Q-series 100/200/300 aircraft, following the success of the service for CRJ and Q400 aircraft. ‘ADS Plus’ is designed to significantly improve first-time fix rates. The tool features a user-friendly graphical interface enabling fast navigation during communication with the Bombardier technical help desk. ITW Devcon has developed two new fire-retardant epoxy adhesives for bonding metals, fabrics, ceramics, wood, vinyls and concrete. These new IFR adhesives are white, two-part self extinguishing structural epoxy systems. They include a five minute working time version with a fast cure time (one hour) and a 10 minute non-sagging version which cures in three hours and is intended for use on vertical and overhead surfaces. Component Control has unveiled ‘Web Online RFQ’, a tool which enables aviation suppliers to integrate a branded search engine and request for quotation (RFQ) capabilities into their existing websites. Users can post detailed stock information, scan documents and product images and list manufacturing, distribution and overhaul capabilities.
PEOPLE
l Chromalloy has appointed a new president, Carlo Luzzatto (above), from Ansaldo Energia, a division of Finmeccanica. Luzzatto has previously held a number of positions at GE. He will succeed Armand Lauzon, who is also CEO of Chromalloy’s parent company, Sequa Corporation. Lauzon will act as CEO at Chromalloy.
l Fokker Services has appointed Peter Somers to replace Roland van Dijk as president, effective November 1, 2011. Somers previously worked for Air France-KLM. Van Dijk will become VP strategy and solutions, Fokker Technologies, supporting the business units in technological, product and commercial areas as well as leading mergers and acquisitions at Fokker Technologies as a whole. l John Reimers has resigned from his position as CEO at winglet manufacturer Aviation Partners Boeing. Reimers, who has been in the role since March 2006, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, Boeing said in a statement. Mike Stowell, APB’s current EVP of engineering and chief technology officer, will assume the role as acting CEO effective immediately. l Jaime Rodriguez had been named as director of operations at CIRCOR Aerospace. He will oversee the operational and manufacturing engineering teams, target areas for improvement and implement new strategies for growth. Rodriguez previously worked for Parker Aerospace and most recently Synchronous Aerospace. l Avtrade has announced a number of new appointments. Martin Assmann becomes director of global marketing, Kay Lai Tay becomes regional sales director, Asia and Daphne Teo becomes Singapore office manager. l Mxi Technologies has appointed Claude Haw and Robin Wohnsigl to the company’s board of directors.
l Nordam has appointed two new
SVPs. Mike Bunney (above) has been named as SVP, support services, with responsibility for the company’s supply chain, information technology and human resources departments. He has held a variety of positions with McDonnell Douglas and Boeing during his aviation career, most recently as director of global logistics for Boeing. Meanwhile, Dave Whitten has been promoted to SVP, strategy and marketing. He has led global marketing for Nordam since 2005, and previously spent nine years with Goodrich in aerospace marketing, sales, strategy and demand management. l Boeing has appointed Donna Hrinak as president of its Brazil division. Hrinak will start her role from October 14, based in a new Boeing office in Sao Paulo. l Esterline has appointed Phil Bowker to serve as platform president of the company’s engineered materials business division. The platform consists of six global manufacturing operations in Mexico, the UK, and the US. l PAS Technologies has appointed Gerard Hurley as GM for PAS Technologies Ireland. His responsibilities include business development, operations, continuous improvement, and P&L management. Hurley joined Hamilton Sundstrand in 1997 as production manager and most recently served as plant manager at Hamilton Sundstrand, Shannon.
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INDUSTRY FOCUS
Aviation focus: BRIC Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC): four nations which are normally grouped together as developing economies. But for the aviation industry, what is the true state of play in each region; what key companies are present, what activities are ongoing and what developments or trends are occurring? Brazil Brazil is home to the world’s fourth largest aircraft manufacturer and the global market leader for jets in the sub-120 seat category: Embraer. Headquartered in São Paulo, the company is a major employer and exporter for Brazil. It was established under government control in 1969 but privatised and restructured in the 1990s. The company released its 3Q results for 2011 in October, showing a firm order backlog of $16bn and 248 aircraft; for 2010 net income was $347m on net revenues of $5,355m. Embraer was this year recognised for the quality of its business practices, winning first place in the ‘Aerospace and Defense’ cat-
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egory of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and named as the most financially transparent company in Brazil, for the third consecutive time, by Anefac-Fipecafi-Serasa Experian. Airframe OEMs from outside Brazil have recently taken steps to strengthen their presence in the country. In September this year Boeing appointed Donna Hrinak as president of its operations in Brazil. Commenting on the decision to locate a senior executive in São Paulo, Shep Hill, president of Boeing International and SVP of business development and strategy, said: “Brazil is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and represents for Boeing a large products and services mar-
ket and a rich source of current and future collaborations.” A month earlier, Bombardier announced that by the end of 2011 it would open its first regional support office in Latin America, in São Paulo near its existing parts depot and authorised service facility, OceanAir Táxi Aéreo. Fabio Rebello, regional VP, sales, Latin America, Bombardier Business Aircraft described the new office as “a timely and critically important addition” to support services in Latin America. On the engine side, GE has an overhaul facility near Rio de Janeiro and is now a major services exporter for Brazil. GE Celma is also engaged in developing the local workforce,
INDUSTRY FOCUS
Vladimir Putin pledged his support for Russia’s aerospace industry at the MAKS air show in August this year. assisting technical schools in the area. The company obtained a tax benefit from the government in 2007 which included local reductions in the labour tax rate applicable to any incremental work brought to the company. Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney Canada operates a service centre near São Paulo catering to PW100/200/500 and smaller engines. The largest MRO provider in Brazil — and in Latin America — is TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil, with facilities in Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre. According to its president, Nestor Koch, one of the company’s main aims is to boost business in the components market. The engine/auxiliary power unit and accessories division recently entered into a partnership with Pratt and Whitney Canada to revise PW and PT6 engines in its workshops, while the landing gear division is working with Boeing to become a specialised centre of high technology repairs for certain 777 components. “For our avionics division,” says Koch, “we are seeking among the big international players a long-term contract to improve the load factor of this workshop, which is today close to 60 per cent”. Looking to the future, Koch believes that the biggest challenges facing his company are the ability to remain competitive in the international market, to keep an annual load factor of 80 per cent on airframe services and to grow in component services “at 75 per cent of the pro-
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ductive capacity”. He says the company is essentially on its own in the fight for an international market share, however: the actions of the Brazilian government provide “no additional benefit” for the commercial MRO sector, he explains. “In the MRO business we do not have many advantages to compete, when we compare the Brazilian market with foreign markets,” he says, citing high tax rates, annual salary increases of eight per cent, inflation of five per cent and at present an unfavourable exchange rate with the US dollar. However, he does point out that the “peculiarity” of Brazilian law means that services performed locally are not subject to processes of export and import. “This is one reason that our TATs [turnaround times] for Brazilian airlines are well below those of foreign companies,” he states. There is cause for optimism long term. “Today we speak of a growth around 15 per cent per year,” says Koch. “Just for comparison, the “world” will grow by an average of 7.5 per cent. Brazil’s growth in the MRO business is more than double compared with the rest of the world. This is one of the reasons that we often receive visits from big international MRO players to work on a code share.”
Russia At Moscow’s MAKS air show in August 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
oversaw the signing of multi-million dollar contracts and pledged continued support for the country’s aerospace industry. The Russian administration seems intent on revitalising the industry following a post-Soviet collapse, and in 2006 established United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) as a consolidation of aircraft manufacturers and other state assets. An integral element of UAC is Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), which was founded in 2000 “to preserve and strengthen Russia’s position as a world centre of the aviation industry”, according to a SCAC spokesperson. SCAC has developed the SSJ100 Superjet, Russia’s first post-Soviet commercial aircraft as a “priority and perspective” project of UAC. The regional jet, which was designed for the international market, successfully commenced commercial service with Armenian airline Armavia in April 2011. It is powered by the SaM146 engine from PowerJet, a 50:50 JV between Snecma and Russian engine manufacturer NPO Saturn. The SCAC spokesperson says the SSJ100 development programme involved a model of working which was based on “the profound infrastructure reform of the Russian aircraft industry”. The new approach modernised all aspects of the process from design and production through project management to marketing and aftersales support. Digital technologies were introduced for the entire
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INDUSTRY FOCUS
Main image: Air Works is one MRO hoping to capitalise on a fast growth rate in the Indian aviation industry. Inset: CFM’s training centre in Hyderbad, India. development cycle, while production plants at Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Novosibirsk underwent comprehensive refurbishment to incorporate jigless assembly, automated riveting and automated connection of aircraft units. The SCAC spokesperson admits it was “not an easy task” to implement mass production of the SSJ100 in Russia because of the need to radically reform entrenched methods. However, the end result was that the SSJ100 “achieved an optimal balance between the number of innovations and their cost, making it possible to offer a brand-new competitive product on the market”. A vast range of Western companies contributed hardware to the SSJ100 but, says the spokesperson, “all the brainpower behind the project is Russian”. As regards local talent, SCAC clearly has an eye on the future, for in assembling the SSJ100 workforce the company “has done its best to blend young energy with seasoned experience”. The average age of the technical personnel is 40, while 34 per cent are 30 years or younger. In an ominous sign for other airframers, SCAC says it “does not intend to remain a single-project company”. Indeed, the company is working on plans for a long-range (LR) version of the SSJ100 and a Sukhoi Business Jet (SBJ), while evaluating the possibility of a stretched version with up to 115 seats. It is important that capabilities in the Russian aftermarket keep pace with advances
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in production. SSJ100 operators will be able to access operational and technical support services via the SuperJet International JV which was specially created for this purpose, with headquarters in Venice and a branch in Moscow. However, following a series of crashes involving Russian aircraft, there remains a question mark over safety in the Russian commercial aviation industry. Quite possibly, these incidents have more to do with lapses in airline operational standards than deficiencies in maintenance capabilities per se. In addition to domestic MRO providers, major transnational corporations such as Lufthansa Technik and Sabena technics are also present in Russia. Nonetheless, the safety issue needs to be addressed before it tarnishes Putin’s planned return to the booming aerospace industry of times past. There is a consensus among airframe OEMs about the potential for growth in Russia’s commercial aviation market. The Airbus global market forecast released in October this year predicted a need for more than 1,000 aircraft in Russia over the next two decades. Christopher Buckley, EVP Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Airbus, commented, “We see very strong demand for new, fuel-efficient aircraft in Russia” and described the country as a strategic market for Airbus: “We intend to get at least half of the deliveries in the region”. Airbus has
established an engineering centre with Kaskol Group and component supply relationships with companies such as Irkut Corporation, while Boeing has a design centre in Moscow which it operates in conjunction with several Russian aerospace and engineering services companies. Meanwhile, in September this year Embraer signed a MoU with Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo to build an inventory of spare parts for executive jets by the end of 2011. As for engine OEMs, PowerJet is joined by Pratt & Whitney, which has manufacturing facilities in Moscow and Perm, plus an R&D site in St Petersburg.
India “With a growth rate of around 20 per cent, India’s aviation industry is one of the fastest growing aviation industries in the world,” says Koovappady Krishnan, VP engineering — airline MRO, Air Works. The knock-on effects of fleet expansion will be a boon for maintenance providers such as Air Works, and components companies such as Lufthansa Technik Services India. “India is poised to become the fastestgrowing market in the world for aircraft MRO services over the next decade, tripling its worth to $1.5bn by 2020,” states Krishnan. “The MRO spend by airlines in India is around $500m and a significant investment in the sector can be expected over a period of 10 years.”
INDUSTRY FOCUS
GAMECO is one of several MROs in China currently investing in their facilities and personnel. He adds that the country also has a fleet of business jets and turboprops which, although not on a scale comparable to the US, is nonetheless a significant and growing line of revenue. For international customers, Krishnan says India can offer not only a well trained technical workforce but competitive labour rates for airlines within a five-hour flying distance. Air Works is preparing to capitalise on the increasing demand for MRO services by constructing a widebody hangar at Hosur, near Bangalore, which will be operational by the end of 2012. Long-term, the company aims to establish a footprint not only in Asia but the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The present health of the Indian aviation industry and its development in the near future depends upon leadership from within the industry rather than the government. Krishnan feels the industry “warrants a priority sector declaration by the government, given its strategic and economic importance”. Like the IT sector, he says, the industry would benefit from both direct and indirect tax incentives which “could provide the requisite thrust and stimulus for the industry to grow”. At the moment, “the import of spares into India is subject to custom duties and rendition of service is subject to levy of service tax. This reduces the competitiveness of Indian MROs compared to its global peers.” Such critical business issues have not gone unnoticed by major global OEMs. For example,
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Jamie Jewell, director, strategic communications, CFM International, describes the tax system as “more stringent” than competitor nations such as China. There can also be bureaucratic challenges, she says: “You can get things done, but it takes longer”. CFM, for example, committed to opening a $15m CFM56 training centre in Hyderabad in 2007 which ultimately launched in March 2010. On the whole, though, Jewell says OEMs have access to a good level of local talent. CFM and its parent companies GE and Snecma have developed significant R&D relationships in the country, viewing India as a partner for technology and product development, not only as a competitive supplier base or a customer with a growing economy. Other engine OEMs such as Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney can also boast a long and wellestablished presence in India; the latter, for example, has a R&D facility in Hyderabad. On the airframe side, Boeing and Airbus have both taken steps over the last few years to boost their presence in the country. Airbus has established an engineering centre in Bangalore as well as initiating engineering projects with companies such as Satyam and supply relationships with Hindustan Aeronautics, amongst others.
