MRO - AviTrader

AviTrader 

MRO 

November 2011 - www.avitrader.com 

MANAGING EFFICIENCY 

• What It Really Means to be Lean 

• Software for the 21st century 

ANALYSIS - WHEELS AND BRAKES KES PA P RT III • INDUSTRY NEWS 

LESSORS AND PMA: DEBUNKING THE PMA MYTH • OEM FINANCIALS

Wheels and Brakes 

Specialist 

Trading Division with 

significant ready-to-go 

Wheel and Brake 

inventories in Copenhagen, 

Hamburg and 

Miami 

Evidently, lots of designers 

are using Visio to layout 

pages. As you dig around on 

the web, 

TP Aerospace 

Stamholmen 165 R 

DK-2650 Hvidovre 

Denmark, Europe 

sales@tpaerospace.com 

www.TPAerospace.com 

Maintenance Division 

offering competitive and 

top quality repair and 

overhaul services for 

aircraft Wheels and 

Brakes 

EASA Approval no: 

DE.145.0459 

AOG 

HOTLINE 

+45 899 399 29 

Leasing Division offering 

easy and cost effective 

solutions through Lease 

Packages, Pool 

Agreements and Cycle 

Flat Rate (CFR) 

Programs

Editor‘s Page 3 

the power of Lean: different approaches to the same end 

WELCOME tO Our NOvEMBEr ISSuE 

of AviTrader MRO, where, in the spirit of the 

times, we take a good hard look at Lean techniques 

and how a range of companies have 

managed to improve efficiencies at all levels of 

their organizations while achieving significant 

cost savings and reductions in turnarounds. 

It hasn’t been easy to introduce Lean practices 

to the aviation sector. Lean techniques originated 

in the manufacturing industry, and more 

specifically, the Japanese car assembly line. But 

aviation is a different kettle of fish. Aircraft are 

subject to vastly different - and significantly 

harsher - environments than cars, and the variations 

and uncertainties that ensue mean that 

applying Lean techniques ‘out of the box’, so to 

speak, is a major challenge, if not impossible. 

In this issue, three senior company executives in 

charge of Lean practices within their respective 

MROs tell us how they have adapted Lean con- 

Contents 

cepts to the business, all with considerable degrees 

of success. We also take a look at the role 

of IT in managing efficiency; experts in the field 

tell us how software solutions and e-marketplaces 

for spare parts have revolutionized data 

management, planning, purchasing, scheduling, 

invoicing and just about everything else. 

Our financial section this month focuses on 

third quarter and nine month financial data 

from the major OEMs that reported before 

AviTrader MRO went to press. What emerges 

is a picture of robust health, with rises in both 

revenues and profits at most of the companies 

surveyed. How long this will last remains to be 

seen, but, as one CFO put it, it’s “not as bad as 

everyone seems to want to think it is” 

We also bring you a snapshot of one of the 

key sessions at the inaugural International PMA 

Summit in London, on the subject of PMA 

parts, and in this case, the outlook for PMA 

A CF6 engine makes its way down the ‘flowline’ at MTU‘s facility in Hannover MTU 

Latest Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Facilities News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

It News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

Cover Story: What It Means to be Lean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10 

Cover Story: Software, Software Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12 

Events: pMa Summit - Debunking the pMa Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Finance: the OEMs - Shining amid the Gloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

IBa analysis: Where there’s a Wheel, there’s a Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

News in Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-22 

Industry people on the Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 

manufacturers and suppliers as the number of 

leased aircraft is forecast to rise to at least 50% 

of the global fleet by 2020. 

Finally - another nod to our friends at the International 

Bureau of Aviation, who wrap up 

their three-part series on Wheels and Brakes. 

We look forward to more insightful data from 

them, as we’re sure our readers do. If you’ve 

found their articles useful, or you’d like to know 

more, get in touch with them - their contact details 

are on page 17. 

For our final issue of 2011, we look to the year 

ahead, and, with insight from a range of senior 

executives across the MRO industry, we provide a 

snapshot of what to expect in 2012. Casting our 

eye to the first months of 2012, we’ll be bringing 

you features on Spare Engine Availability, the 

Asian MRO Market, Engine Part Scrap Rates and 

Aircraft Painting. We welcome your input - send 

your comments to us at editor@avitrader.com. 

AviTrader 

MRO 

Published monthly by 

AviTrader Publications Corp. 

9500 Aquila Road 

Richmond, BC 

Canada V7A 3P9 

Email: peter.jorssen@avitrader.com 

Tel: +1 (604) 448 0970 

www.avitrader.com 

Editorial 

Catherine Davies, Editor 

Email: editor@avitrader.com 

Tel: +44 (0) 1442 870 058 

Mobile: +44 (0) 7772 896 280 

Advertising inquiries 

Jenny Falk 

Head of Sales & Marketing 

Email: jenny.falk@avitrader.com 

Tel: +49 (0) 8761 346007 

Registration 

AviTrader MRO is a subscription-free 

monthly publication. To receive a copy in 

your inbox every month, please send an 

email with the subject “subscribe” to oemmro@avitrader 

com 

Opinion 

Please send your comments and queries to 

editor@avitrader.com 

AviTrader MRO - November 2011

Latest Industry News 4 

SDV selected for Airbus’ worldwide spares warehouse management 

SDV was selected to manage Airbus’ spares warehouses in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dubai and Singapore in 

order to ensure a continuous spare parts and material supply all year long, around the clock, under aviation 

quality requirements and with a high level of responsiveness. Airbus aims at optimizing their warehouse 

operations through the use of flexible and high quality warehousing services. SDV will take over operations 

in Airbus locations or operate own logistics 

facilities. Based on the Airbus specifications 

SDV will deploy a general process applying 

to all locations and integrating packaging 

and storage for the different order priorities 

and if requested customs clearance and 

quality inspection. 