China China is the market which holds most allure for aviation companies worldwide, by virtue of
its size, fast growth rate and the fact that it is now gradually opening up to the Western world. Boeing predicts growth in air travel of 7.6 per cent over the next 20 years, with a need for 5,000 new aircraft by 2030. CFM was quick off the mark in trying to tap into this market, becoming the first Western engine manufacturer to break through in 1985, when it introduced its CFM56-3 engine. Jewell describes the company’s relationship with the Chinese aviation industry today as “well-developed”. CFM’s investments in the region include a China Operations Center in Shanghai, an Aero Engine Maintenance Training Center in Guanghan City, a CFM56 aircraft-on-ground warehouse at MTU Zhuhai and a JV with Air China called Sichuan Services Aero Engines Maintenance Company. “Beyond that,” says Jewell, “China is an important supplier base for both CFM parent companies, with GE and Snecma sourcing nearly half a billion dollars in parts annually.” The two companies have longestablished relationships with Xi’an Aero Engine Company (XAE), Beijing Aero-Lever Precision and many others. The GE-Snecma JV scored a particularly important victory in August 2011 when it was confirmed as the exclusive overseas powerplant supplier for the C919 aircraft being developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) — the country’s first airliner of domestic origin. However, COMAC also has ambitions to feature a home-grown engine. In September this year, AVIC Commercial Aviation Engineering Company (ACAE) signed an agreement with MTU Aero Engines to develop a ‘CJ1000’ engine. “ACAE has focused on the Chinese market for the CJ1000,” says Odilo Mühling, spokesperson for MTU. Nevertheless, he says the product has to be viable globally. “For us, it is mandatory that the engine will be certified in the Western hemisphere first to assure its international competitiveness.” Following an engine cycle study, a feasibility study has been initiated, but the potential entry into service will be a long time coming: 20202022. MTU will at least be able to call on past experience in managing the collaboration with ACAE. In establishing the maintenance facility in Zhuhai, Mühling says the company “had to overcome cultural differences”. MTU required quality to merit a “Made in Germany” tag, but adapted customer service to reflect Asian norms. By contrast with CFM, which has found the local workforce to be “very skilled” on the manufacturing side, MTU encountered “severe difficulties” hiring employees with the required skills for engine MRO, and decided that setting up a training programme was the only way to ensure a suitable supply of labour. Mühling
INDUSTRY FOCUS
points out the larger ambition for MTU in China: “It is no secret that we want to become the Chinese GENx platform.” Although there has been a steady trickle of reports in the mainstream media alleging shortcomings in Chinese industrial practices, Mühling says poor quality workmanship is not a problem among Chinese aerospace companies which have absorbed “process knowhow” from long-term relationships with Western OEMs. MTU itself recently signed a deal with XAE for 52 types of finished parts and Mühling says the company will continue to grow its supplier base within China. On the MRO side, Ameco Beijing, ST Aerospace Technologies Company (STATCO) and Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company (GAMECO) will be hoping to capitalise on demand for MRO services which is being driven up by fleet expansion. Ameco, the JV between Air China and Lufthansa, is reputed to be on the brink of a merger with Air China Technics, while STATCO unveiled a new $78m engine maintenance facility in Xiamen which is capable of supporting up to 300 engines annually, initially the CFM56-7B and CFM56-5B series. Meanwhile, GAMECO is now looking to expand its line maintenance services at Shanghai PuDong and ChongQing Airports to international third party customers. According to David Conrad, director, international sales and marketing, the company is “working with a number of international airlines to provide a ‘network solution’ for line maintenance in a number of other key cities in China”. Plans to establish an A320 facility at ChongQing JiangBei International Airport are “moving forward with efforts to acquire land and obtain the necessary licences and permits”. Construction is scheduled to begin in the next two years. Work is already underway in Guangzhou, where in September GAMECO broke ground on a $90m phase II hangar which is due to be become operational in early 2013. “We have also already begun to look at a phase III hangar project to be built after phase II is completed,” says Conrad. Phase III would consist of a four-bay widebody hangar. Furthermore, there are plans to add component and composite facilities at the site. GAMECO also recently had a new repair facility in Urumqi approved for 757 maintenance by both Chinese and European authorities. In short, Conrad seems justified in describing GAMECO as “very well prepared” to support the growth of airline fleets in China. He says the necessary investments in facilities, capabilities “and most importantly people” is “a significant challenge”, but points out that the company has the backing of parent companies China Southern Airlines and Hutchinson
Whampoa (China), plus relationships with airframe and key equipment OEMs. The airframe OEMs with operations in China include Boeing, Airbus and Embraer, which are present to varying degrees. The very latest developments are: a new Boeing service centre, opened in Beijing in October 2011, and a composite manufacturing centre established by Airbus and its partners in Harbin last February. Embraer, which opened a spare parts distribution centre in Beijing in 2000, now also has a site in Harbin. On the engine side, Pratt &
Whitney has manufacturing facilities in Chengdu, Xian, and Zhuzhou, where engineering activities also take place. Pratt & Whitney Canada has also made strides in China, launching a MRO JV with China Aviation Engine Holdings — Zhuzhou Tonghui Aero Engine Maintenance — in September this year. The industry can expect the recent stream of announcements about new developments in China to turn into a flood if the country not only maintains its outstanding rate of economic development but fully opens its doors to the rest of the world. ■
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INDUSTRY FOCUS
In my opinion:
Christopher Whiteside, president, A J Walter Aviation A J Walter Aviation has been growing rapidly in recent years despite the backdrop of the global economic gloom. Jason Holland visited the company’s UK headquarters to try and find the reasons for this success — and got a master class on leadership and a vision of the future from charismatic president Christopher Whiteside. Can you briefly outline the history of the company? The company began operating in 1932, and next year is our 80th year of business. The ‘A J’ stands for Anthony James [Walter], who in 1932 travelled to California, taking him six weeks to get there. He was going to be a guest of an American on a yacht race from California to Hawaii, but when he got to America the race was cancelled because of the weather. He was at the famous Burbank Airport and decided that a better way to get home to the UK would be to learn to fly — considering it had taken him so long to get there. So he did, and first flew to Pennsylvania to visit Piper Aircraft, where he asked to distribute their product in England. They were impressed that he had
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come to see them rather than write or telex, and gave Jim [Walter] distribution rights not only in England but in Europe. The aircraft was powered by a Continental motor which he also had to get a license to market. I still have in my office the propeller from the first aeroplane he ever sold, which crashed. The owner walked into Jim’s office in about 1934 and said, “I love the aeroplane, I crashed it, but the plane didn’t kill me — so I’ll place an order for a new one”. That’s the first aircraft he ever sold!
had become competitors. My grandfather bought out the company and kept the name A J Walter for civil aerospace and his own company name for his military business. My father became managing director in 1966 and sold the company in 1989, but I bought AJW back in 1994. Over this period the business focus moved on from the DC-3 to Viscounts and then to the BAC 1-11 but when I took over the company we laid the foundations for a more general Airbus and Boeing based service business.
How has the company got to the position it is in today — it is a family business isn’t it? After the war A J Walter was in the DC-3 business, the precursor to commercial aviation. So was my grandfather, and by 1961 they
How have you grown the business since taking over? We don’t really have a plan. At AJW we just work very hard at being better than everybody else. I actually believe a good part of the rea-
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AJ Walter Aviation is moving to new headquarters close to Gatwick Airport in the UK following its rapid growth in the past few years. Construction is currently underway at the site, which has a footprint of over 60 acres and will initially provide more than 24,000 square feet of purpose-built office and storage facilities.
I do business by the hand and not by the pen. Of the 114 countries in which we have customers, I visit about 90 a year.
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son behind where we are today is down to being dyslexic — which means I think about things in an entirely different way to our competitors. My father was a specialist and I felt that brought with it too much risk. By adopting a wider, more general approach to the market we will this year enjoy revenues of nearly $450m with 300 staff. When I took over in 1994 our revenues were $2m with 12 staff and virtually no company structure compared to today. So you have an instinctual, fluid approach to leadership? In business you have to be ruled by two things: your head and your heart. It’s making that decision, when you’re head is telling you something and your heart something else. Generally I go with my head — but you have to go with your heart sometimes, and that’s when you normally get it a lot better than other people because most people can’t afford to be emotional — they have got shareholders and other objectives. We don’t, we just have our private business that we continue to develop in a personal capacity. We never study books or call consultants — we’re a team of third-generation aviators and at AJW we know what we were doing. You try and get it right 51 per cent of the time — we probably get it right nearer 70 per cent of the time — but we’re only looking for that edge. I’m also
a strong advocate of a business having personalities. How do you approach future strategy? I generally run the business with a three year perspective. I’m astounded that many businesses are driven by financial results on a quarterly, half-year and annual basis. The advantage of being private is that we can do it our own way. It’s always said the failure of family dynasties is in not preparing to hand over to the next generation or in hiring professional management if there is no one suitable. We feel that we have planned quite well here. We have employed an excellent management team from diverse parts of the industry. It’s about having the right team and skills around you. The mantra is to have fun and make money. The pleasure is in building the brand and the enterprise, to make a difference — so that when I’m dead, the name is still there. What is the ultimate goal for the company? We have an internal policy of what we call a ‘billion dollar brand’. We’re just under half way there and anticipate that by 2017 we will be at about £816m — so over $1bn. But this is purely a number — there is no particular purpose to it, it’s a target. We’re not into acquisitions so we have to do it organically, and this means diversification into similar product
INDUSTRY FOCUS
ranges, but not identical product ranges. From that perspective we have a $400m a year parts business and it’s very easy to put a $400m a year engine business onto a parts business. So what you’re doing is buying engines, not shops or companies. What do you attribute the company’s recent success to? We like the business to be flexible. We have flexibility, but have become less flexible because we are a larger business. Look at our competitors, they are hugely successful but they do it their way, and have to because it’s just not practical for them to offer individual solutions to individual operators. We are less flexible than we were, but we are still a lot more flexible than what we would describe as the ‘gorillas’ in the industry. So we score on two points — flexibility and performance. The great thing for us is that even if you get the most catastrophic event, whether social or financial, people will still fly. One thing that people are loathe to ever give up is their holiday. Another is the face-to-face business meeting that clinches the deal. So there will always be a market for air travel.
Was it a conscious decision to grow the company during the recession, or was the timing coincidental? We expand regardless of the economic cycle. A J Walter Aviation is in the business of selling £100,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Class’s with 5,000 miles on the clock for £85,000 — we don’t sell the £250,000 Bentley or the £30,000 Ford Mondeo. Therefore, logic would suggest that in harsh economic times, people are looking more for the 4,300 mile four month old Mercedes-Benz than they are looking at the Mercedes-Benz dealer. It becomes a self-perpetuating exercise because you get people who say, ‘that new airline has just signed with AJW and before I only had in my head a particular group of companies’. I regard Lufthansa Technik as the King Kong, SR Technics as the gorilla, and AJW as the monkey. We are more of a competitor to GA Telesis than they are a competitor to us. We are much further up the scale — customers will say they didn’t consider AJW before because it didn’t have all the technical services and back offices that it does now. How much has your personality driven the recent success of the company?
I’m sure people think, and I deliberately cultivate the notion, that I’m unusual, because by doing that they think I am unusual. And yet AJW remains the best at what it does. There are those who think I do things a certain way, but I don’t do it like that at all — I just get all the information and make a decision. But I do make that decision, which is important. AJW is not a democracy, I have a board of directors and we consult. Most of the time we agree so it’s not really an issue, but you have to make decisions. I pride myself on yes or no answers, I never have ‘I’ll think about it and come back to you’-type discussions, because nothing gets done that way. I also have my CEO Boris Wolstenholme to thank for perpetuating that culture. People are interested in AJW now because we are number one, not because we are in fourth place. But we are number one in a different way, we’re not like our competitors with hangars and engineers and engine shops; we’re number one in providing inventory support solutions. Customer focus is another thing. I do business by the hand and not by the pen. Of the 114 countries in which we have customers, I
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INDUSTRY FOCUS
2012 will mark the 80th year of business for AJ Walter Aviation. visit about 90 a year. Spend more than a million dollars with AJW or sign a contract with us and you’ll get me every year to come and see you, or we’ll meet at an event. When the boss turns up people really appreciate it. And a lot of the customers are my friends; the big customers are all my friends. There seem to be many strands to the A J Walter Aviation business now; do you intend to sharpen your focus in just some of them, or continue to strengthen each one? It sounds elaborate but from my side it’s a fairly narrow band. It’s Airbus and Boeing; it’s only current production types; it doesn’t involve airframe or line maintenance so it is everything around the support of more of the aircraft, whether it’s gears, engines, parts, consumables, coatings. We may ultimately bring in additional product lines made by manufacturers other than Airbus and Boeing, but that’s something that will take its natural course. AJW is now a global business, but in which regions do you see the most potential for new customers? We have over 800 customers in 114 countries. So that is a key feature of our success. Our American counterparts, and I don’t think there is a strict comparison to any business, are still exposed by a vast majority — comfortably in excess of 50 per cent — to their home market. We are not exposed to any particular market in overall sales by more than 15 per cent. We are particularly targeting North America though, because our business there is
26 ❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 114 ❙
currently only generating between 4-5 per cent of total revenues. I like weird markets and we’ve conquered quite a few weird markets, so for me now going into regular markets is a lot easier. Attaching AJW to the US is a lot easier than attaching it to Angola. Attaching an engine business to a parts business is a lot easier than attaching a parts business to an engine business. A lot of people haven’t worked that out yet, but they will. Looking at the aviation industry more broadly, what do you see as the major emerging trends? The overwhelming one to me is the replacement of equipment. There’s so much pressure about the environment, taxation, customer perception — and it’s just efficiency. We will issue seven times as many spare parts for a 737 Classic as we do to a NG — so seven times the spanner time, the downtime. When people reequip they really do appreciate the efficiencies. I’m very strict on product lines and we keep it
The mantra is to have fun and make money. The pleasure is in building the brand and the enterprise, to make a difference — so that when I’m dead, the name is still there.
right up to date. When things are good they use the equipment more, when things are bad they use it less, but they still use it. With the old equipment, they just don’t use it. What has been the highlight of your aviation career? It didn’t happen one morning. The highlight of my career is in attracting and retaining fabulous people. And attracting and retaining respected customers — and terrible customers too. Finally, it is building the brand and the reputation of A J Walter Aviation. In terms of a specific euphoria, I would say getting my pilot’s license, because it was a huge personal achievement for me as I was terrible at school! What does the future hold for A J Walter Aviation? I am very attached to the name A J Walter Aviation, but my advisors are telling me that eventually the name will have to migrate simply to ‘AJW’ — otherwise I’ll be putting myself into aviation forever more. As an example we recently launched A J Walter Capital, which is an investment fund. It is such a compliment that people want to buy into the A J Walter mystique. And for you personally, do you ever reach a point where the company is ‘big enough’ and you feel comfortable? I do this because I love the drama and the relationships and the challenges. It’s good fun — and I can’t do anything else because I’m unemployable! ■
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AT114_Tech_AT114_Tech 28/10/2011 15:32 Page 28
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
De-icing and anti-icing solutions Ice accretion on aircraft exteriors can cause delays on the ground and disasters in the air. A variety of solutions are employed to keep aircraft flying in inclement weather, including electro-thermal systems, pneumatic equipment, de- and anti-icing fluids, and ice detectors. Joanne Perry finds out about the latest developments. t’s not superior, it’s different,” says Ian Hubbard, sales and business development manager at GKN Aerospace, describing the electro-thermal ice protection system (IPS) which has just entered into service on the 787 Dreamliner. “It enables the aircraft architecture to be significantly different, which makes the 787 what it is.” Conventional bleed air systems, which extract hot gas from the engine core, are very effective at melting ice owing to the high temperatures involved, but for the same reason are both power-hungry and unsuitable for composite structures. The GKN system on the 787 features multilayered fibre mats which have been sprayed
I
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with special liquid metal and then embedded in the wings, four on each, to provide an electrical transfer of heat from the onboard power system. At a temperature range between 7.2°C and 21.1°C, and running at a power level of 4575kW, the mats provide enough heat to break the adhesion of ice on the wings. “The system operates at a lower temperature to bleed air,” explains Hubbard, “because it is a non-evaporative system. It’s a mix of deice [ice removal] and anti-ice [ice prevention].” A control system developed by Ultra Electronics in the UK manages how much ice is permitted to accrete in flight and how it is shed. Hubbard says the effect can be described as “running
wet” because the heat used is enough to melt the ice, but not to evaporate it. Paul Nicklin, business development manager at GKN, observes that the energy savings will be particularly noticeable on long-haul flights conducted by large commercial aircraft such as the 787. The dangers of ice accretion on aircraft have been obvious from the early days of air travel, but are particularly evident on modern airframes with sophisticated flight control systems and aerodynamic profiles. Frozen slats or flaps may jam, while even as little as 0.36mm of ice can distort airflow around the wings and fuselage, with potentially severe implications for pilot control and passenger safety.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
nies have also noted the shift away from bleed air systems toward electro-thermal solutions. “Lower power requirements plus the move towards bleedless engines are causing an increase in popularity in electro-thermal systems,” agrees Darren Jackson, icing systems architect, Goodrich Corporation.