Operations successfully began in Dubai on 

July 1st, 2011. The Hamburg warehouse Entry 

Into Service is scheduled for January 1st 

2012, with the remaining locations currently 

in the planning stage. SDV, a company of 

Bolloré Logistics, is a global leader in supply 

chain management with a network of 525 

offices in 92 countries. 

Boeing begins work on 1,000th 777 

Boeing workers began assembly of the 1,000th 777. 

The airplane is a Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) 

model. It will be delivered to Dubai-based Emirates 

Airline in March 2012. Emirates is the largest 777 

customer with 95 777s currently in its fleet; the 

1,000th 777 will be its 102nd.Production began with 

loading of the 97-foot (29.5 meter) wing spar – the 

main support structure for the wing – into a giant tool 

that automatically drills, measures and installs more 

than 5,000 fasteners into the spar. 

Sabena technics signs two new component 

services agreements 

Sabena technics signed two new component services 

agreements at the Dubai Airshow. Under the first, it 

will repair Airbus A320 and A321 components for 

Spare Solution Support India (SSSI), a joint venture 

between EADS/Airbus, Indian partner Airspace Infrastructure 

and Turkish partner Airlogic. SSSI boasts 

a stock of component rotables used on all types of 

Airbus commercial aircraft for outright sale, exchange 

and customized pooling arrangements. 

Sabena technics also signed a three-year component 

repair services agreement with ULS Airlines Cargo, a 

Turkish cargo operator formerly known as Kuzu Airlines 

Cargo, which operates international cargo services with 

a fleet of three Airbus A300-84s and three A310-300s. 

An Airbus A320 family door going into storage Airbus 

“This increased flow of repair rewards our efforts and 

is a testament to the high level of services provided by 

Sabena tecnnics on these specific aircraft types,” said 

CEO Christophe Bernardini. 

XL Airways France selects A J Walter Aviation 

for PBH support contract 

XL Airways France chose A J Walter Aviation to support 

and enhance its operational efficiency out of 

Charles De Gaulle Airport. A J Walter Aviation has 

been awarded a five-year contract to provide powerby-the-hour 

support to the XL Airways France B737NG 

aircraft fleet. This is especially important to AJW since 

it is the Company’s first PBH contract in the French 

aviation market and its first at Charles De Gaulle Airport 

where it will position consignment stock to support 

the XL fleet. 

AFI KLM E&M signs five-year deal with 

Tech-Log 

AFI KLM E&M awarded Tech-Log a five-year contract 

allowing the promotion and distribution of KLM’s 

B737NG inventory. UK based Tech-Log, which is part 

of the AMP Group, already has a similar partnership 

with AFI KLM E&M covering Air France’s A320 fleet 

material. This new deal will give Tech-Log access to 

KLM’s active stock valued at $20m, which will be 

available for exchange purpose to operators and 

MRO’s worldwide. Given its relationship with AFI KLM 

E&M, Tech Log will be hoping to strengthen its portfolio 

within the group. 

Lufthansa Technik develops virtual fitting 

technology for aircraft 

Lufthansa Technik has developed a new method for 

significantly shortening the “Fitcheck”, and has filed 

a patent application for significant elements of it. The 

“Virtual Fitcheck” will revolutionize today’s normal 

practice, under which the various elements of the 

cabin installation have to be trial-fitted in the real 

aircraft in a time-consuming process. The new procedure, 

developed under a project due to run to 2013 

(funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research 

(BMBF) and implemented through the excellence 

cluster for the aerospace region of Hamburg), 

is based on virtual three-dimensional modeling of the 

airframe, cabin and systems. As a result, most of the 

components can be designed and checked prior to the 

start of production so that they fit into the customer 

aircraft straightaway without a test fitting. 

Not only is the complete 3D model (“digital mockup”) 

tested on the computer, but virtual reality is used 

during the Virtual Fitcheck as well. For this purpose 

the designers enter a 12m² glass cube known as the 

Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). With the 

aid of special glasses and infrared cameras on the 

ceiling, the system creates a faithful three-dimensional 

reproduction of the cabin in which the technicians 

can move freely. As all the data generated is mapped 

faithfully on a 1:1 basis, any problem areas can be 

identified more easily and investigated more closely 

than on the workstation. All the data gained through 

CAVE flows automatically into production, so that inaccuracies 

or errors can be avoided even before the 

elements of the cabin are built in the workshops. 

The 12m² glass cube known as the CAVE LHT

Industry News - Facilities 5 

Eurocopter becomes first tenant of AeroTech, Querétaro‘s newest aerospace park 

Eurocopter began construction on its new manufacturing plant at the nascent AeroTech Industrial 

Park in Querétaro, a growing aerospace hub in central Mexico. The Eurocopter facility 

will be dedicated to the production and assembly of helicopter and aircraft components, such 

as tail booms, vertical stabilizers and doors. The facility will include a workshop area for cutting, 

milling, pressing, surface treatment and the assembly of single parts and sub-assemblies, 

as well as a new benchmark helicopter maintenance center for Eurocopter. The new plant is 

to be ready for product deliveries beginning in late 2012. 