Pneumatic ice protection
The automated flame spray process used in the production of GKN’s electro-thermal IPS. Meanwhile, on the ground most travellers are painfully aware of the consequences of icy conditions at airports, having experienced sometimes lengthy delays while aircraft are prepared for take-off in inclement weather. These considerations are set to become increasingly important as aircraft manufacturers refine or redesign airframes in search of enhanced flight performance and fuel efficiency. The next generation of wings and nacelles, featuring natural laminar flow (NLF), will be highly susceptible to even minor airflow aberrations. Electro-thermal ice protection is not new, having featured in the small inlets of regional aircraft since the 1950s, but it has been adapted for the 787 following an approach from Boeing. “Most of the development has really been in the design behind how the technology is integrated into the slat component, where the heater resides on the leading edge,” explains Nicklin. GKN has also had to work on the industrialisation of the technology. “It’s being able to make it at the right price, in the right volume, to the right quality,” says Hubbard. Modern production processes have replaced the wet resins, brushes and manual labour of the 1950s with pre-impregnated fabric which can be manufactured in both quantity and quality. Nicklin observes that the motivating factor behind the large-scale commercialisation of the technology is the trend toward all-electric aircraft with smaller, high efficiency engines, seconded by increasing proportions of composite manufacturing materials. The changes in
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engine design make it problematic to use core gas, which in the newer types of aircraft is devoted to propulsion. The trend toward composites, combined with the need to keep expansion and contraction cohesive across the airframe, makes a composites-based de-icing system a sensible solution. The electro-thermal IPS is applicable to all types of wings, however, even those with NLF. The operational advantages of the GKN system, like energy efficiency, are complemented by maintenance benefits such as on-wing repair, and quick release capability should removal become necessary. Hubbard thus sees the system sitting easily within the overall low-maintenance design of the 787. GKN is investigating the potential of electrothermal nacelle applications for large commercial aircraft, as has been done in the past for turboprops. However, there are integration and maintenance challenges arising from the structure of nacelles. “Not only is it complex today, it’s evolving quite rapidly,” Nicklin explains, pointing to the transition from metal to composite blades and an increasing focus on NLF designs. “The whole architecture is changing at a rate of knots in aerospace that hasn’t really happened for the last forty years. So to apply another technology while this is all changing is quite complex.” A successful introduction on the 787 will likely cause a surge of interest and open the market up significantly, both in terms of aircraft types and structural applications. In Hubbard’s opinion, the 787 is already “driving everyone else down a very similar route”. Other compa-
Goodrich offers electro-thermal solutions for propeller and airfoil de-icing which feature zone sequencing and proportional or thermostatic temperature control to minimise power consumption. But a major focus for Goodrich is the pneumatic technology which is used for turboprops and business aircraft, namely de-ice boots. This kind of consumable equipment is also available for sale, exchange or loan from spares companies such as ACL Aviation Support (ACLAS), based in the UK. “Manufactured from rubber, they are inflated and deflated to avoid the build-up of ice on the leading edges and a change in the flow of the air over the surfaces of the aircraft,” says Veronique Easlea, spokesperson for ACLAS. The inflation and deflation is powered either by bleed air or an air pump driven by the engine. Easlea says the boots ACLAS provides for ATR aircraft typically last about three years. The latest pneumatic de-icer from Goodrich, ‘SILVERboot’, is suitable for Embraer, Gulfstream and Dornier aircraft. Replacing traditional black neoprene, the urethane material of the boot is impregnated with aluminium oxide to deliver improved resistance to cold cracking, fluid ingress and ozone exposure. A ‘FASTboot’ variant featuring a pre-applied adhesive reduces installation time and brings turntime down to one hour, in comparison with the standard 24-48 hours. In addition to the pneumatic de-icers, Goodrich is known for its broad range of ice detection equipment, catering to large commercial aircraft through regional jets to business aircraft.
Ice detection Ice detectors have a vital part to play in ice protection because they determine when deicing systems are activated, either manually or automatically. In August this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reinforced industry best practice by issuing a ruling stipulating that flight manual advice for crew is updated or that ice detection equipment is installed on all scheduled flights. The good news for operators is that such systems tend to be very low maintenance; Jackson points out that they do not require any periodic upkeep. Ice detectors can be accretion-based or conditions-based. The former recognise when ice
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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
has actually started to build up, while the latter detect when the appropriate conditions are accumulating. Icing conditions detectors (ICDs) can provide a wider margin of warning and have been installed on the 787. Jackson says the most popular type of ice detector is a magnetostrictive solution, which is based on the ability of certain materials to expand or contract in a magnetic field. “The ice detector consists of a magnet, feedback coils and a heated aerodynamic strut that extends a sensing probe out into the airstream,” he explains. A magnetic field created by alternating current causes the probe to resonate at its natural frequency. This is measured by the feedback coil, which detects any changes caused by ice accretion. “As ice builds up on the probe, the resonance frequency shifts; at predetermined levels of the shift, an icing signal is sent to the cockpit, and the probe is subsequently de-iced,” he states. De-icing and anti-icing systems are then activated either manually or automatically, depending on the aircraft type and system. Goodrich has been contracted to provide automatic systems for both the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) and the CSeries aircraft which are
currently under development. The next generation of ice detectors in the pipeline are based on optical principles. Goodrich’s optical ice detection (OID) system, at present undergoing flight test trials, will use an infrared polarised light to penetrate clouds and identify the water phase, droplet size and the presence of ice crystals. This data will be used to activate the IPS and, according to Jackson, provide advanced real-time weather information to both aircraft and weather stations. Goodrich is also enhancing its testing facilities and will open a new icing tunnel in Minnesota in 2013. Meanwhile, GKN is developing a fibre optic ice detector at the head of an EU-funded, 15strong consortium which includes both corporations and academic institutions. This design, ten years in the making, features fibre optics emitting light of various wavelengths. The diffractions caused by ice accretion enable its properties to be measured. “It detects ice, it detects the type of ice and the thickness of ice,” says Nicklin. The product is designed to enable a much more targeted approach to ice protection than has been possible thus far, with accompanying power savings. Hubbard is confi-
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dent that the new detector is an improvement on ICDs which rely on feeding moisture and temperature information into vast databases to make estimations about ice accretion. He believes it is going to “give a different aspect and performance to ice detection”. Ice tunnel results have proven the validity of the design and the next step will be integration and application. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the technology has been certified before 2014,” says Nicklin. A future combination of the new ice detector plus the electro-thermal IPS can be expected to deliver both more efficient ice protection and greater energy savings.
De- and anti-icing fluids Ultimately, some mixture of de-icing and antiicing solutions are likely to continue to be used on all types of aircraft. The latest electrical and pneumatic equipment installed during aircraft production or maintenance will still be combined with de-/anti-icing fluids applied in service. Today, manufacturers of such products, like The Dow Chemical Company and Cryotech Deicing Technology, continue to refine and expand their product lines. The key aims are to expedite the removal of ice and to increase the
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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Main image: ‘FlightGuard AD-49’, Dow’s latest Type IV anti-icing fluid. Inset: The 787 ICD from Goodrich.
holdover time (HOT) – the period during which the aircraft is protected from accretion. “Anti-icing and de-icing fluids are typically used in a two-step process,” says Andrew Larson, technical service specialist, Dow Aircraft Deicers, explaining that Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Type I fluids are used to actively de-ice the aircraft, whereas SAE Type II, III or IV are used as preventative, anti-icing agents. Type III are suitable for commuter rather than large commercial aircraft, while Type IV adhere to the same standards as Type II but have been more recently developed. Type I fluids are applied first in order to clear frozen material from the surface of the aircraft, being sprayed at high speed and at temperatures of between 60° and 80°C. They may include dyes to assist ground support personnel in achieving a thorough application. Larson explains further: “This formulation includes a wetting agent to assist in adequately covering the aircraft wings with fluid, and a freezing point depressant such as propylene glycol (PG).” Ethylene glycol (EG) may be used in place of PG in particularly cold environments because the freezing point is lower. However, it brings disadvantages
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such as toxicity and reduced heat transfer efficiency during the heated spraying process. Jim Greaney, senior chemist at Cryotech, adds that it is important for the Type I fluid to provide “a smooth, continuous film” with “little or no foam formation”. Applied in this fashion, a de-icing fluid such as Cryotech’s ‘Polar Plus’ is effective at temperatures as low as 32.2°C (-25.6°F) in a 63:37 product to water dilution. By contrast, Type IV fluids are sprayed cold and undiluted at low velocity, generating a thick coating which keeps the glycol on the surface of the aircraft, providing extended protection. Despite the need for thickness, says Greaney, the anti-icing fluids are formulated with “pseudo-plastic” or “shear-thinning” properties which enable them to flow off the aircraft during take-off, preventing a drag effect similar to that created by ice itself. The protective layer works by having a lower freezing point than falling precipitation, which melts on contact with the fluid. However, this process dilutes the protective coating, gradually erasing its effectiveness. One of the challenges for companies such as Dow and Cryotech is thus to extend the period of protection for as long as possible in the face of extreme conditions. ‘Polar Guard Advance’, Cryotech’s latest offering, has a lowest operational use temperature (LOUT) of 30.5°C (-22.9ºF). Greaney points out that the two-step process can be compressed into a single
stage. This is typically carried out by applying a hot Type II or IV fluid to an aircraft that is contaminated with frozen deposits. The heat melts the frozen material in a similar manner to a hot Type I fluid, while anti-icing residue which remains on the treated surface provides extended protection against refreezing. An appropriate solution is selected by the airport truck operator according to the holdover time necessitated by the prevailing weather conditions — not only outside air temperature (OAT) but wind speed and type and intensity of precipitation. Dow’s most recently launched product, ‘FlightGuard AD-49’, delivers a minimum HOT of just over one hour for any temperature below 27 to 7ºF during conditions such as snow, snow grains or pellets. As part of their product line development, producers of de- and anti-icing fluids have been taking steps both to increase the effectiveness of the solutions and to address environmental concerns, for example reducing the concentrations required, decreasing aquatic toxicity and making them more biodegradable. Such fluids remain the best option for aircraft de-/anti-icing on the ground. The lengthy delays faced with wearying regularity by travellers stranded at snow-stricken airports have more to do with limited availability of ground support equipment than the de-and anti-icing products or techniques themselves. Alternatives such as infrared heaters, whether truck-mounted or housed in a hangar, present even greater logistical difficulties and remain ■ niche methods.
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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Cabin illumination: in the mood for a brighter future Cabin lighting consists of a mixture of systems performing both mundane and critical functions, with implications ranging from the comfort of passengers to the efficiency of the crew and the safety of all on board. Joanne Perry investigates the rise of LED lighting and recent changes to both electrical and non-electrical emergency systems. ight emitting diodes (LEDs) are “very definitely” the future of cabin lighting — so says Andrew Muirhead, director of Lufthansa Technik’s (LHT) Innovation business unit. Overhead lighting in the cabin has traditionally been provided by fluorescent tubes giving a harsh, somewhat institutional feel to the average flight. Increasingly, operators, aircraft manufacturers and companies involved in cabin installations are switching on to the benefits of electronically created light, such as energy and maintenance savings, plus all kinds of visual effects which can improve passenger experience. While dimmable hybrid systems have been used on the 777, A330, A340 and A380, the
L
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first all-LED system on a long-range aircraft arrived this September, with the delivery of the 787 Dreamliner to launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA). The “mood lighting” from Diehl will enable dynamic changes to the intensity and colour of the cabin lighting. “The 787 illumination system is capable of realising full brightness without the need of (white) fluorescent tubes in virtually any colour tone and reaches a colour quality which is comparable or even better than fluorescent tubes,” states David Voskuhl, VP communications and public relations at Diehl Aerosystems. “Lighting scenarios like sunrise, candle-light and worklight among others are a matter of software
parameters only.” The Boeing ‘Sky Interior’ for 737NGs offers a similar experience on a smaller scale and debuted in October last year with flydubai. The mood lighting technology currently on the market consists of a strip of LEDs, each of which can be programmed to activate at a particular time through a flight attendant control panel. “You can change the look and feel of the interior using the cabin side walls and ceiling effectively like a projector screen,” explains Dave Kingstone, business development manager, commercial avionics, at BAE Systems, which developed the ‘Sky Interior’ attendant control panel (ACP). BAE has worked together
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electronic parts from entering the STOP illegitimate supply chain, your inventory, your design.
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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
‘HelioJet’, developed in a Schott-LHT collaboration, could represent a significant advance in mood lighting. Inset: The ACP from BAE, as featured on the 737 Boeing ‘Sky Interior’. with B/E Aerospace, the manufacturer of the LED lighting, to integrate the functionality of the lighting with other cabin systems such as water and waste monitoring. Kingstone says the touchscreen ACP will make life easier for flight crew: “It’s a very intuitive tool for them to use, very straightforward and simple.” The lighting configurations are loaded into the system during production so that the specific needs of each operator are already met, but according to Kingstone it is “infinitely reprogrammable” by the end user in a matter of minutes, courtesy of a laptop-based software tool. Kingstone believes the potential for individualisation is “a very key marketing component for airlines”. For this reason, mood lighting will be particularly useful on leased aircraft, since it will allow an airline to put its own unique stamp on the cabin at no extra cost. Voskuhl agrees that differentiation and branding are “very important drivers” behind the commercial success of an airline, explaining that operators “will always seek ways to improve their competitive situation in the cabin, and LED lighting can be part of that”. LED lighting systems are also substantially more robust than the conventional fluorescent tubes. Muirhead calls the latter “a maintenance nightmare”. He explains: “If you compare the mean time between failure [MTBF] of a fluorescent tube and the mean time between failure of a LED-based device, there’s a huge
36 ❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 114 ❙
difference.” Fluorescent tubes contain mercury which has to be regularly replaced and is a main cause of failure. According to LHT, the tubes typically offer 1,600 hours MTBF compared with 30-35,000 hours for an LED strip. Muirhead says the initial higher outlay on an LED-based product is more than compensated for by reduced maintenance long-term — “the big differentiator” compared with other technologies on the market. Voskuhl adds that there are also energy savings to be made; LEDs are becoming more effective and less hungry for power, plus dispersal of the light can be tightly controlled, unlike the 360º spread from a fluorescent tube. Lower power consumption leads to reduced heat generation and fewer or lightweight heat sinks in the fixtures – and thus weight savings. Overall, the lifespan and maintainability benefits are, in Voskuhl’s words, “very obvious”. He estimates that “modern and optimally integrated LED illumination leads to high double digit percentages of savings in terms of power, maintenance and weight compared to classic tube-based solutions”. Passengers may welcome the transition to mood lighting as much as operators. As the name suggests, mood lighting could help to improve passengers’ wellbeing, both by providing a better quality of ambient light and by improving the experience of day-night cycles on long-haul flights. “For passenger wellbeing
there’s certainly something to be said about mood lighting,” agrees Muirhead. “There’s a huge difference between being woken up by a gradual increase in light and the ambient conditions than basically just turning the lighting straight on.” It has been suggested by various academic studies that differences such as these may contribute to a reduction in jet lag, although this is difficult to quantify.
Mood lighting — the next step? For operators and passengers alike, things could be about to get even better. In August this year, LHT and Schott Lighting and Imaging signed a deal to collaborate on the development of new types of cabin lighting. One of these is a product called ‘HelioJet’, which is structured around a glass tube with just two LEDs positioned at either end. It is unusual for LHT to become involved in product development at such an early stage, the MRO provider’s core interest being to handle installation and certification issues which affect airline customers. Asked about the different approach with Schott, Muirhead explained that “basically they have a piece of technology that no one else has”. The potential was too much to resist. “When we originally saw the technology it didn’t take a lot of convincing to realise that they were sitting on an invention that was very interesting for aircraft cabins,” states Muirhead. The technology was origi-
FPA_check 111_ATEM 110 01/04/2011 16:44 Page 3
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Above left: LHT’s ‘Guideline’ PL for the galley comes in 15 colours. Above right: the effectiveness of PL emergency floor path markings is illustrated by ‘Guideline’ from LHT.
With strips of multiple LEDs, the disadvantage is that the LEDs decay at a different rate. — Andrew Muirhead, director of innovation, LHT
38 ❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 114 ❙
nally developed for the automotive industry and is being adapted for aircraft cabins. “The technology is based on typical fibre optic principles,” explains Armin Plichta, GM transportation at Schott. Special technologies are then used to disperse the light 90º to give “a very homogeneous mixing of different colours and a very homogeneous outcoupling from the glass over the entire length”, says Plichta. Thus no points of light are visible, as they are with strip LEDs. Furthermore, Muirhead says the two red, green, blue (RGB) LEDs at either end can generate the same kind of visual complexity as strip-based products. There are also benefits from a financial perspective. The twin LEDs will be military grade — cost prohibitive on a strip — and thus longer-lasting. The two lights will also be easier to monitor. “With these strips of multiple LEDs, the disadvantage is that the LEDs decay at a different rate,” says Muirhead. The checking which is necessary to prevent uneven brightness levels by controlling the decay of each LED “adds a lot of complexity”. Ultimately, LHT estimates that the MTBF for the glass rod could be as high as 65,000 hours — a vast improvement over fluorescent tubes, and twice as good as strip LEDs. Another important consideration for operators is the likely energy saving, with the glass rod running
at 22W in comparison with 30W for standard fluorescent tubes. From a design and installation standpoint, ‘HelioJet’ also provides “almost unlimited flexibility”, says Plichta, thus enabling the lighting to match sophisticated contours in the cabin. LHT and Schott are currently developing the glass rod lighting for the A320 and have already conducted ground tests with a view to a flight trial in early 2012. The focus will then broaden to other Airbus platforms before aircraft from other OEMs. “From the customers we’ve been talking to there is an enormous amount of opportunity on the A320, A330 and A340,” says Muirhead.