The AeroTech Park is a ‘strategic alliance’ between developer American Industries Group, construction 

firm Abitat and a local investor. It’s located next to the Querétaro International Airport, 

and will house up to 24 world-class industrial facilities, with completion set for 2016. 

The AeroTech Park, announced earlier this year, is not to be confused with the Querétaro Aerospace 

Park, a joint venture between Bombardier, the Mexican government and the state of 

Querétaro which was launched in 2008. Companies that have set up shop in the Aerospace Park 

include, in addition to Bombardier: AE Petsche, Héroux Devtek, Meggit and the Safran Group 

(engine components - Snecma, Landing Gear - Messier Dowty and engine MRO - Sames). 

What the AeroTech Park will look like as construction gets underway 

AeroTechQRO 

• Bombardier aerospace reported that the aft fuselage of its new Global 7000 and Global 8000 business jets will be built at its site in Querétaro, which currently 

produces the aft fuselage of the Global 5000 and Global 6000 jets, as well as the Learjet 85 aircraft’s major composite structures, including fuselage lay-up and sub-system 

installation, wiring harness fabrication and installation, wing assembly, and horizontal and vertical stabilizer assemblies. Final assembly of the Global 7000 and Global 8000 

jets will take place at Bombardier’s manufacturing site in Toronto, Ontario, while interior completion will take place at its Global Completion Centre in Dorval, Québec. 

TIMCO Aerosystems opens interiors 

manufacturing facility in North Carolina 

TIMCO Aerosystems, a unit of TIMCO Aviation 

Services, formally opened its new 120,000ft² aircraft 

interiors manufacturing facility in Wallburg, North 

Carolina, near its Greensboro headquarters. The 

facility adds new capacity to TIMCO’s existing seat 

manufacturing operations in Pacoima, California, 

including assembly of its popular FeatherWeight series 

of seats which save airlines fuel and maintenance cost 

through lighter weight and fewer parts. 

GE Aviation breaks ground on Auburn 

facility 

GE Aviation hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at 

the site of its new jet engine components factory in 

Auburn on October 31st. The 300,000ft² advanced 

manufacturing plant will produce precision, superalloy 

machined parts for GE jet engines that will power 

future commercial and military aircraft, and also to 

support the vast fleet of GE jet engines already in 

service. Following the start of construction, the facility 

is on schedule to open in late 2012. Limited hiring will 

begin next year. Additional hiring is slated for 2013 as 

production begins to ramp up. GE Aviation’s goal is 

to employ 300 to 400 people when the plant is at full 

ramp-up later this decade. 

Boeing opens China Service Center in 

Beijing 

Boeing opened a new service center in Beijing to 

provide enhanced product support to China’s growing 

commercial aviation industry. The new Boeing China 

Service Center comprises highly qualified pilots 

and experts in flight operations, spare parts and 

maintenance engineering who are dedicated full-time 

to serving airlines in China. 

Airbus opens new wing factory for A350 

XWB in Wales 

British prime minister David Cameron officially opened 

Airbus’ new £400m wing factory in Wales, a state-ofthe-art 

manufacturing facility which will assemble the 

wings for Airbus’ advanced new A350 XWB long-range 

aircraft family. The giant, environmentally friendly 

Airbus North Factory at Broughton, Flintshire is one of 

Airframe Support 

Regional Aircraft 

ATR 42/72 

Dash 8 100/200/300/400 

CRJ 100/200 

Embraer 120 

Commercial Aircraft 

Airbus A300/A310/A320 

A340/A330 

Boeing 737/747/757/767 

Engine Management 

Sales & Leasing 

Regional Engines 

All PW100 series, 

including PW150 

CF34 A1/B1 

AE3007A1 

Commercial Engines 

CF6-50C2/80C2 

PW4000 

V2500/CFM56 

the largest manufacturing facilities to be built in the UK 

in recent years and will produce high-tech carbon fibre 

‘composite’ wings for the A350 XWB. The A350 XWB 

programme will support over 1,200 jobs in the Airbus 

sites at Filton and Broughton and over 5,000 other high 

skill/high value jobs across the UK supply chain. Over 

£3bn has been invested in the aircraft and its engines 

by UK aerospace companies in the programme. 

Bombardier MRO facilities win AS9110 

Revision A standard 

Bombardier Customer Services’ MRO facilities in Belfast 

and Dallas were accredited with quality standard 

AS9110 Revision A. The standard’s rigorous assessment 

process has resulted in improved performance at 

its Belfast and Dallas MRO sites, across quality and 

operating efficiencies. For MRO providers, Revision 

A raises the bar from the original AS9110 standard. 

The latest revision is process driven and focuses on 

risk assessment and mitigation, key priorities for the 

maintenance sector. Registrants must complete a twostage 

audit process and both Bombardier’s Belfast and 

Dallas MRO facilities have successfully completed the 

first stage audits with zero non-compliance issues. 

Magellan Aircraft Services � �� 

Magellan Aviation Services � �� 

www.magellangroup.net 

Professional Services 

Aircraft & Engine Management 

Consignments & Purchasing 

of Surplus Inventory 

Aircraft Leasing & Trading 

Technical Advisory Services

Selected IT News 6 

alkym‘s Management and Control System for Aircraft 

Maintenance was selected by Enter Air to look after the Technical Management 

of their expanding B737 fleet. Enter Air will begin with a 10 concurrent user licence 

with an option to grow to 15 in a very short time frame. The selected modules that 

they will start with include Planning, Engineering, Maintenance Control, Reliability, 

Inventory, Purchasing & Repairs, Receiving & Shipping, M-Transfer and M-Files. 