Emergency lighting trends The rise of mood lighting has implications for other types of cabin lighting systems, such as emergency floorpath markings. In a reverse of the general trend towards more electrical systems on aircraft, floorpath lighting has recently shifted toward non-electrical technology, namely photoluminescence (PL). In 1995, STG Aerospace earned a worldwide patent for its ‘SafTGlo’ PL product which “stores” light for up to 16 hours in darkness following a period of charging in normal conditions. STG says the system is currently in use on over 7,000 aircraft — more than one third of the worldwide operating fleet. It is a factory-fit option for Boeing aircraft such as
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
the 737NG, on which it boasts a 95 per cent uptake, and comes as standard on E170 and E190 jets. Around the same time, LHT, which is a licencee of STG, pioneered its ‘Guideline’ PL for Lufthansa’s 737 aircraft in order to reduce delays caused by the failure of electrical versions of emergency floorpath lighting, which fall into the “no-go” category of cabin equipment. More than 400 airlines now use ‘Guideline’ on over 7,000 aircraft. LHT is the main supplier across all Airbus platforms, with a 95 per cent uptake on the A320. When it comes to charging the PL, “as long as the diodes [in the mood lighting] are white it’s not a problem,” says Christian Lierow, head of product Guideline, LHT, “but when the light becomes a different colour we have to fulfil the requirements to charge the system.” LHT conducted an investigation with Schott and Diehl which confirmed that blue light offers significant charging potential, while red is problematic. Consequently, LHT advises airlines on which colours to use and which to avoid when preparing the system for flight. This takes a maximum of 30 minutes for a twin-aisle aircraft, while for single-aisle it is as
little as 10 minutes. Since an aircraft is normally on the ground for over half an hour during pre-boarding, there is an adequate “buffer” time, says Lierow, for charging the PL without affecting turnaround times. Furthermore, the cabin is generally lit with white light while catering services are being conducted, offering maximum charging potential. The airline is then free to deploy whatever mood lighting configurations it chooses during flight. STG describes PL as a “100 per cent reliable” system because by its very nature it can never experience a general failure, unlike electrical equipment. “There can be local damage caused by aggressive chemicals,” says Peter Stokes, CEO of STG, “but such localised damage does not affect the integrity of the system, and in any event affects the covering tracking systems and not the photoluminescent strips.” The PL lighting is also manufactured to withstand wear-and-tear from shoes and vending trolleys. “‘Guideline’ needs no maintenance, has no life limitation and needs no care from the crew,” says Lierow. It need only be checked once every three months to ensure proper installation.
As long as the mood lighting diodes are white it’s not a problem, but when the light becomes a different colour we have to fulfil the requirements to charge the PL. — Christian Lierow, head of product guideline, LHT
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❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 114 ❙ 39
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Main image: a selection of the 300-plus PL colours offered by STG. Inset: the diagnostic panel of STG’s WEPPS. STG estimates that for a 767, an airline can make maintenance savings of up to $45,000 per year by using ‘SafTGlo’. In addition to the robustness of the PL itself, the border created by the twin tracks delineates the area of high wear in the aisle from the longer-lasting carpet around the seats. On a 737-800, the limited replacement of the high-wear areas can save the airline $4,000 per annum. Although it is mood lighting which is currently making waves, PL technology has by no means stagnated since its introduction in the 1990s — it is still an area of innovation. The main trends are toward wider colour choice and slimmer profiles compared with the original 2.5mm-deep yellow strips. STG, for example, has evolved its product offering into a number of variants. ‘ColorMatch’, for example, offers more than 300 colours to blend in with the aircraft carpet, also coming in a low-profile version (‘ColorMatch LP’) which is 2.25mm deep. ‘PatternMatch’ is the latest innovation from STG, revealed in April this year at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany. In this version, a translucent overlay specially printed to match the pattern of the carpet is fitted over the PL strip, meaning that it is virtually indistinguishable when the cabin lighting is on – but equally effective in emergency situations.
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At the same interiors show, LHT won a ‘Crystal Cabin Award’ in the ‘Materials and Components’ category for its 2.3mm-deep PL strip which is suitable for use in non-textile floor areas such as the galley. The strip is available in 15 different colours. Besides development projects which cannot yet be disclosed, LHT is currently working to reduce the cost of its PL lighting, as the raw material sourced from China (via Japan) is expensive. Although PL emergency floorpath lighting is non-electrical, it is still used in conjunction with emergency signage operating from electrical power. Nonetheless, in 2007 STG launched its ‘Wireless Emergency Primary Power System’ (WEPPS), which is billed as a “fit and forget” solution with no life limitation. Consisting of battery modules which directly replace NiCad power packs, using the same connections and mountings, ‘WEPPS’ avoids the need for daily visual checks, charging and replacement. Aircraft power is used for system checks, but the battery power is only used in case of emergency, with each module capable of providing power for at least 10 such incidents. A key advantage of WEPPS is that it features a smart diagnostic system which conducts an electronic interrogation of the modules, control circuitry and the lighting systems in under 10
seconds. “If a problem is found, the LCD display on the diagnostic unit will indicate the nature of the fault, the location and the remedial action needed,” explains Stokes. The system is estimated to save 100 maintenance man hours per aircraft per year. STG says that CanJet, for example, has been able to make savings of up to $37,000 on each of its 737s. Worldwide, 100 aircraft have been fitted with ‘WEPPS’ so far, and STG says the product is only at the beginning of its sales cycle, with an upward trend anticipated as the benefits become more widely known. Similarly, Diehl’s Voskuhl predicts increased use of mood lighting over the coming years, viewing it not as a trend but as “a given commodity”. He says: “There will be more coloured light in future. The enabler is on board and the effort to do so is minimal.” In light of the considerable operational, maintenance, marketing and passenger experience benefits, it will be no surprise if this type of cabin illumination proves to be a valuable asset to airline profitability. It seems likely that LEDs will also become more prevalent in other forms, such as emergency signage, and undergo significant diversification as their potential is fully explored. Voskuhl tips organic LEDs (OLEDs), fibre optics and lasers for a bright future. ■
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As the number of leased aero engines grows ever higher, and their overall proportion in the total world fleet continues to rise, the specialised MRO considerations for such engines become increasingly important. Chris Kjelgaard reports.
New lease on life: MRO for leased engines tatistics cited by senior MTU Maintenance executive Leo Koppers at the recent IATA Maintenance Cost Conference in Singapore, during a presentation on how lease-end conditions can impact engine maintenance cost, make interesting reading. Koppers noted a forecast made by research firm Frost & Sullivan in 2010 predicting that the proportion of leased engines in the world’s commercial-aircraft fleet would grow from 31 per cent in 2008 to 36 per cent by 2015. Koppers also cited 2009 AeroStrategy estimates that engine MRO accounted for 36 per cent of all MRO activity involving commercial aircraft, and that annual revenue in the engine
S
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MRO business would grow from $15.9bn in 2009 to $21.4bn in 2018. An inference not drawn by Koppers but clear anyway was that, if leased engines were to represent a 36 per cent share of the total engine fleet in 2018, then they might well account for a similar share of all engine MRO revenue in that year. Were that to prove the case, revenues from MRO activity on leased engines in 2018 could total $7.7bn. A number this large — together with the fact that the subject of MRO on leased engines was deemed important enough in the first place for it to deserve a specific presentation at the IATA conference — highlights just how economically important leased-engine MRO is becoming. As
airlines, lessors, and MRO shops know, the area is complicated and has its own particular characteristics. One is that, in economic terms, return conditions in aircraft or engine leases often don’t allow airlines and MRO shops to treat a leased engine as they would an engine owned by the airline itself. The airline must meet the leaseend return condition specified by the lessor for the engine or face a financial penalty. Additionally, because the airline only operates the leased engine for a limited time, whereas it may operate an owned engine throughout that powerplant’s life, it often has little incentive to require the MRO facility to replace all the life-
AT114_E&M_A_AT114_E&M 28/10/2011 15:36 Page 44
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
Phil Seymour, managing director of aviation technical consultancy IBA Group.
limited parts in the leased engine with brandnew parts during a shop visit. Limited-build shop visits for leased engines are common and they can create headaches for the MRO shop. Another important characteristic of the leased-engine MRO market is that ultimately the lessor holds the purse strings. Should the lessor disagree with the airline over the scope of the work performed during the engine shop visit — or perhaps even disagree over an unrelated condition of the lease — the lessor can inconvenience the lessee by failing to release maintenance reserves, thus delaying payment for the shop visit. Obviously, such inaction on the lessor’s part also penalises the MRO shop itself, though the MRO is not a party to the lease and has only followed the instructions of its customer, the airline.
Making life difficult for the MRO “There can often be a conflict of interests at the shop visit when dealing with leased engines,” remarks Phil Seymour, managing director of aviation technical consultancy IBA Group. Seymour explains that, in an ideal world (when the MRO is dealing with an airline-owned engine and the airline allows the MRO to perform a com-
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plete overhaul of the powerplant), the MRO “will want to build an engine to provide the optimum on-wing life”. Replacing all life-limited parts without close regard to cost and building the engine for the longest on-wing time possible will allow the MRO to tout its prowess. The metric of excellence by which engine MRO shops differentiate themselves from their competitors is the time their re-built engines achieve on-wing until the next shop visit becomes necessary. “However, when [the MRO shop] has to consider an engine ‘build’ standard that provides lower-than-optimum cyclic life and/or EGT/SFC [exhaust gas temperature/specific fuel consumption] improvements, this will inevitably lead to a situation where it expends more time and effort to plan the shop visit,” says Seymour. At the same time, the lower build standard required means that, for the MRO, there is a “likelihood of lower revenue and profit due to lower man-hour and material expenditure”. Effectively, there are three different types of workscope an airline can consider for an engine when sending it for a shop visit. One is a “gold-plated”, customised standard which the airline might use for an engine which it owns
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
and which the airline wants to bring back to asnew condition by replacing life limited parts (LLPs) and other engine hardware with new parts. This assures the longest possible onwing time and the highest possible EGT margin. For instance, the airline might want to not only have the MRO shop fully overhaul the engine’s core modules, but also replace all high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades with new ones. A second workscope level is based on the OEM’s workscope planning guide for performance restoration. According to Seymour, the manufacturer’s workscope always aims for long on-wing time following the shop visit. But while it will call for a full performance restoration on the engine’s core modules (high-pressure compressor, combustor and HPT), the workscope for the engine’s other modules will depend on the condition in which each module’s hardware is found to be. Thirdly, when asking a MRO facility for a performance restoration on a leased engine, which the airline might only be operating for a few thousand more cycles, the lessee may well seek a more limited workscope. To keep the overhaul cost down for something it doesn’t own anyway, the airline may instruct the MRO
just to repair the engine’s core modules enough to produce an EGT margin sufficient for the engine to meet the minimum return condition required by the lessor. This creates a planning headache for the MRO shop — and a sting in the tail. The MRO facility has to input a non-standard workscope which not only requires more planning input than for a manufacturer planning a guide-based workscope but, because the non-standard workscope calls for less replacement of parts, also means the MRO will end up billing for less labour time and generating less mark-up on any new parts it installs. Limited workscopes create issues for lessors too, says Hadley Bowling, Director customer support, lessors for GE Aviation. “Lessors view engines as investments and they are looking for assets to be maintained such that their engines are valued in the marketplace, are of a known and utilised configuration, and that the engines achieve the optimal time-on-wing (TOW) versus maintenance cost ($/EFH) balance. Short-building an engine at lease return may provide a near term low cost solution, but the engine may not be attractive, as its TOW may be limited.”
Some larger airlines which are otherwise very well-organised may not be aware that a given engine is leased and needs to meet certain conditions. In that event a shop visit may be necessary. —Jon Sharp, president and CEO, Engine Lease Finance Corporation
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“It will do as it is told to,” by the customer, and has no legal requirement to remind the lessee of its obligations.
Problems with return-condition terms
MTU Maintenance is now designing MRO products to suit tripartite relationships. In specifying MRO, airlines really only differ between leased and owned engines when performing the last shop visit before a lease ends, according to Jon Sharp, president and CEO of Engine Lease Finance Corporation. At that point, “the lessor may have identified a specific use for the engine upon its return from lease, so may wish to have a different-from-normal workscope performed at the last shop visit before lease end”. For example, the lessor “may have a new lessee who demands a minimum build standard and certain specific modifications which would extend the normal workscope, for which additional work the lessor pays”, says Sharp. “At the other extreme, the lessor may have no further use for the engine and so may suggest omitting the shop visit and returning the engine as is, keeping reserves [or receiving] lease-end cash compensation, so green time can be run off and the engine broken for parts.”
Lessors pay more attention to engines While lessors allow their lessee airlines to do much of the monitoring of their leased engines, leasing companies keep a careful eye on how their expensive assets are being treated. “The lessees usually report monthly utilisation and any adverse trends will be spotted from this,” says Sharp. “Lessors also visit
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their customers once or twice a year, or more frequently if there are concerns.” Seymour says: “In recent years there has been much more attention paid by lessors to management of leased engines. An engine lessor will almost always have its own in-house technical expert, as so much of the business is tied up with the technical condition of the engine.” A past tendency by aircraft lessors simply to treat engines as “part of the aircraft” is disappearing and detailed knowledge of engines is becoming much more important to aircraft lessors. “For lessors with older aircraft, much of the aircraft value is in the engines,” points out Seymour. Some sources estimate up to 90 per cent of the total value of older aircraft is in their engines. Accordingly, “knowing the engine value drivers and costs is crucial,” says Seymour. “Many aircraft leases require the airline to consult with the lessor regarding the engine shop-visit workscope and in many cases the approval […] lies with the lessor. Lessors are not simply handing over control to lessees in today’s leases. There have been many disputes between lessors and lessees as to the standard of engines that undergo shop visits — especially at lease end, when the lessee is trying to save money and may try to cut corners with the workscope.” It is not up to the MRO to say how a particular engine should be handled.
For this and other reasons, engine return condition terms are often challenged by either the lessor or the lessee. A common-sense approach during the original negotiation of the lease helps prevent challenges. “Lessors and lessees should in the first place agree return conditions that are relevant to the engine type and its operating cycle,” says Sharp. If these are in place when the lease ends, “no such challenges should arise”. One problem in negotiating return conditions acceptable to both lessee and lessor is that lessors usually focus on obtaining a leasereturn condition that will suit the next lessee for the engine, according to Seymour. Leasereturn conditions would be simple if they merely required an engine to accumulate “no more than” certain numbers of hours and cycles since its last shop visit: hours and cycles since the last shop visit are purely a matter of record. However, lease-end conditions which provide that the engine “must be able to run for” specified numbers of hours and cycles after the lease represent a grey area. Armed with an engine’s trend-monitoring history, oil-consumption history and the results of physical inspections, engine experts are likely to disagree on the engine’s capability to achieve specific numbers of additional hours and cycles upon lease return, says Seymour. “One expert may say different from another and the airline and the lessor might disagree — especially after a borescope inspection.” A problematic area which needs careful attention when the lease contract is being drawn up is the definition of just what constitutes a “qualifying shop visit”, according to Seymour. “We are seeing a strict definition by lessors of [what constitutes] a qualifying shop visit. Anything less than a performance restoration won’t qualify as a shop visit, but just as a repair.” This is important because lessors will not allow any claim by lessees for the release of maintenance reserves for any MRO activity that is not classed under the lease as a qualifying shop visit, says Seymour. In such a situation, the airline and the lessor can get into a dispute and the facility which has performed the MRO on the engine can go unpaid for a considerable length of time. In general, says Seymour, lessors are becoming much more hard-nosed in contractual disputes about engine return conditions, despite the risk of their losing sub-
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While lessors allow their lessee airlines to do much of the monitoring of their leased engines, leasing companies keep a careful eye on how their expensive assets are being treated. sequent business from lessees which feel hard-done-by.