Component Control announced 

Hansair Logistics Group (Hansair), a global supplier 

of aircraft parts and materials, is leveraging 

Quantum Control to manage its three global aviation 

supply businesses: Hansair Logistics, Inc., Hansair Engine 

Group and Hypercoat Enterprises PTE Ltd. The 

trio of companies distribute both consumable and 

expendable aviation products through its network 

of 19 offices and warehouses around the world, to 

support all of the major airlines and several regional 

carriers. Hansair is leveraging Component Control’s 

MRO and Logistics software solution, Quantum Control, 

to manage sales, inventory management and 

tracking, business reporting and accounting across 

its entire enterprise. 

• Component Control reported that Helicopters, 

Inc selected and implemented the 

Quantum Control MRO and Logistics Software 

solution to manage its nationwide base of service 

facilities in support of their fleet of news-gathering 

helicopters. With major hubs in St. Louis, Atlanta, 

Miami, New York and San Francisco, and regional 

support throughout the United States, Helicopters, 

Inc. was looking for a system that handled GL, AP, 

AR, Purchase Orders, Inventory, Work Orders and 

Fixed Assets for any customer, from any location. 

Quantum Control replaced their basic accounting 

software with robust business-operations solutions 

that integrate all of Helicopter, Inc.’s data – from 

customer details, to inventory availability and invoicing 

– enabling them to focus more energy on 

their core business. 

• Component Control released Web Online 

rFQ, a solution that enables aviation suppliers to 

quickly integrate a branded parts search engine and RFQ capabilities into their existing website. 

This technically robust and low-cost ‘shop front’ functionality will revolutionize the visibility of 

inventory for suppliers to the industry. Web Online RFQ is available to both Quantum MRO and 

Logistics users and to non-Quantum users, and includes comprehensive purchase order and 

RFQ capabilities that functions as an end-to-end sales channels for their businesses. 

• Component Control released a new automation module developed specifically for 

aviation service centers that sell Cessna/Citation aircraft parts. The Cessna/Citation 

Integration module is a fully integrated and automatic solution for receiving and updating 

Cessna/Citation price lists as well as direct electronic submission of Purchase Orders to Cessna, 

and it greatly reduces overhead costs associated with traditional paper processes, saves time, 

and increases productivity through the improved accuracy of electronic communication. 

ramco Systems released that Columbia Helicopters 

has purchased Ramco’s Series 5 Aviation software suite. Under the 

agreement, Ramco will deliver Series 5 M&E and MRO, Ramco’s Aviation 

Analytics, ePublications, Financials and eSignatures as well as Ramco’s 

extensible tools known as EDK, ITK and PDK. CHI will utilize the Series 5 suite 

to manage all aspects of their operations including aircraft manufacturing, 

helicopter maintenance operations and MRO under their FAA Repair Station 

certificate, which serves customers 

from around the world. 

• ramco Systems also 

announced its agreement with 

T’way Airlines for Ramco’s Series 

5 Aviation M&E software. Under 

the agreement, Ramco will 

deliver the complete web based 

Series 5 M&E system, including 

Maintenance Programs, Supply 

Chain Management, Maintenance 

Execution for Line, Shop and Heavy 

operations and Reliability. T’way 

Airlines is the first official low-cost 

start up airline based in Seoul, South 

Korea, offering scheduled flights 

between Seoul Gimpo Airport and 

Jeju International Airport, operating 

an all Boeing 737-800 fleet. The 

airline was established in 2004 as 

Hansung Airlines and was renamed 

T’way Airlines in August 2010. 

LHT 

aerData, the Amsterdam/ 

Netherlands-based provider of 

software and services for aircraft 

and engine operators, lessors, 

OEMs and MROs, announced the 

launch of aerData Ireland. 

AerData Ireland will be based in 

Dublin, which is ideally situated to 

complement the group’s business 

vision and focus. 

pentagon 2000 Software andaviall, 

a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boeing, expanded the functionality of 

their web services partnership by adding direct real-time access to 

price and availability information for Aviall’s extensive inventory. 

FBOs, MROs and other aviation and defense companies who have 

adopted the Pentagon 2000 system can now access price, quantity 

and delivery information seamlessly from within their Pentagon 

2000SQL environment in order to better plan their purchasing and 

inventory management activities. This new feature complements the 

existing capability to issue electronic purchase orders and obtain 

order confirmation through the advanced web service interface.

GA Telesis Component Solutions will put 

the balance back on your balance sheet 

Let’s face it, burdening your balance sheet with tens of millions of dollars in inventory does not make 

sense; especially when GA Telesis is willing to do it for you. Our inventory solutions are designed to give 

an airline the same level of component access as if they owned it, while enjoying an inventory-free 

balance sheet. Please contact us and let us show you how we can design a comprehensive component 

solution to help manage your balance sheet and residual value risk associated with your inventory. 

Component solutions you can trust with the world’s 

most powerful independent rotable inventory 

www.gatelesis.com

Cover Story - Managing Efficiency 8 

What it means to be Lean 

How MrOs are facing up to the challenges of managing 

efficiency in an increasing difficult economic environment 

IT’S EASy TO gET CAughT uP in the jargon 

that surrounds modern production practices - 

just look at any business school manual on best 

practices in management and manufacturing, 

and the glossary alone is enough to put you 

right off. But pare down the theory to its simplest 

form, and the essence is the same across 

any industry: How can my company do the job 

faster and cheaper? Which products or processes 

will help me do this? What are consultants 

in the field recommending? What are the 

latest trends in the industry? 