Managing leased engines Airline lessees differ in how they operate their leased engines to try to meet the return conditions specified in their leases. Sharp says an airline’s management of a leased engine “often depends on how savvy the airline is regarding leasing; and how big it is”. He comments: “The well-organised [airlines] obviously minimise any need for engine changes or any other operational disruption. But some larger airlines which are otherwise very well-organised may not be aware that a given engine is leased and needs to meet certain conditions. In that event a shop visit may be necessary, but if there is a good relationship between lessee and lessor this disconnect should not occur in the first place. If it does, it should be manageable.” If the airline has enough market clout, one way around the situation is to negotiate its leases so they allow the carrier to return any engines with an aircraft at lease end as long as the engines meet the return conditions contractually required. Although most aircraft leases require airlines to return the specifically identified and titled engines delivered with the aircraft at the start of the lease, Ryanair has been able to negotiate leases which allow it to return the aircraft with any comparable-condition engines attached. Seymour says most leases do not allow airlines any operational discrimination between owned and leased engines. “But in practical terms, an airline will take a closer look at the
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return conditions during the last year of operation. This is often at the lessor’s insistence — lessors usually request a planning meeting at about that time to discuss the process and specifics of the aircraft’s and/or engine’s return condition.” IBA Group has seen some airlines deciding to remove engines from aircraft as much as a year before lease termination in order to ensure that the engines meet the number of hours and cycles specified by the return conditions. Lessors can deem such a practice to be discrimination and disputes can arise over whether putting the engine into storage long before the end of the lease has affected its performance in any way. (Oil, hydraulic fluid and air seals can become loose during protracted storage.) Storing an engine may also prevent an airline incorporating the latest service bulletins before the end of the lease. Additionally, while the airline lessee is able to provide the lessor with the required final six months’ worth of the engine’s operating and health-trend data, those are not the six calendar months immediately preceding the end of the lease.
A call for tripartite MRO agreements Return conditions and other areas of lease contracts — particularly those relating to approval of MRO workscope and processes and allowing the lessor to witness MRO work being performed — can create disputes which delay payment for the MRO. Since engine MRO disputes generally aren’t good news for any of
the parties concerned, there is much to be said for fostering co-operation among lessor, lessee and MRO, believes Stephan Rihm, VP engine pool services for MTU Maintenance. “To avoid such friction and time delays between the parties, there is a great benefit if the parties work closer together from the beginning and agree on various items, for example the workscope or the repair processes allowed,” says Rihm. “It further helps to come to some kind of agreement on the payment terms in advance of the induction of the engine, as this will speed up matters.” According to Rihm, it can even make sense for the lessor to agree to pay the MRO facility directly — particularly if the lessor and lessee are disputing other issues in the lease contract which don’t directly relate to repair of the engine. “Often lessors use the repair situation to put pressure on the lessee to sort out other issues — however, this indirectly affects the MRO facility, as they don’t receive payment on time, and the situation may escalate.” Accordingly, a tripartite MRO solution is best for leased engines, in MTU Maintenance’s view. “Although such a solution would challenge traditional thinking, it can and will have a positive effect on the various relations — and most importantly, help to preserve the value of the asset,” says Rihm. “This agreement should cover standard items like the workscope definition, including repair procedures, the end-of-lease requirements, and the payment terms.” There could be other advantages, too, Rihm believes. “There is also the possibility to extend this agreement to include items such as MRO credits issued during the repair process.” (MRO credits would accrue to the lessor at lease termination and would be applied to the cost of the engine’s next refurbishment.) Meanwhile, “in the unfortunate situation of the lessor having to repossess the engine, this agreement could be transferred to a new lessee, including any credits or other benefits collected. In fact, such an agreement could be extended to cover any new lessee who leases the engine from the lessor.” “Remarketing an asset which already has a proper maintenance history and which possibly is even warrantied by the MRO facility in the tripartite agreement could increase [the asset’s] marketability,” notes Rihm. “All the heavy maintenance records would be stored by the MRO facility under the agreement and would be accessible by the lessor and lessee at any time.” MTU Maintenance is now designing MRO products to suit tripartite relationships. Given the complexities of leased-engine MRO, anything which can simplify the legal and technical issues involved ■ may come as welcome relief.
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What next for PMA parts? Questions abound in the PMA parts industry; some long-standing, some very recent. Are lessors beginning to accept PMA parts? Are OEMs about to take a monopoly in the aftermarket? And are PMA companies about to form larger consortiums to try and become more powerful? Jason Holland sorts fact from fiction in this assessment of the latest market developments. he battle lines have long been drawn. PMA manufacturers say recent FAA guidance completely guarantees the safety and validity of their parts, and airlines will make cost savings by using them. Many engine OEMs still question the safety of integrating these parts with their engines, and have in the meantime set about expanding the solutions they offer. And lessors are still flatly refusing to even talk about using PMA parts. Or are they? According to some PMA companies, many lessors no longer have concerns about the technical aspects of using PMA parts and are open to negotiating the use of them — if air-
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lines take the initiative and open discussions early in the process of drawing up a contract.
Increased lessor acceptance — myth or reality? This theme has been explored by PMA manufacturers and associated organisations at recent high-level conferences. Jason Dickstein, president of the Modification and Replacement Parts Association (MARPA), recently claimed that the leasing community was “quietly embracing PMAs” and urged airlines wishing to use PMA parts to “speak the language” of lessors during negotiations. “Lessors are there to make money from their assets so are going
to listen if this can be demonstrated,” he said. He suggested one solution as splitting the cost savings from using PMA parts between the lessor and the airline, to create a ‘win-win’ situation. Jeff Dark, VP sales & marketing at PMA manufacturer Jet Parts Engineering, says that because there is a perception that some airlines may not want to accept a lease agreement on an aircraft that includes PMA, “lessors take the easier route and attempt to dissuade their customers from using PMA, via the leasing contract”. However, he asserts that “savvy operators that are PMA friendly have been increasingly more successful in bucking this
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
Most of the larger PMA companies are still active in making strategic acquisitions. trend and negotiating the use of PMA into their leasing agreements”. BELAC president Chong Yi agrees with these sentiments: “Lessors are becoming more receptive to the use of PMA parts, particularly in the mature engine fleet such as CFM, CF6 and PW4000 engines.” He says there are several reasons for this: “Lessors hear growing demand from operators, many of whom refuse to spend a significant amount of ‘today’ dollars for a perceived chance at residual value impact several years from now; the growing acceptance and residual value of overhauled PMA parts in the market as an alternative to OEM aftermarket parts; and the continuing increased number of operators on a worldwide basis that are accepting PMAs,” he notes. However, these conversations and/or agreements appear to be taking place exclusively in the corridors of power rather than out in the open. It is difficult to find a leasing company who will say they are actively encouraging the use of PMA. It is much easier to find lessors who say they are still deeply concerned about warranty and valuation issues. Charles Willis, chairman and CEO of Willis Lease Finance, is unequivocal in his views. “I do not agree that engine lessors are warming to the use of PMA,” he tells ATE&M. “On the contrary, the use of PMA engine parts would create a twotiered valuation system and aftermarket. We have not seen their use in our contracts.” Asked
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what his reaction would be if an airline came to him wanting to negotiate the use of PMA parts, whether in a new contract or a renewal, Willis said he would tell the customer that “for the time being we would not use the parts”. There are certainly no benefits for lessors in making changes to existing leases, so if a change in attitude is taking place it will take a long time for any tangible results to be seen. Only when new contracts are being discussed, or existing ones come up for renewal, can PMA negotiations potentially take place – and the majority of lessors will not actively encourage such discussion, or like Willis, encourage any discussions at all. Far from accepting that cost savings are possible, Willis takes a longer term view. “There may be immediate cost savings but what about the value loss to the engine?” he asks. “Our concerns are technical acceptance by our customers and engine valuation.” As things stand, there is no concrete evidence that a shift in lessor acceptance is taking place. The reality of the situation still depends on who you are asking. BELAC’s Yi says it is a “misconception” that there is loss of residual value through the use of PMA parts and says the rise in a “significant aftermarket requirement for overhauled BELAC blades” suggests that this misconception is being laid to rest. On the other hand, Jeffrey Conner, director - alternate materials strategy at GE Aviation, says that increased lessor acceptance would in
any case have no bearing on the OEM’s “fundamental concerns with the absence of system level data for engines operating with a mixture of type certificate holder and non-type certificate holder parts and repairs”. Conner says that GE continues to be concerned with part-level changes introduced via PMA. “Existing FAA rules regarding PMA (and repair) allow for the introduction of design,
Are lessors warming to the acceptance of PMA parts? It depends on who you ask.
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material and or manufacturing process changes at the part level without the involvement of the type certificate holder for the engine into which the changes are being introduced,” he explains. “Maintaining continued airworthiness of aircraft engines requires a rigorous assessment of the impact of partlevel changes on other parts, sub-systems and systems in the engine, especially with respect to life-limited parts and engine operability.” He points out that the FAA Engine & Propeller Directorate recently sent an interesting request letter to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). In it, the AIA was asked to form an advisory group to assist in developing guidance material to ensure that engine system effects are properly considered when reverse engineering turbine engine parts. “This letter highlighted FAA concerns that existing policy and advisory circular guidance used to validate reverse engineered designs ‘do not adequately account for engine system effects when the reverse engineered part does not fully duplicate the type certificate holder’s part’,” he says. This documentation, he says, provides FAA confirmation that OEMs are only responsible for the airworthiness and systems effects of their own parts installed in the product. “Installation of parts and repairs approved without the involvement of GE can impact our ability to provide technical support, including failure investigations,” he warns.
strategies to fight this competition. Some are withholding CMMs [component maintenance manuals] and other ICA [Instructions for Continued Airworthiness] information. Some are quoting incredibly long lead times to MROs that don’t sign contracts. Some are coming hard at the operators to sign ‘total care’ agreements which exclude PMA.” HEICO co-president Eric Mendelson is also critical of what he sees as the “abusive” pricing practices of some OEMs and their attempts to curtail airline usage of PMA parts. He explains that the vast majority of the FAA-PMA
HEICO reports exponential growth in PMA parts uptake in Latin America and Asia.
An OEM monopoly? So the FAA has certain concerns, and yet the PMA manufacturers have also held up FAA guidance as proof that PMA parts are perfectly valid. “The industry has reached consensus that PMA parts offer the same level or better performance for safety and reliability,” asserts BELAC’s Chong Yi. He is not the only confident voice. “Over the last few years, with FAA support and pro-active education, the mind set on PMA has changed completely to the point where PMA parts are no longer discussed in the context of safety,” says Andy Shields, VP PMA at Wencor. “PMA parts/suppliers have become largely invisible within air carriers’ supply chains. The original position against PMA from the OEMs, targeted at safety comments, has now changed to pure commercial tactics.” These OEM commercial tactics are largely perceived to be an attempt to aggressively increase their share or even take control of the aftermarket. Jet Parts Engineering’s Dark fears the “reaction from the OEM community becoming stronger and [even] more aggressive”. He says: “Alternative sourcing (PMA, DER repair, etc.) is the only threat to the OEM aftermarket monopoly, and the OEMs are developing new
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BELAC president Chong Yi says the aftermarket requirement for overhauled BELAC blades is “laying to rest the misconception that there is loss of residual value through the use of PMA parts”.
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parts his company has developed have been at the request of the airlines “in order to create competition, providing an [alternative] for our partners to the abusive aftermarket pricing practices of many OEMs”. He has seen a resurgence of some OEMs “manipulating their control of maintenance instructions to constrain airlines’ use of FAA-PMA parts and DER repairs”. Mendelson commended the FAA for taking a strong position in a recently-issued draft memorandum “that tells the OEMs this behaviour is ‘not acceptable’”. Both Dark and Mendelson believe there are ways to prevent the “uncompetitive OEM monopoly” from becoming reality. Mendelson has urged airlines to act with “courage” and “smarts” and investigate using alternative suppliers of parts and repair to help them gain control over what would otherwise be a non-competitive environment. While he has the utmost respect for the investments that the airframe, engine and component OEMs make to develop new-technology aircraft, he observes that the companies are making these types of investments because they expect to be rewarded with volumes of new aircraft sales. But Mendelson points out that the real profits for the systems suppliers are in supplying parts and MRO in the service life of the aircraft. “The challenge for airlines that operate aircraft with these systems is that too often there is only one source of supply for parts and repair,” he says. “Without competition, prices rise without restraint, and service levels decline.” This is why competition from PMA and DER repair companies is essential, he says, and why airlines must act shrewdly to ensure there is more than one source of parts and repair. Dark believes the PMA industry is being “challenged again to come up with solutions that can effectively combat some of these OEM initiatives and keep the competition of alternate sourcing as an important long term benefit to the operators”. In offering a solution, he states: “We really need ‘champions’ in the airline industry that understand the fact that the only reason the OEMs are coming to the table with concessions is that there is strong competition to their product. Unless the operators understand that, the OEMs will again capture the aftermarket.” The OEMs are thus being cast in the villain role, but is this really fair? Responding to a question about OEMs wanting to create a monopoly in the aftermarket, GE’s Conner notes that OEMs have always been involved in engine services – whether in product life-cycle cost of ownership, new spare part manufacturing and delivery, component repair development, or engine overhaul and repair capability to support fleet entry into service.
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PMA companies are continuing to make inroads in new areas of the aircraft, and in new regions of the world.
Some are withholding CMMs and other ICA information. Some are quoting incredibly long lead times to MROs that don’t sign contracts. Some are coming hard at the operators to sign ‘total care’ agreements which exclude PMA. —Jeff Dark, VP sales & marketing, Jet Parts Engineering
He says that the increased OEM presence in the aftermarket is in fact a response to customer demand. “Over the years, customers have increasingly looked to the OEM to offer more comprehensive, value-added solutions. In response, GE began providing its ‘OnPoint’ solutions, offering flexible overhaul and/or material solutions, often including risk transfer elements, which provide competitive maintenance services with tailored product structure and terms,” he says. “Currently, about half of the installed fleet of GE and CFM products is covered by GE with these types of products. The solutions typically cover a broad range of product content — new, used, repair, overhaul, logistics, licensing, etc. — such that airlines realised more value in the overall engine and cost of ownership than can be achieved through just alternative materials on specific components,” he states. Connor says that GE also offers solutions that deliver value to MRO network partners to make competitive OEM solutions available through independent or airline affiliated MRO providers. “This provides airlines more choices of non-OEM services providers who offer other unique value propositions (e.g. aircraft MRO, geographic proximity and relationships, etc.),” he explains. “So it is not a matter of “taking control”; rather, GE offers OEM solutions that customers want and choose in order to achieve the best total cost of ownership.”
The future Where does all this leave us then, apart from being highly confused? The ‘reality’ of the
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situation seems to be many things at once: some customers want the cost savings offered by PMA parts; some prefer the cost savings offered by total OEM solutions. Few completely understand the warranty and valuation issues associated with using PMA parts in leased aircraft, and even fewer want to see a market monopoly. Could it be that with all the competing strands of information and disinformation, advantages and solutions, that in fact a “happy” market balance is already being maintained? Or is this idea itself just wishful thinking? Meanwhile, the PMA companies are continuing to make inroads in new areas of the aircraft, and in new regions of the world. BELAC’s Yi sees the largest growth area being in China and the Pacific Rim, while HEICO’s Mendelson reports “exponential growth” in Latin America, as well as Asia. Jet Parts Engineering’s Dark agrees that Asia offers the “bulk of new opportunity”, but admits the rate of worldwide uptake on PMA parts has been surprising. “We are still seeing growth in emerging PMA markets, but I don’t think it has been as fast as any of us expect,” he explains. “We are continually trying to break down barriers with fledgling PMA users.” Wencor’s Shields notes that regulatory agencies throughout the world have recently been including PMAs within bi-lateral agreements. “This is allowing more and more air carriers throughout the world to seek the advantages that PMA offers. The use of PMA is widespread in Europe and slightly behind the US. The Asia Pacific market for PMA is slowly increasing in line with our expectations and is dependent on the individual air carrier’s situation,” he says. A general theme has emerged: “The rate of PMA take up is directly related to the percentage of leased aircraft in a carrier’s fleet — the higher the percentage of owned aircraft, the higher the use of PMA.” One result of the OEMs’ continued increase in aftermarket share could be consolidation among the PMA companies. Dark says the push for total solutions could eventually lead to PMA consortiums or joint proposals, but these are only ideas at this stage. Most of the larger PMA companies are still active in making strategic acquisitions. “I think we’re still seeing PMA companies consolidating and acquiring some of the smaller companies that add to their expertise and capabilities,” says Dark. “I’d say at this point there are less than a dozen serious players, regarding test & computation PMAs.” However many players there actually are, they could not ask for a more controversial market within which to operate. ■
© AFI KLM E&M - Patrick Delapierre
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
In the MRO business, strategic co-operation between airlines and third-party providers is growing as the industry’s revenues become bigger and the stakes gets higher. Chris Kjelgaard reports.
Technical ties ven though the world’s airlines have always found it difficult to make money, the air transport industry continues to grow. Recent estimates by Airbus and Boeing forecast that within the next 20 years the number of commercial aircraft flying worldwide will basically double. At the same time, aircraft and their engines are becoming increasingly expensive and complex as cost-pressured airlines continue to demand more capability from every new aircraft design. Meanwhile, each of the three major engine manufacturers is deeply invested in trying to secure a larger slice of the long-term engine MRO market for itself. There is much evidence
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to suggest the engine OEMs will win dominant shares of the MRO markets for their new products, as new engine designs become increasingly complex and make more use of advanced materials. Airframe manufacturers too are becoming increasingly involved in the MRO markets for their aircraft, particularly in terms of providing software tools for MRO planning and inventory management, as well as selling components. Boeing is offering the comprehensive ‘GoldCare’ aftermarket services programme, indicating a desire to move into the MRO business strongly for itself. Faced with increasing OEM competition, many airlines and traditional third-party MRO
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© AFI KLM E&M - Patrick Delapierre
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
Before the merger of their parent companies, AFI and KLM E&M were each successful in the third-party MRO market in their own rights, but as AFI KLM E&M their capabilities and reach have expanded significantly. providers are now co-operating closely with the OEMs in order to survive. Major MRO companies are linking themselves with the airframe manufacturers in global networks of MRO providers, each network approved by a particular manufacturer for the repair and overhaul of its products. The Airbus MRO Network, for instance, is targeting a 20-provider global membership roster and is nearly there. Boeing has its own approved network too. But, at the same time, airlines’ in-house MRO operations and third-party MRO providers are increasingly using co-operation with their peers as a key strategy to extend their product offerings, skillsets and market reach. Joint ventures and other strategic arrangements among airline MRO providers and between third-party MRO shops are proliferating. Mergers between airlines and consolidation within the third-party MRO industry provide a particularly strong impetus driving increased co-operation within the MRO community.
Co-operation between AFI and KLM E&M For instance, the merger between Air France and KLM — widely regarded as among the most successful airline mergers of the past 20 years – has engendered very close co-operation between Air France’s MRO arm, Air France
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Industries (AFI), and KLM Engineering & Maintenance (KLM E&M). Before the merger of their parent companies, AFI and KLM E&M were each successful in the third-party MRO market in their own rights. Now, together as AFI KLM E&M, they have extended their capabilities and reach significantly. “When you have a merger of two airlines, it’s kind of chance whether you have a lot of duplication or a lot of complementary [MRO capabilities], says Ludovic Loisel, VP strategy for AFI KLM E&M. “Air France and KLM had a lot of complementary capabilities.” Both Air France and KLM found they were individually outsourcing MRO activities which the other’s MRO unit had the capability to handle. As a result, says Loisel, as long as AFI or KLM E&M remained competitive with its bid for its sister airline’s business, Air France KLM could insource many MRO activities. Similarly, both AFI and KLM E&M had product lines for third-party and in-house business which the other company did not offer: KLM, for instance, offered airframe line maintenance in many locations as a third-party MRO activity, whereas Air France had only a minor presence in the market. Air France had extensive MRO experience on the Boeing 777 and was able to pass this knowledge on so that KLM could perform its
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
777 ‘A’ checks more quickly. KLM E&M had extensive in-house MRO capability for integrated-drive generators (IDGs) and constantspeed drives (CSDs), both for itself and for third-party customers, an area where Air France had previously outsourced its work. Air France had a strongly established presence, which KLM lacked, in MRO for nacelles and fan thrust reversers. As a result of Air France-KLM’s newly increased scope and size, KLM E&M was able to bring in-house (to its EPCOR subsidiary) a new capability for auxiliary power units; previously, both Air France and KLM had outsourced their APU work. KLM was also able to increase its MRO capability for IDGs substantially in the knowledge that as long as its pricing remained competitive it would win Air France business. When KLM introduced the A330 and 777 into its fleet, it provided a scale effect for AFI KLM E&M in supporting the two fleet types for its parent airlines and the market. The same was true for the Embraer E-Jet family, which Air France subsidiary Régional and KLM subsidiary KLM Cityhopper both operated. Neither partner’s E-Jet fleet had been large enough before the merger for the parent companies to establish a specific component-support offer for the E-Jet family, but AFI KLM E&M has now developed this. Meanwhile, in the mainline single-aisle market, Air France operated an all-Airbus A320-family fleet and had a major component capability for the family — while KLM was all-Boeing 737NG and its MRO capabilities reflected the company’s Boeing-dominated fleet. The two carriers’ complementary capabilities enable AFI KLM E&M to have an extensive offer on singleaisle component support. “The strategy was a good fit,” says Loisel. “Both had developed engineering and maintenance capabilities and were offering third-party services, so their economic models were not in conflict. We are taking advantage of the complementarity and we are resolving some duplication, and we are also seeing economies of scale. Where one company was doing something which had a big saving, the other company was able to add it [to its MRO programme] quite easily.” An example comes from KLM, which “had a very good idea on engine washes that we have implemented in Air France”. Air France KLM was also able to establish centres of excellence for engine MRO: at Paris for the CFM56-5 and GE90 and at Amsterdam for the CFM56-7 and CF6-80E1. The fact that both Air France and KLM operate the CF6-80C2 has allowed them to manage group workload better, according to Loisel. “It’s the only engine that can help us balance [workload] between shops – if Air France’s shops were full of GE90s
and we needed to generate more GE90 slots, we could transfer [CF6-80] workload to KLM. So duplication has been turned into an asset.” Air France was already operating 777s, A330s and 747-400s before the merger. KLM had enormous experience with the 747 and now operates all three aircraft types, so the partners decided to establish a joint in-house engineering resource for each aircraft type to leverage each carrier’s experience. Both airlines’ 747 fleets will retain their existing maintenance programmes — “It would not make sense to reset,” notes Loisel — but in the future all service bulletins, airworthiness directives and modifications to both carriers’ 747400s will be performed in the same way. The merger has also had a positive effect on each carrier’s line maintenance and third-party MRO activities, according to Loisel. At many line stations, Air France and KLM were both performing their own line maintenance. But Air France KLM has been able to rationalise its organisation so that only one carrier handles line maintenance at any given station — often KLM, since it has a highly developed line maintenance capability as a third-party provider. KLM E&M’s third-party line maintenance business
Both Air France and KLM found they were individually outsourcing MRO activities which the other’s MRO unit had the capability to © AFI KLM E&M - Patrick Delapierre handle.
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In the third-party MRO business, Iberia Maintenance and BA Engineering have been approaching the market together and have won some contracts taking advantage of the greater size and scope. has grown since the merger. Meanwhile, the AFI KLM E&M sales force is now a single unit and in different countries the sales reps are all located in the same sales offices.
Benefits for Iberia Maintenance and British Airways Engineering
We are taking advantage of the complementarity and we are resolving some duplication, and we are also seeing economies of scale. —Ludovic Loisel, VP strategy, AFI KLM E&M
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Although the merger of British Airways and Iberia is at an earlier stage of its development than that of Air France and KLM, the founding companies of International Airlines Group see strong signs of complementarity between Iberia Maintenance (a major provider of third-party MRO in addition to handling Iberia’s own requirements) and British Airways Engineering. “We are working with BA in 10 different areas of synergies associated with cost-cutting or income growth,” reports José Ruiz de Castañeda, general director of maintenance and engineering for Iberia. “One of them is dedicated to reducing subcontracting activities by inducing the work in-house at competitive prices. Through that process we have increased our MRO activities in engines and components.” In the third-party MRO business, Iberia Maintenance and BA Engineering are also “approaching the market together and have got some contracts taking advantage of [our] greater size and scope. One example is the Thomas Cook components contract for the A320 and A330,” notes Ruiz de Castañeda.
Just like KLM and Air France, “BA’s scope of maintenance activities is focused mainly on Boeing products, while Iberia’s is more specialised in Airbus products,” says Ruiz de Castañeda. Since both carriers operate large numbers of A320-family aircraft, they both have significant A320 MRO capability and share the group MRO workload. “For the rest, we specialise in Airbus and they … in Boeing,” he notes. “By combining both offers, we are now covering the great majority of products in the market.” Other advantages and new product lines are resulting from the merger. Iberia Maintenance has become licensed by General Electric to overhaul the CF34-8 engine and has begun work on adding a CF34-8 line to its in-house and third-party MRO portfolio. Meanwhile, “BA has great experience in cost control and increased efficiency through lean processes, and we are taking advantage of it,” says Ruiz de Castañeda. BA and Iberia are now operating a common parts inventory for their A320-family fleets, and are “approaching OEMs whenever possible, asking for volume discounts. The merger has brought new opportunities; as we like to say, we feel stronger together.”
Co-operation within Mubadala Aerospace The same can be said when a third-party MRO company becomes linked by ownership
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SR Technics says it has “benefited significantly” from working together with Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies as part of Mubadala Aerospace’s global MRO network. with other MRO and aerospace companies. A good example is SR Technics, now part of Mubadala Aerospace, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala Development Company. Mubadala is a key investment vehicle in assisting diversification of Abu Dhabi’s economy. Mubadala Aerospace owns various companies and SR Technics is enjoying life as part of a bigger group which offers a wide variety of MRO and associated services. “We’ve benefited significantly from working together with Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) as part of Mubadala Aerospace’s global MRO network,” says James Stewart, CEO of SR Technics Group. Additionally, the two companies’ partnership within Mubadala Aerospace with engine and spares financing company Sanad Aero Solutions “has enabled SR Technics and ADAT to secure a number of significant projects with customers such as Virgin Australia and airberlin, through the provision of finance, leasing and spare part solutions”. Stewart notes: “SR Technics’ and ADAT’s capabilities very much complement one another, giving customers greater choices and support. A good example is engine maintenance. While SR Technics has capabilities for the CFM56 series and PW4000 series, ADAT has capabilities for the CF6-80C2, Trent 500 and 700, GE90-115B and soon the IAE V2500. This combined service offering shows how customers can benefit from the Mubadala MRO
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network leverage.” ADAT and SR Technics have created knowledge- and skills-transfer programmes to maximise the sharing of best practices within the group. Additionally, says Stewart, “as the largest MRO business in the Middle East, ADAT also offers insight and expertise on the region, and bridging into Asia, which creates long-term benefits for Mubadala Aerospace’s global MRO network.” Benefits of scale exist, too: “There are clear synergies between ADAT and SR Technics, particularly across supply-chain and commercial areas. The two companies are working closely together to learn from one another and make the processes and delivery more streamlined.” SR Technics is also developing new services and product lines under Mubadala’s stewardship. “We are expanding our portfolio to provide innovative solutions for airline customers,” says Stewart. In addition to the financing, leasing and spare-parts services it can offer through its partnership with Sanad, SR Technics has also developed partnerships with OEMs which allow it to work with them to develop new repairs. Together with its EASA 21J certification, SR Technics’ engineering capabilities allow it to develop new designs and repairs for airlines as the industry changes. “A recent example of this was our work with Panasonic and Gulf Air to incorporate fleet-wide television and broadband connectivity solu-
ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE
tions,” notes Stewart. (Gulf Air is the first airline to offer live streaming television on intercontinental routes.) Meanwhile, “SR Technics is also developing a growing piece part repair business, which enables customers to take advantage of cheaper repairs, instead of replacing expensive parts,” he says. The company has also recently opened a VIP completion and refurbishment centre at Zurich Airport, offering one-stop-shop capability for MRO and interior work to any customer with any Airbus or Boeing aircraft. “This extends our customer base, opens up cross-selling opportunities and enables SR Technics to tap into a higher-margin business,” says Stewart. The new VIP-aircraft centre started work on its first aircraft in August and SR Technics is in negotiations with additional customers for work in 2012.
Lufthansa Technik’s joint ventures Although Lufthansa Group is a major owner of airlines (Austrian Airlines, BMI, Brussels Airlines, Germanwings and Swiss International Air Lines are subsidiaries, as well as the five airlines in the Lufthansa Regional group), the German giant generally hasn’t adopted an inhouse MRO co-operation strategy like those of Air France KLM and International Airlines Group. This is mainly because the other airlines in Lufthansa Group have limited their MRO focus to providing basic services for internal needs and so haven’t developed MRO organisations like Lufthansa Technik, one of the world’s largest MRO providers. Lufthansa Technik (LHT) had arms-length, third-party relationships with all group airlines before they became members of the Lufthansa Group. However, LHT itself says that, apart from some co-operation on specific projects, there has been no opportunity for strategic consolidation of the group’s MRO activities or a central business approach to group MRO work. There are signs this may be changing. LHT
LHT has signed a strategic co-operation agreement covering technical services for Germanwings’ entire fleet of 30 A319s. has newly signed a strategic co-operation agreement covering technical services for Germanwings’ entire fleet of 30 A319s. In addition to having a LHT fleet manager based at Germanwings’ headquarters in Cologne, the two companies are integrating all the separate MRO contracts that Germanwings has with Lufthansa Technik under one perennial contract and are discussing adding further services to it. But while in-house strategic MRO co-operation within the Lufthansa Group has been scant, Lufthansa Technik has done plenty to foster strategic co-operation throughout the world. The company has MRO joint ventures
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Lufthansa Technik Budapest is one of many MRO joint ventures in the LHT group.
There are clear synergies between ADAT and SR Technics, particularly across supply-chain and commercial areas. —James Stewart, CEO, SR Technics Group
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with six other airlines, one of them (the Spairliners joint venture for A380 component inventory support and MRO) being with Air France Industries. Elsewhere, LHT has established the AirLiance Materials joint venture with United Airlines and Air Canada at Chicago; this company providing one of the world’s largest inventories of pedigreed aircraft parts. Ameco Beijing, a massive joint venture between Air China and LHT at Beijing, is the largest provider of MRO services in China. In Melbourne, Australia, LTQ Engineering is a joint venture between LHT and Qantas which offers MRO on CFM56-3, CFM56-7B and CF680 engines. Lufthansa Technik Malta, a Maltabased joint venture with Air Malta, provides heavy maintenance on members of the A320, A330 and A340 aircraft families. Lufthansa Technik Sofia, in which Bulgarian Aviation Group has a 20 per cent stake, offers A320family and 737-family MRO services that include everything from line maintenance to ‘D’ checks. AFI KLM E&M also has MRO joint ventures, as well as several wholly owned subsidiaries which extend its geographic reach widely. Aerotechnic Industries, a 50-50 partnership between Air France Industries and Royal Air Maroc, is a Casablanca-based A320-family maintenance line. AMES, a joint venture estab-
lished by AFI KLM E&M and Aircelle Safran Group in Dubai, offers nacelle overhaul and maintenance. In a joint venture with Max Aviation, AFI KLM E&M has established the first India-based global MRO for component services, Mumbai-based MAX MRO Services. Meanwhile, AFI subsidiary AMG operates at five facilities in the US, providing a wide variety of MRO services. French company CRMA mainly offers engine MRO, while Norwich-based KLM UK overhauls regional aircraft and 737s. Amsterdambased EPCOR specialises in MRO for APUs and pneumatic components and Spairliners rounds out the AFI KLM E&M portfolio. MRO consolidation can have its challenges. For example, AFI and KLM E&M have officially remained separate legal entities. Language differences, too, can make life interesting. But MRO consolidation and co-operation can produce intangible — and highly important — benefits too. One is that it offers companies a different and re-energising view of their business and their customer base, according to Loisel. “It offers the benefits of working in a multi-cultural atmosphere. It is a strong asset we are building up. In our minds we are much more flexible than we were before. We adapt our processes for customers. We are much more responsive. It’s very beneficial for our cus■ tomers, and for us.”