Everyone’s familiar with the realities of the 

MRO business these days: Customers demand 

lower prices and faster 

turnaround times than 

ever before. They want 

their planes, engines and/ 

or components repaired 

quickly and at the best 

possible price - or they 

will take their business 

elsewhere. With overcapacity 

still burdening the 

sector and the increase 

in the number of repair 

stations in the low-wage, 

easy to reach fringes of 

Europe and the Americas as well as most of 

Asia, checking out the competition’s best offer 

is no empty threat. 

In this article, AviTrader has spoken to senior executives 

at leading MROs, global consultancies 

and IT providers to gain insight into how MRO 

companies are managing efficiency across their 

businesses, from the shop floor through to top 

management - and what tools they are using 

to ‘lean up’ in an increasingly tough economic 

climate that shows very few signs of relief for 

the near future. 

Phil Seymour, president and COO of the IBA 

consultancy, explains that Lean practices “had 

their birthplace in the manufacturing sector. That 

was a natural starting place for the production 

or final assembly of a multitude of new parts to 

produce a complete new car or aircraft.” 

“But MROs face a major challenge in applying 

Lean techniques. Firstly, the incoming aircraft or 

engine will not be in the same state every time, 

used engines in need of repair are seldom in 

the same condition, airlines operate in different 

environments and the MRO is faced with a multitude 

of variables to consider when refurbish- 

AviTrader MRO - November 2011 

ing an engine. The deliverable also varies; one 

airline may want an engine repaired quickly and 

cheaply, another may need a thorough refurbishment 

of all modules and LLP replacement.” 

“The only way an MRO can instigate lean processes,” 

he says, “is by early engagement and 

planning with the customer airline. This may be 

up to nine to twelve months prior to the scheduled 

event.” 

John Avery, director of supply chain services 

at AJ Walter Aviation, agrees that efficiency 

in the aviation MRO business is difficult due 

largely to the high level of process variability 

across the industry. 

“MROs face a major challenge in applying Lean 

techniques. Incoming aircraft or engines will not 

be in the same state every time, used engines in 

need of repair are seldom in the same condition, 

airlines operate in different environments and 

the MRO is faced with a multitude of variables 

to consider when refurbishing an engine.” 

Phil Seymour, IBA 

“It is this significant uncertainty that puts a 

limit on how many highly optimised processes, 

such as Lean and Six Sigma, which were initially 

developed for manufacturing, can be adopted 

within the MRO Sector,“ he says. “That said, 

there is no excuse for not doing as much as we 

What does it mean to be Lean? 

can in this area.” 

Avery also points out, that, aside from uncertainty, 

the other question to ask is: ‘What do 

you optimise?’ He recounts an experience 

from his time at an in-house MRO that decided 

to optimise the manpower costs of their heavy 

maintenance by cancelling the night shift as 

well as severely restricting weekend overtime, 

upon authorisation of the general manager 

only. “This, of course, saved them a lot of 

money until their airline complained that the 

aircraft were taking too long to maintain in 

the hangar. So in some cases the answer to 

the question ‘What do you optimise?’ is often 

driven by budgets and cost accounting 

rather than common sense.“ 

“For me”, he says, “the efficiency goal 

for an MRO is embedded within what the 

end user - the airline - wants. This is usually 

very high operational integrity (which 

is possible with modern aircraft), and very 

low and variable operating costs.“ 

tHE MrOs - WHat tHEy’rE DOING 

Western European MROs lead the way in 

the implementation of Lean techniques in 

the sector, in large part because they have 

been forced to adopt smarter business practices 

to retain their competitive edge as companies 

from lower-wage areas have made their presence 

known. And it should come as no surprise 

that German companies are among the most 

advanced in adopting Lean practices. 

Lean production/manufacting: A production practice with the underlying objective to eliminate waste. 

Centered on maintaining or increasing value through less work, by optimizing flow, increasing efficiency, decreasing 

waste and levelling production. Derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS) of the 1940s. 

Kaizen: Japanese for ‘improvement’. The practice of focusing on continuous improvement of all functions, 

by standardizing activities and processes and eliminating waste - and involving all levels, from the shop 

floor to the CEO. 

Kanban: Japanese for ‘signboard’. A scheduling system that signals what, when and how much to produce. 

Supply or production is determined according to actual demand. Created by Toyota in the 1940s. 

Kanban cards or electronic signals are used to convey demand. 

Just-in-time: A production strategy designed to improve return on investment (ROI) by reducing inventory 

and associated costs. Relies on Kanban signals to indicate when the next process or production schedule 

should start. 

Six Sigma: A business management strategy developed by Motorola in the 1980s that improves quality 

by identifying defects or errors and removing their causes, and minimizing variability in business and 

manufacturing processes. Relies heavily on statistics and verifiable data. Leaders within the system achieve 

special ranks such as Champion, Master Black Belt or Green Belt.

Cover Story - Managing Efficiency 

Lufthansa Technik has achieved astonishing results 

through the implementation of Lean techniques, 

including decreasing the turnaround 

times for component repair 

from 17 to five days, 

and reducing the number 

of mechanics on its line 

maintenance team by 

26% - at a time when the 

fleet size was actually increasing. 