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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Same, same but different — ERP versus BoB It is a long debated issue that is sure to continue into the future, with ever-changing dynamics and a constant stream of new opinions. Tony Arrowsmith spoke with five industry experts and asked the age-old question: ERP or BoB? n the opinion of Ramco Systems’ John Stone the development of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and best of breed (BoB) market has over the past few years been somewhat stymied by the global economic situation. There has been a recovery of sorts, he says, and the need to update legacy has increased demand. Notwithstanding, says Stone, director, product and market management, global aviation solutions/enterprise systems & services, Americas, “there is a particular advantage to the BoB compliance system approach in that they are built and delivered specifically from the perspective of aircraft and component
I
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maintenance”. Likewise, most organisations can also reap significant benefits from the automation and optimisations provided by the enterprise systems. “From an economic shift perspective, the expansion is in the hybrid systems,” explains Stone. “These are the aviation centric maintenance enterprise systems that have been built from the ground up to handle the aerospace paradigms, just as a BoB would be, but also hold all the advantages of the larger and more expensive ERPs, without the typical cost of entry barrier.” He says that organisations are catching on to the idea that they can have the best of both
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In Godwin’s opinion a BoB system is more likely to be introduced at a smaller company because of ease of use and closer alignment to workflows. worlds in a single system and take advantage of advanced supply chain optimsations, integrated financials, out of the box mobility solutions, and analytics-based business intelligence. “Ramco has long believed that the industry will naturally land on the hybrid systems. It has thus built the Series 5 M&E/MRO system to manage compliance from the perspective of BoB and the supply chain and financials with all of the best practices of an ERP,” says Stone. Blending the two concepts into an affordable solution is emerging in sectors outside aviation. ERP has been around long enough that the functions are becoming commoditised in the hybrid systems and therefore don’t demand the large upfront costs typically associated with enterprise systems. Customers today have the ability to choose what functions are important, how they want to run their business, and how much they wish to personalise their software. “They are no longer stuck with the parochial approach of the BoB, nor are they locked into multi-million dollar ERP implementations that provide the business flexibility,” states Stone. He believes it is this convergence that provides basic, core, and reliable BoB functionality,
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integrated in a more rich fashion, layered with personalisations at an affordable price point. “The fact that companies choose both is the lead that Ramco followed to build a hybrid system.” With this in mind, are we looking at a changing landscape where both BoB and ERP vendors begin to consolidate their expertise for the ultimate in flexibility? “There are two options that we see as being high-probability futures. First of all, that software vendors begin to consolidate; and/or that software vendors create strong partnerships that make them look more like single solutions,” comments Stone. For him, consolidation has already been happening to some degree, but the historical trend has been somewhat troubling. The consolidation has been by the way of larger service-driven companies that are not investing in the product portfolios. Rather, they are harvesting the technology to reap maximum profitability. Option two is far more appealing in his opinion, however. Vendors can continue to focus on their core strengths, invest for growth, and create strong partnerships around well integrated products; each sharing in the revenues with the customer being the ultimate winner, having well-crafted products that
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
behave as a single system. “We also see a large future in wholesale business process outsourcing — this being a combination of cloud computing and cloud services particularly in the areas of finance, HR, records and payroll,” says Stone. “Functions operators and maintainers are not necessarily in the business of providing, and can benefit from a lower cost outsourcing model.”
Closing the gap “BoB systems such as Commsoft’s OASES have developed significantly with considerable additional functionality, especially in the areas of engineering cost and KPI collection permitting the design of specific, tailored interfaces with finance, HR, and operations systems,” says Nick Godwin, business development manager at Commsoft, when asked about changes in the market. “In this way functionality has grown towards the capabilities of ERP systems as a key part of an aviation business system, while retaining better, more intuitive and simpler to use core technical facilities than ERP systems.” From an industry perspective, each customer is unique in its approach and its deci-
sions will be heavily influenced by its history and current IT environment. Generally, any large company — which has already made a significant investment in an ERP system to control finance processes — will seek to extend this to maintenance and engineering as the requirements for it surface. In Godwin’s opinion a BoB system is more likely to be introduced at a smaller company because of ease of use and closer alignment to workflows — and because they represent a more cost effective investment, with deployment being easier and costs being lower. His company’s OASES system — which promises to support its customers with a comprehensive maintenance and support package — is targeted generally at smaller operators and it is therefore rare that OASES competes head to head with an ERP system for new business. Typically, a subsidiary company of a major airline or MRO (which already has an ERP system) justifies the vastly more cost effective, easier to use BoB system such as OASES for its own use, particularly where rapid deployment is required. “A cost effective solution does not bring into compromise the agility of a system — the balance of the two is highly
“[Customers] are no longer stuck with the parochial approach of the BoB, nor are they locked into multi-million dollar ERP implementations that provide the business flexibility.” —John Stone, director, product and market management, global aviation solutions/enterprise systems & services, Americas, Ramco systems
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The ERP and BoB market is slowly recovering from the global recession, with the need to update legacy increasing demand.
BoB systems have developed significantly with considerable additional functionality, especially in the areas of engineering cost and KPI collection permitting the design of specific, tailored interfaces with finance, HR, and operations systems. —Nick Godwin, business development manager, Commsoft
important,” says Godwin. “Indeed, extensive competition in the market has seen significant price pressures and the need for more flexible commercial approaches.” In Godwin’s belief, ERP systems are “frequently too complex to use and manipulate, losing sight of the principal goal that IT systems are supposed to allow fewer staff to generate more product”. In short, he believes BoB systems offer “far better ‘bang for the buck’ value benefits”. Nonetheless, he says, even though the divide in functionality is closing between both BoB and ERP architecture, the key difference is cost and “the choice is usually decided on scale and cost. BoB systems are vastly more cost effective for deployment into smaller operations”. “At Commsoft, we are also seeing an increasing tendency to link OASES with ERP systems in companies, although OASES would be the principal engineering and technical system,” he says. “But Commsoft’s specific experience suggests that full BoB and ERP integration in a purely engineering environment is unlikely when looking to the future.”
Accommodating the variables A couple of decades ago, there were very few off-the-shelf MRO software packages avail-
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able on the market and it was difficult for interested customers to get in contact with the software providers. “Thus, for reasons of alleged cost saving, most airlines went for a ‘quick & dirty’ solution and created a home-grown system,” comments Ronald Schaeuffele, CEO of Swiss AviationSoftware (Swiss-AS). “In most cases, these programmes guaranteed them a quick win in the beginning, but after a few years, they reached their limits.” Nowadays, it is very rare for airlines to decide to develop their own MRO systems, and aeronautical authorities (EASA or FAA) play an important role in this market as they make high demands on such systems. “Of course, the authorities’ acceptance for a well-known out-of-the-box solution is much higher than for a newly developed homegrown system,” says Schaeuffele. With the triumph of the internet, the MRO software market became much more transparent. New and much easier programming languages facilitated the development of MRO software, and many new off-the-shelf systems became available. For airlines, the challenge today is to choose the MRO software package that best fits their needs — a process that has become much more complex in recent years. This is why Schaeuffele believes that flexibility is a central quality to have, particularly
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
when developing a BoB package to accommodate client-to-client variables. According to Swiss AS, AMOS — the company’s BoB software package — is a comprehensive, fully integrated software package that manages the maintenance, engineering and logistics requirements of modern airlines and MRO providers. “Though being a flexible system — with business functions being activated/de-activated by parameters — AMOS relies on best practice and the system can be implemented in a short period of time,” he says. “Whereas the implementation of an ERP solution in the MRO context requires a thorough know-how from the technical department regarding business processes, in order to shape a highly customisable future environment.” What’s more, says Schaeuffele, “ERP solutions fit less well in areas of innovation where rapid, market-driven changes are common, while BoB solutions fit perfectly in areas in which the ‘time-to-market’ of a specific function is crucial — including the adjustment of a system to new EASA/FAA regulations.” The Swiss-AS CEO also believes ERP solutions in the MRO context need add-ons in order to cover the complete spectrum of business
functions. “The SAP installations known to us, such as those at SR Technics, Singapore Technologies, and Lufthansa Technik do not solely cover the spectrum of MRO requirements but use additional packages for completeness.”
Less is more Evan Butler-Jones is product marketing manager at Mxi Technologies. He observes that over the past few years the market has itself settled the question of “ERP vs. BoB” for aviation maintenance management. As maintenance organisations have started demanding more sophistication from their IT systems, he says, they have recognised that a custom ERP implementation will take too much time and effort to match the capabilities inherent within a BoB or commercial off the shelf (COTS) solution. “At the same time, aviation organisations are able to benefit from a historical perspective that affords them the opportunity to actually see the risks and costs of trying to roll out ERP systems in a maintenance environment, and compare that to the industry success record of integrating a BoB/COTS solution to an ERP
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Typically, a subsidiary company of a major airline or MRO (which already has an ERP system) justifies the vastly more cost effective, easier to use BoB system such as OASES for its own use.
Airline/MRO customers will ultimately have fewer BoB vendors to choose from, but those vendors will be offering more complete and capable products.” —Evan Butler-Jones, product marketing manager, Mxi Technologies
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backbone,” he says. “With the benefit of past experience, the choice becomes clear.” According to Butler-Jones, the decision for all organisations comes down to two key questions: “what business are you in?” and “what business do you want to be in?” While the answers for each company will be different, the fundamental requirement will be for a solution that supports the company in their current business and their future business as they continue to evolve. “ERP solutions are strong with regards to financial tracking and supply chain management, but generally have a significant shortfall in their ability to manage the maintenance lifecycle of assets — specifically assets as complex as aircraft and their associated components, where rigorous compliance tracking is central to the success of business.” With more advanced BoB/COTS solutions — of which Mxi believes its Maintenix software is market leader — aviation maintenance organisations no longer have to choose between the functional or business process improvements offered by ERP or less advanced COTS solutions. These next-generation systems have been specifically designed to offer functional improvements while at the same time enabling the business process improvements required to derive real value from an IT implementation
and this “represents a powerful, total-enterprise system that supports the depth and breadth of end-to-end processes and functional requirements,” he says. Butler-Jones believes the majority of the market no longer sees MRO system replacement as a question of ERP vs. BoB. “We have seen fewer and fewer competitive bids including ERP vendors. Most organisations are primarily evaluating COTS solutions.” He also observes more of a clear division between the two — the market understands the inherent strengths of ERP and, correspondingly, the inherent strengths of BoB. This has already happened very clearly in areas such as flight scheduling and crew management, where airlines understand that they need a BoB system that better reflects the environment of these specific activities and that seamless integration with their ERP system is more important than an ineffective extension of their ERP system. “We’re now seeing the same transition take place in the maintenance world,” he comments. “We believe that the result of this current trend will mean that airline/MRO customers will ultimately have fewer BoB vendors to choose from, but those vendors will be offering more complete and capable products.” Additionally, Butler-Jones says Mxi is already asked much more frequently to work with sys-
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
tem integrators and ERP vendors than his company is asked to compete with them. “The issue is already no longer ‘ERP versus BoB’ but ‘which BoB’,� he concludes.
Integrating futures “In my opinion BoB systems are more agile — they are faster to deploy and upgrade. Deployed BoB systems are less likely to be years and versions behind the current offering due to the fact that it’s easier to update them without spending a lot of money and time,� says Michael Formby, director of customer support and marketing at Omega Airline Software. “Customers are bombarded with this idea that a single vendor system is the way to go,� he states. “What they find out is that you can get an ERP with solid core functionality that one would expect, but with other mediocre modules tacked on to complete the package.� Interestingly, Formby says there are customers out there who are willing to go with inferior functionality simply to avoid multiple vendors — even though it is his belief that the reality of system integration today is that it’s easier than ever. “ERP vendors are not, in fact, moving towards more system integration,� he says. “They are instead looking to keep everything within their own system and it’s been our experience that they discourage the linking of BoB systems with their own.� Notwithstanding, Omega runs its Ames system side-by-side with ERP systems at all of its customer sites and hasn’t found any real disadvantages in doing so. He says: “The customer gets our superior planning and
scheduling functionality and with competent IT support it all gets linked together almost seamlessly with their other systems.� The challenge is in initially designing and setting up the interfaces, he states. Making sure that all parties are fully involved in the process can make this easy. “What you don’t want is one vendor designing the interface without the other being involved.� Ideally, Formby envisages an increasingly integrated market where both BoB and ERP vendors work alongside each other: “You can’t argue that the big MRO ERP systems are necessary to run an airline and that there are certain core functionalities that are expected in an MRO ERP system,� he explains. “With Ames as an example, we don’t really have an interest in the majority of what these systems do, we will always remain focused on advanced planning and scheduling and our system will continue to evolve and become more powerful in that area. Rather than some monolithic main-frame style system, the ERP system should provide a base for the organisation and have systems like Ames connected to it.� He also points out that customers cannot upgrade their ERP systems every year due to the work involved — so they can either do without the newer technology or they end up abandoning the functionality built into the ERP system to go with a BoB system. Ideally, says Formby, MRO ERP systems would stay within their core functionality and BoB systems would fill in the gap. This lets the customer stay on top of emerging technology without having to start a two-year project every ■time they want an upgrade.
Mxi’s Evan Butler-Jones says MROs have recognised that a custom ERP implementation “will take too much time and effort to match the capabilities inherent within a BoB or commercial off the shelf (COTS) solution�.
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Aircraft data: Boeing 767 Family
Operator fleet listing with engine Operator
Operator Country
Equipment Role
Engine Family
Equipment Utilization
Aircraft Count
Engine Count
ABSA CARGO ABX AIR ABX AIR AEROFLOT RUSSIAN AIRLINES AEROMEXICO AEROSVIT AIRLINES AIR ALGERIE AIR ASTANA AIR CANADA AIR CANADA AIR CHINA AIR CHINA AIR CHINA AIR EUROPA AIR ITALY AIR MADAGASCAR AIR NEW ZEALAND AIR NIUGINI AIR PACIFIC [FIJI] AIR SEYCHELLES AIR SEYCHELLES AIR SEYCHELLES AIR TRANSPORT INT/L AIR ZIMBABWE ALITALIA ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS AMERICAN AIRLINES AMERICAN AIRLINES ANA & JP EXPRESS ASIANA AIRLINES ASIANA AIRLINES AUSTRIAN AIRLINES AVIANCA AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BELAIR AIRLINES [SWITZERLAND] BELLVIEW AIRLINES BLUE PANORAMA AIRLINES BRITISH AIRWAYS CARGOJET AIRWAYS CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CONDOR CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
BRAZIL U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) RUSSIA MEXICO UKRAINE ALGERIA KAZAKSTAN CANADA CANADA CHINA CHINA CHINA SPAIN ITALY MALAGASY (MADAGASCAR) NEW ZEALAND PAPUA-NEW GUINEA FIJI SEYCHELLES SEYCHELLES SEYCHELLES U.S (&TERR.) ZIMBABWE ITALY JAPAN JAPAN U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) JAPAN SOUTH KOREA SOUTH KOREA AUSTRIA COLOMBIA AZERBAIJAN SWITZERLAND NIGERIA ITALY UNITED KINGDOM CANADA CHINA GERMANY (W. GERM) U.S (&TERR.)
FREIGHT FREIGHT FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX.
CF6-80C2 CF6-80A JT9D-7R4 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 JT9D-7R4 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80A CF6-80C2 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80A PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80A CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 RB211-524GH CF6-80A RB211-524GH PW4000-94 CF6-80C2
11454 53782 5855 41251 23123 8903 9281 7023 82405 27882 4001 3477 18413 3036 12351 4251 24105 2855 368 3086 7342 3086 4512 3518 29565 5389 143165 40967 213901 13050 2187 24487 19561 31210 2968 2936 6173 17813 88590 4512 8077 48087 111805
2 33 5 11 5 3 4 2 19 7 1 1 6 2 3 2 5 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 8 2 57 13 58 4 1 7 6 7 1 1 2 4 21 2 3 9 26
4 66 10 22 10 6 8 4 38 14 2 2 12 4 6 4 10 2 2 2 4 2 4 2 16 4 114 26 116 8 2 14 12 14 2 2 4 8 42 4 6 18 52
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Engine Utitlization 22908 107563 11710 82503 46246 17807 18561 14045 164809 55764 8002 6955 36826 6072 24703 8502 48209 5709 735 6173 14683 6173 9023 7037 59129 10778 286330 81934 427802 26099 4374 48974 39123 62420 5936 5873 12346 35627 177181 9023 16153 96174 223611
DATA & DIRECTIVES
Operator fleet listing with engine (cont...) Operator
Operator Country
Equipment Role
Engine Family
Equipment Utilization
Aircraft Count
Engine Count
Engine Utitlization
DELTA AIR LINES DELTA AIR LINES DELTA AIR LINES DHL INT/L DNIEPROAVIA EL AL EL AL ELAN EXPRESS ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES EURO ATLANTIC AIRWAYS EURO ATLANTIC AIRWAYS FIRST AIR FLORIDA WEST INT/L AIRWAYS FLYGLOBESPAN GABON AIRLINES GOL TRANSPORTES AEREOS GOL TRANSPORTES AEREOS HAINAN AIRLINES HAWAIIAN AIRLINES HAWAIIAN AIRLINES HOKKAIDO INT/L AIRLINES JAPAN AIRLINES INT/L JAPAN AIRLINES INT/L JAPAN AIRLINES INT/L JORDAN AVIATION KABO AIR KAM AIR KENYA AIRWAYS LAN AIRLINES LAN AIRLINES LAN ARGENTINA LAN CARGO LAN ECUADOR LINEA AEREA CARGUERA DE COLOMBIA LOT POLISH AIRLINES MARTINAIR HOLLAND MAS AIR CARGO MEXICANA MONARCH AIRLINES NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINES [NY-USA] PRIVATAIR [SWITZERLAND] QANTAS QANTAS ROSSIYA RUSSIAN AIRLINES ROYAL AIR MAROC ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES RYAN INT/L AIRLINES RYAN INT/L AIRLINES S7 AIRLINES SAFI AIRWAYS SANTA BARBARA AIRLINES SHANGHAI AIRLINES SKYMARK AIRLINES [JAPAN] SKYSTAR AIRWAYS STAR AIR [DENMARK] STAR AIR [DENMARK] STP AIRWAYS TAM LINHAS AEREAS TAMPA COLOMBIA THOMAS COOK AIRLINES [UK] THOMSON AIRWAYS TRANSAERO AIRLINES TRANSAERO AIRLINES TRANSAERO AIRLINES TUI AIRLINES BELGIUM TUI AIRLINES NEDERLAND TUIFLY NORDIC AB UNITED AIR LINES UNITED PARCEL SERVICE US AIRWAYS UZBEKISTAN AIRWAYS VISION AIR [NV-USA] VIVA MACAU VIVA MACAU
U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) UNITED KINGDOM UKRAINE ISRAEL ISRAEL U.S (&TERR.) ETHIOPIA ETHIOPIA PORTUGAL PORTUGAL CANADA U.S (&TERR.) UNITED KINGDOM GABON BRAZIL BRAZIL CHINA U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JORDAN NIGERIA AFGHANISTAN KENYA CHILE CHILE ARGENTINA CHILE ECUADOR COLOMBIA POLAND NETHERLANDS MEXICO MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM U.S (&TERR.) SWITZERLAND AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA RUSSIA MOROCCO BRUNEI U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) RUSSIA AFGHANISTAN VENEZUELA CHINA JAPAN THAILAND DENMARK DENMARK SAO TOME BRAZIL COLOMBIA UNITED KINGDOM UNITED KINGDOM RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA BELGIUM NETHERLANDS SWEDEN U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) U.S (&TERR.) UZBEKISTAN U.S (&TERR.) MACAU MACAU
PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. FREIGHT FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT FREIGHT PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. FREIGHT PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX. PAX.
CF6-80A CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 JT9D-7R4 PW4000-94 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80A CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 PW4000-94 CF6-80A PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80A PW4000-94 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 RB211-524GH CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80A PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 JT9D-7R4 PW4000-94 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80C2 CF6-80A PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 CF6-80A CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 CF6-80C2 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94 JT9D-7R4 CF6-80C2 PW4000-94
29850 196735 121722 4483 2968 5727 12177 3371 2010 32326 897 8134 96 5241 14475 6173 4397 4397 10239 10213 48354 8857 8840 114838 23502 2951 3500 2826 21107 98919 12783 9412 10944 7878 11009 14647 26961 9893 14299 4606 20425 4297 56354 16007 8155 12085 30200 4115 3166 4017 3031 8253 18390 3427 11305 3452 6411 3529 14911 15513 3987 55278 2294 10749 9088 12644 12308 4144 36009 120009 23004 16944 10112 2855 2236
13 51 31 5 1 2 4 1 1 9 1 2 1 1 4 2 1 1 3 3 14 3 3 36 10 1 1 1 6 22 3 2 2 2 2 6 5 2 4 1 6 1 21 8 3 4 6 2 1 2 1 2 7 1 4 4 7 1 3 4 2 13 1 4 4 3 3 1 35 42 8 5 3 1 1
26 59699 102 393470 62 243444 10 8966 2 5936 4 11454 8 24354 2 6741 2 4019 18 64651 2 1793 4 16268 2 192 2 10481 8 28949 4 12346 2 8794 2 8794 6 20478 6 20425 28 96707 6 17713 6 17679 72 229677 20 47005 2 5902 2 6999 2 5653 12 42214 44 197837 6 25566 4 18825 4 21888 4 15756 4 22017 12 29294 10 53922 4 19786 8 28598 2 9212 12 40851 2 8595 42 112707 16 32015 6 16310 8 24171 12 60400 4 8230 2 6333 4 8035 2 6063 4 16507 14 36780 2 6855 8 22611 8 6903 14 12823 2 7059 6 29822 8 31025 4 7974 26 110556 2 4589 8 21498 8 18175 6 25289 6 24616 2 8289 70 72019 84 240017 16 46007 10 33889 6 20223 2 5709 2 4472 source: OAG Aviation
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DATA & DIRECTIVES
767-200ER - technical characteristics Passenger Seating Configuration Typical 3-class Typical 2-class Typical 1-class Cargo Engines Maximum thrust
Maximum Fuel Capacity Maximum Takeoff Weight Maximum Range
Typical Cruise Speed at 35,000ft Basic Dimensions Wing Span Overall Length Tail Height Interior Cabin Width
181 224 up to 255 3,180 cu ft (90.1 cu m) Pratt & Whitney PW4000 60,200 lb GE CF6-80C2 62,100 lb 23,980 US gal (90,770 L) 395,000 lb (179,170 kg) 6,385 nmi (12,195 km) Typical city pairs: New York to Beijing Mach 0.80 (530 mph, 851 kph) 156 ft 1 in (47.6 m) 180 ft 3 in (54.9 m) 52 ft (15.8 m) 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
767-300ER - technical characteristics Passenger Seating Configuration Typical 3-class Typical 2-class Typical 1-class Cargo Engines Maximum thrust
Maximum Fuel Capacity Maximum Takeoff Weight Maximum Range
Typical Cruise Speed at 35,000ft Basic Dimensions Wing Span Overall Length Tail Height Interior Cabin Width
218 269 350 4,180 cu ft (118.4 cu m) Pratt & Whitney PW4000 63,300 lb GE CF6-80C2 62,100 lb 23,980 US gal (90,770 L) 412,000 lb (186,880 kg) 5,990 nmi (11,070 km) Typical city pairs: Frankfurt to Los Angeles Mach 0.80 (530 mph, 851 kph) 156 ft 1 in (47.6 m) 180 ft 3 in (54.9 m) 52 ft (15.8 m) 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
767-400ER - technical characteristics Passenger Seating Configuration Typical 3-class Typical 2-class Typical 1-class Cargo Engines Maximum thrust
Maximum Fuel Capacity Maximum Takeoff Weight Maximum Range
Source: Boeing
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Typical Cruise Speed at 35,000ft Basic Dimensions Wing Span Overall Length Tail Height Interior Cabin Width
245 304 375 5,095 cu ft (144.3 cu m) Pratt & Whitney PW4000 63,300 lb GE CF6-80C 63,500 lb 23,980 US gal (90,770 L) 450,000 lb (204,120 kg) 5,625 nmi (10,415 km) Typical city pairs: London to Tokyo, Newark to Moscow Chicago to Warsaw Mach 0.80 (530 mph, 851 kph) 170 ft 4 in (51.9 m) 201 ft 4 in (61.3 m) 55 ft 4 in (16.8 m) 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
DATA & DIRECTIVES
FAA airworthiness directives - large aircraft Summary of biweekly listings for the last two months Biweekly 2011-10 2011-08-07
Rolls-Royce
RB211-Trent
2011-09-07
Rolls-Royce
RB211-Trent
2011-09-10
Airbus
A300 & A310
2011-09-11
Boeing
777-200 and -300
2011-09-12
Bombardier
DHC-8
2011-09-13
Airbus
A340
2011-09-14
Boeing
747-200B, -300, -400, -400D, -400F
2011-09-15
Boeing
777-200, -200LR, -300, -300ER
2011-09-17S
Airbus
A340
2011-09-18
Dassault Aviation
FALCON 7X
2011-10-01 2011-10-04
Dassault Aviation Rolls-Royce
FALCON 7X RB211-Trent
Perform an initial ultrasonic inspection (UI) of the affected LP compressor blades identified S/N in Appendices 3A through 3F of SB No. RB.211-72AG244. Remove blades from service before further flight that fail the inspection criteria; for blades that pass inspection, re-apply dry film lubricant, and install all blades in their original position. Clean and perform a fluorescent penetrant inspection of the HP compressor stage 1 to 4 rotor discs. Inspect to determine the part number of the forward engine mounting yoke. If applicable, repair or replace as required by AD. Do a general visual inspection for hydraulic fluid contamination of the interior of the strut disconnect assembly IAW SB 777-54A0024. For applicable SN, install a drain system in the cockpit windshield lower frames, and do all applicable related investigative and corrective actions IAW SB 8-53-78. Perform an ultrasonic inspection of pylon pyramid attachment areas at the aft end of the lower arms between Rib 1 and Rib 2 without fastener removal (2 fastener locations per pylon) IAW SB A340-54-4010. Do an inspection to determine if the correct mid-pivot access door is installed IAW SB 747-54A2232. Install new panels, P301 and P302, in the main equipment center; make certain wiring changes; install new GFI relays in the P301 and P302 panels; and install new electrical load management system (ELMS) software; as applicable, IAW SB 77728A0037. Supersedes AD 2010-01-07. Revise the maintenance programme by incorporating Airbus A340 ALS, Part 3–Certification Maintenance Requirements (CMR), Revision 01, dated December 15, 2009. Install dedicated fuses on WOW proximity sensors IAW SB 7X-065. Do a functional test of the RAT heater. Remove the HP compressor stage 1-4 shaft, P/N FK32580, as directed in AD.
Biweekly 2011-11 2011-08-51R
Boeing
737-300, -400, and -500
2011-09-04
Lockheed Martin
382, 382B, 382E, 382F, and 382G
2011-10-02
Boeing
747-400, 747-400D, and 747-400F
2011-10-03
Embraer
ERJ 170, ERJ 190
2011-10-05
Airbus
A310-203, -204, -222, -304, -322, -324
2011-10-06
Airbus
A310
2011-10-07R 2011-10-08S
Airbus Airbus
A310 A310
2011-10-10
Airbus
A300
Do external eddy current inspections of the lap joint at stringers S-4R and S-4L, along the entire length from body station (BS) 360 to BS 908 IAW SB 73753A1319. Do a nondestructive inspection of the lower surface of the centre wing box for any damage IAW SB 38257-85 (82-790), and repair if necessary. Modify the thrust reverser control system wiring to the FCU in the P252 and P253 thrust reverser relay panels, or the the P414 and P415 power distribution panels, as applicable, IAW SB 747-78A2184. Do a detailed inspection for signs of drill marks at the left and right lower ring region of the rear pressure bulkhead between the circumferential splice joint and rear skin between stringers 12 and 13 IAW SB 17053-0082 or 190-53-0042. If drill marks are found, repair before further flight. Do the inspections of the lower tail plane cut-out area in the tail cone, as applicable, IAW SB A310-532074. Cold work the trellis boom drainage holes IAW SB A310-57-2048. Perform applicable inspections and repair. Supersedes AD 98-26-01. Do a high frequency eddy current inspection for cracking of the doubler plate edge, the rear spar area, and specified fastener holes in the top skin chordwise splice along the contour of the steel doubler between ribs 3 and 4 on the left-and right-hand center and side boxes on the horizontal stabilizer IAW SB A310-55-2004. Install Teflon bushes in the hydraulic reservoir panel at the lower left-hand side IAW SB A300-24-6102.
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DATA & DIRECTIVES
FAA airworthiness directives — large aircraft (cont...) 2011-10-14S
Dassault Aviation
MYSTERE-FALCON 50
2011-10-15
Airbus
A318, A319, A320, A321
2011-10-17S
Airbus
A300, A310
2011-11-02
Bombardier
DHC-8-400, -401, and -402
2010-24-13C
Boeing
747
2011-07-06C
Bombardier
CL-600-2B19
Supersedes AD 2010-24-08. Paint the pipe ends of the emergency brake system 2 and related unions IAW SB F50-515. Identify the manufacturing date code of each Deutsch module part number (P/N) NSA 937901M1604 installed on the airplane, which can be installed on electronics rack 103VU, pylon harnesses, S15/19 harnesses and/or electronics rack 80VU, as applicable. Replace each affected module with a serviceable part having the same PN but a different date code IAW SB A320-92A1072. Supersedes AD 2007-04-11. Revise the maintenance programme to incorporate the structural inspections and inspection intervals defined in the applicable ALI document listed in the AD. Do a general visual inspection for red anodized threads of the outlet fitting of the MFCV having P/N 2960018-101 installed in the left and right wing fuel tanks IAW SB 84-28-08. Replace if appropriate. Revise Section 1, ''Certificate Limitations,'' of the applicable Boeing 747 AFM to include statement in AD. Revise the Limitations and Normal Procedures sections of the Canadair Regional Jet Airplane Flight Manual (AFM), CSP A-012.
Biweekly 2011-12 2011-11-05S
Boeing
DC-10, MD-10, MD-11F
2011-11-06S
BAE Systems
BAe 146, Avro 146
2011-11-08
Rolls-Royce
RB211
2011-12-01
Koito Industries
Koito seats and systems
Supersedes AD 2007-15-05. Do an inspection of the fuel pump housing electrical connector to determine if P/N 60-84355-1 is installed. If so, perform applicable repairs. Supersedes AD 2002-03-10. Do an ultrasonic inspection on the upper part of the NLG main fitting for any crack. If found, replace the NLG main fitting with a serviceable NLG main fitting. Perform a visual and a fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI) of the LP turbine stage 1, 2, and 3 disc. Determine if the seats and seating systems and their components are compliant with FAA regulations.
Biweekly 2011-13 2011-12-05
Boeing
727
2011-12-06
Bombardier
CL-600
2011-12-09
Boeing
737-100, -200, -200C, -300, -400, -500
2011-12-11S
Boeing
767
2011-12-12
Boeing
MD-90-30
2011-12-13
Boeing
737
2011-12-14
Fokker Services
F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100
Install double shielded fuel quantity indicating system (FQIS) wire bundles, install a new wire feed-through fitting, and ground the wire shields, as applicable IAW SB 727-28-0131. Replace the HSTA with a modified HSTA IAW SB 670BA-27-058. Perform wiring changes, relay replacements, and bonding resistance measurements as applicable. Supersedes AD 2001-14-19. Replace affected drain tube assemblies of the number 5 and number 8 inboard slat track housing IAW SB 767-57A0094. Inspect for cracks of the left and right vertical stabilizer front spar cap IAW SB MD90-55A014. If any crack is found, before further flight, evaluate and verify to confirm all crack indications, and repair. Test the stabiliser takeoff warning switches IAW SB 737-27-1289. Do a general visual inspection of the routing and clamping of the sense line hose and wiring conduit hose to each wing tank overflow valve IAW SB F100-28-050.
Note: The letter ‘C’ after the AD number denotes a correction to the original AD The letter ‘S’ after the AD number indicates that the AD supersedes a previous AD The letter ‘R’ after the AD number indicates a revision to the original AD The letter ‘E’ after the AD number indicates an emergency AD The letters ‘FR’ indicate the final rule of an emergency AD
Please 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
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