The company has a Lean 

training academy covering 

17 different modules 

of Lean practices, which have been developed 

in-house and are imparted by Lean specialists 

on the shop floor. 

But according to Dr Christian Langer, LHT’s 

head of Lean activities, the firm’s ‘Lean journey’ 

is a relatively recent phenomenon. “At no 

specific moment in time did we say ‘we’ll use 

Lean’. The beginnings were quite decentralized. 

When we saw it worked in a couple of 

our facilities, we decided to bring Lean practices 

in-house and find the LhT way of doing it.” The 

LhT Lean department was established in 2007 

and Langer was appointed to manage it. 

LHT’s Lean program is a people-based process. 

The company has sophisticated IT tools, of 

course, but Langer says the focus is on people. 

“The biggest impact has been a change in our 

style of leadership. It’s about changing mindsets 

- changing how people lead 

themselves.” 

Dr Christian Langer 

LHT 

When Langer started in his position, 

he went onto the shop floor with a 

mechanic during a night shift. “It 

was cold and rainy, and when the 

mechanic left at 6am the next day, I 

asked him if he thought the work had 

been successful. He had no idea.” 

“It was clear to me that this was no way to 

work. People need to be motivated; they need 

feedback from every shift. We had to bring our 

people closer to performance and to success 

and let them know that every aircraft counts.” 

He cites the example of Lufthansa Technik Philippines: 

several years ago, the facility was struggling 

to achieve A-checks on time. 

“We worked on how they could bring the level 

up from the existing 85% or so, but when I 

went back several months later, the first thing I 

saw in the hangar was the number 45 on a big 

sign high up in the hangar. Fearing the worst, I 

asked about it, and was told that the digits represented 

the number of consecutive A-checks 

achieved on time. If the teams reached 50, there 

would be a prize awarded across the floor; and 

a bigger one if they reached 100. The turnaround 

was phenomenal. No one’s motivated by 

percentages, but they are driven by consecutive 

performances.” 

“In some cases, the answer to the question 

‘what do you optimize’ is often driven by 

budgets and cost accounting rather than 

common sense... For me, the efficiency goal 

for an MRO is embedded within what the 

end user - the airline - wants.” 

John Avery, A J Walter Aviation 

Achieving big goals doesn’t happen quickly. 

Langer explains that he works closely with 10 

to 15 people in each product division for a period 

between eight and 16 weeks. “We asked 

the component repair team to focus on one 

or two key performance indicators (KPI). They 

came back to us and said they wanted to reduce 

TATs from 17 days to five. We told them 

they were mad, but if they could achieve that, 

“People need to be motivated; they 

need feedback from every shift. We 

had to bring our people closer to performance 

and to success and let them 

know that every aircraft counts.” 

Dr Christian Langer, Lufthansa Technik 

it would be a breakthrough. So they devised 

the LIFT program, which stands for ‘delivery in 

five days’ in german - but the English abbreviation 

also has positive connotations. They said 

they needed two and a half years to achieve 

LIFT, but they did it - and they’ve never gone 

over six days since.” 

How did they do it? Langer lists a series of shop 

floor procedures, from implementing a strict 

‘first-in-first-out’ (FIFO) schedule, to changing 

the layout of the workshop to reduce walktimes 

and increasing the uptime of expensive tooling. 

“It’s about improving accountability, troubleshooting 

problems, improving training and 

making sure everyone knows about the project 

on a daily basis.” 

“I don’t like 5% goals,” stated Langer. “They 

don’t make you think differently - they just make 

you speed up a little bit. But if you say you’re 

going to reduce TATs from 17 days to five, or 

bring about a 30% reduction in your workforce, 

people start to think about 

9 

the total process and they 

go into the small details.” 

He notes that savings from 

LHT’s Lean program amount 

to a ‘high two-digit million 

figure every year”. 

MTu Maintenance is another 

German MRO that 

has a strong focus on increasing 

efficiency and productivity. 

Dr Martin Funk, senior vice president 

and managing director at the MRO arm 

of MTu Aero Engines, says that “MTu has a 

company-wide Continuous Improvement Program 

(CIP), with the goal to support profitable 

growth through sustainable implementation of 

continuous improvement in all areas, functions 

and both in-house and external processes”. 

MTu Maintenance’s hannover facilty, which 

maintains medium and large-sized commercial 

engines including 

the CF6-50 / 

80C2, the gE90, 

the PW2000, the 

CFM56-7 and 

the IAE V2500, is 

the centerpiece 

of the maintenance 

group 

and, as such, 

Dr Martin Funk MTU 

was the first to implement wide-ranging Lean 

practices. 

A major innovation was the flowline® production 

system, introduced in 2003. Essentially a 

‘rolling carpet’ system, it allows any engine type 

to be inducted into the workflow at any time, 

and has resulted in the faster flow of material 

The landing gear assembly line at Revima’s facility in northern France Revima 



and information, more standardized workflows 

and ultimately shorter and more stable throughput 

times. 

The company has also implemented MRO In- 

Takt, a Lean Just-in-Time production philosophy 

derived from the car industry and based 

upon four principles: flow, takt (cycle), pull and 

zero defects. 

The first of the four principles, flow, calls for 

the use of a FIFO system, with synchronized 

processes, optimized flow and smaller batches, 

leading to shorter waiting times and reduced 

TATs. takt involves streamlining shop 

activities across all work areas and establishing 

constant speed for all processes, resulting 

in improved predictability, higher transparency 

and the elimination of workload ‘waves’. 

pull implies the production of only what 

is needed, and at the right time, leading to 

pre-defined buffers, no overload and again, 

higher transparency, while zero defects, as 

the term implies, demands that any defects 

are identified and eliminated, thus improving 

quality and reducing trouble shooting. 

The adoption of MRO InTakt, supported by a 

fully-integrated IT support system (see following 

page) has led to a reduction in TATs of 30% at 

MTu’s hannover plant while lead times at the 

Berlin MRO plant have shrunk by over 40% on 

the CF34 engine line since 2009. Furthermore, 

the company has seen an increase in TAT stability 

and predictability and in reliable order-to-delivery 

(OTD) rates. 

The company has also dealt effectively with 

rising cost pressures. Material costs typically 

represent 60% or more of the overall cost of 

an engine shop visit. Funk says that the pressure 

derives from both OEM price 

escalation on material and the cus- 

tomer desire to lower costs by saving 

expensive parts - either through 

repair or sourcing used parts. 

“Our goals are therefore twofold,” 

he says. “We look to lower 

scrap rates by increasing in-house 

repair capabilities, especially for 

TAT-critical parts, by performing 

intelligent parts inspection and 

work-scoping and by analyzing 

scrap rates and trends using data from our 

SAP-based ERP system.” 

The second part of the equation is to improve 

used parts sourcing through B2B systems that 

allow for efficient ordering and online tracing of 

parts and direct links to the company’s supplier 

base where orders are placed. 

Funk notes that over the years, MTu has put 

an emphasis on streamlining all its processes. 

“We are a very process-driven company, so it’s 

easier for us to plan, report, control and analyze 


efficiencies and plan any 

counter-measures in case 

actual figures deviate 

from our original plans.” 

Targets for the year are 

carried out based upon 

Management by Objectives 

(MBO), aligned 

across all management 

levels and permanently 

monitored. 

Armin Heinfling 

SR Technics 

Over in neighbouring Switzerland, SR Technics 

also has an active Lean Management team 

working across the whole organization. One 

of its most effective innovations is Forward- 

Driver, a web-based open-source database to 

manage and trace employee ideas for continuous 

improvement. 

“Over the years, MTU has put an emphasis 

on streamlining all its processes. As a very 

process-driven company, it is easier for us to 

plan, report, control and analyze efficiencies 

and plan any counter-measures in case actual 

figures deviate from our original plans.” 

Dr Martin Funk, MTU Maintenance 

“Any employee can submit an idea that would 

save costs, time or unnecessary resources,” 

says Armin Heinfling, the company’s head of 

the Office of Continuous Improvement. “We 

receive up to 600 submissions each year from 

all departments, and around 70% are implemented. 

These ideas bring annual savings of 

close to CHF 4.7m, internally as well as in benefits 

to our customers.” 

“Any employee can submit an idea that 

would save costs, time and unnecessary 

resources. We receive up to 600 submissions 

each year and around 70% are 

implemented. These ideas bring annual 

savings of close to CHF 2.7 million.” 

Armin Heinfling, SR Technics 

Other practices which contribute to improving 

efficiency include weekly Management Waste 

Walks, designed to identify and eliminate waste 

within the organization, Value Tower and Balance 

score cards, which assess performance in 

each area against KPIs, published weekly on SR 

Technics’ Intranet for full transparency, daily 

production meetings ‘on-site’ on the shop 

floor and regular Kaizen workshops. 

Additional Lean practices are broken down 

by business area and function. Within Component 

Maintenance, for example, heinfling 

10 

notes that the creation of the Centres of Excellence 

project, covering hydraulics, pneumatics, 

nacelle and mechanical accessories, brakes and 

wheels, avionics, fuel and hMu, emergency 

and electrical, together with other moves such 

as placing computers at every workplace and 

having developed processes, have resulted in 

significant efficiency improvements. TATs for 

heat exchangers have dropped by five days 

from 26 to 21 days (a 25% reduction) as a result 

of insourcing composite repair in pneumatics, 

while turnarounds on VBV flappers have 

fallen by up to 50% to 35-40 days, compared 

to an industry norm of 50 to 60 days. 

SR Technics has also taken Lean practices 

beyond the shop floor to other areas of the 

business, including facility management. At 

its headquarters in Zurich, the company has 

established an energy 

efficiency program to 

reduce utilities bills and 

bring in new technology 

for on-site water 

treatment, resulting in a 

14.7% reduction in costs 

year-on-year between 

2010 and 2011. 

It’s clear that MROs like 

LhT, MTu and SR Technics 

have taken Lean 

principles to heart, and in many cases have 

achieved astonishing results and significant 

cost savings, for both MRO and customer. 

Much of the impetus for these measures has 

been the need to maintain their competitive 

edge in the face of growing competition from 

lower-wage areas on the eastern and southern 

fringes of Europe and beyond. 

But it’s interesting to note, from a low-wage 

area perspective, that lower overheads may 

not always translate into a cheaper alternative. 

Darius Saluga, chief executive of FL 

Technics Jets, a business jet service provider 

in Vilnius, Lithuania, says that while MROs in 

Eastern Europe can still offer savings of up to 

30% to 35%, espcially for labour-intensive 

airframe maintenance, the price on the final 

invoice for a common C-check carried out in 

Bulgaria may look practically the same as one 

from an ‘expensive’ Western European provider 

in Germany or Switzerland. 

“Due to elaborate Western European IT systems, 

those MROs can perform C-checks within five 

days; the same service in an Eastern European 

MRO can take up to eight days”, he says. 

IT solutions for the MRO industry are wideranging 

and comprehensive. There is a solution 

aimed at optimizing every area of the business 

and at every budget. And that takes us to 

the next section of our discussion - what does 

software do and how can it improve an MRO’s 

bottom line?


Software, software everywhere... 

As in any other industry, 

managing and increasing 

efficiencies within an MRO 

cannot be achieved these 

days without recourse to 

sophisticated data management 

systems. 

But Anant Sahay, an aviation 

IT expert at IBM Aus- Anant Sahay 

tralia, said that there are 

two unique areas where the MRO sector literally 

‘bleeds’ - overtime and parts shortages. 

“These two areas together account for more 

than 50% of cost overruns,” he says. “The root 

cause for both is the inability to forecast failure 

rates of components. As of now, SAP tries to 

solve this by using MRP techniques, which work 

on the principles of “demand of consumption” 

not “failure rate”. Other systems use Double 

Exponential algorithms and so on, which also 

are unable to forecast “failure rate”. The current 

software available in the market seem to 

be skirting this issue. They are all focused on the 

classical techniques of efficiency gains, learned 

from the manufacturing industry. “ 

Sahay, whose book “Leveraging IT for Airworthiness” 

will be published early in 2012, states 

At MRO Europe in Madrid 

earlier this fall, AviTrader 

MRO sat down with Todd 

Lewis, president of Component 

Control, the MRO and 

logistics software developer 

and creator of MRO solution 

Quantum Control to 

talk about its products and 

its aircraft parts e-marketplace, 

StockMarket.aero. 

Todd Lewis 

AviTrader: Can you explain 

how Quantum can help users achieve greater efficiencies? 

Quantum Control MRO and Logistics is an ERP system 

providing a complete software solution for OEMs, airlines, 

MROs and other aftermarket service providers. Our 

most successful customers are those that use Quantum 

to bring efficiency through discipline. In this business, 

discipline must also be combined with flexibility. 

Another common theme is that our successful customers 

are those who operate with multiple profit centres; 

those with multiple product lines, or those with distinct 

activities such as a combination of large hangars and 

various shops, for example. Clear accountability at lower 

levels is the objective. Bigger companies break their 

business into smaller profit centres and use software to 

track business unit performance. 

To give you an example, we have one customer that 

that overtime happens “mainly because of 

unexpected defects found during the scheduled 

maintenance or out of schedule aircraft 

arrival due to unexpected defects.These arisings 

push the schedule off and the technician 

ends up performing extra work, which ends 

up in overtime”. Parts shortages, meanwhile, 

happen for the similar reason, when the newly 

identified defect requires an item, which is not 

readily available. 

These two occurrences can “bleed the most 

efficient of MRO organisations”, he says. “A 

general manager of a large MRO organisation 

expressed in exasperation to me if only he 

could cut the overtime by half, he would be 

minting money left right and centre.” 

Sahay says that the “basic hygiene of productivity 

improvements have been incorporated in 

most of the standard software that cater the 

MRO industry - which differ from other industries 

only from a compliance point of view. The 

most gains that I have observed are in process 

streamlining by the use of these software”. 

“Whenever and wherever I talk to people in 

the hangars, I find them extremely efficient 

and process oriented. After all they follow the 

prescriptive processes due to the safety require- 

took repairable units in through its main facility and 

sent them out to its various other repair centres, one 

of which was a metal machine shop – a machine shop 

that did external work (funded) and internal work. 

The customer started losing money and couldn’t figure 

out why. Through the use of Quantum, they were 

able to measure performance at all levels for funded 

and non-funded work, and discovered that the weak 

link was the metal machine shop, which had poor 

TATs because of an unhealthy mix of un-funded work. 

They were able to use Quantum as a performance indicator 

and turn the metal machine shop around. 

Our software allows our customers to do automatic 

invoicing, a very complicated procedure, which was 

previously done long after the fact and offline. Some of 

the customers we’re taking from old legacy systems are 

still doing invoicing and other procedures offline. This 

is partly because an MRO company may have many different 

billing agreements with their customers. 

Automating this complex process provides huge efficiency 

gains. The software generates a quote at the 

beginning of the process, using billing rules specific to 

the customer, monitors the repair progress and sends 

alerts if the part is going over the quote, and then generates 

an invoice immediately at the end of the job. 

It’s all done in real time. It’s all about smart logistics. If 

you’re doing this offline, it’s too slow and too late. 

11 

ments, which set the standards for airworthiness 

very high. It is the “unknown unknown” 

(read failure rates), which they want to know 

better to achieve real productivity gains.” 

AJ Walter’s John Avery believes that for an 

MRO to achieve optimum efficiency, there 

are three fundamental elements that must be 

considered: systems, data accuracy and expert 

knowledge. 

A J Walter runs Quantum from Component 

Control as its core operating system and says it 

is “very heavily tailored to support our business 

model, based on component exchanges and 

sales. Even a small airline or MRO requires a 

robust and functionally rich system so the complex 

and detailed nature of its businesses can be 

clearly managed in the most effective way possible. 

For AJW, where we carry out the equivalent 

volume of transactions for a fleet of 800 

aircraft, we have the opportunity to become 

even more efficient, benefitting from economies 

of scale.” 

Data accuracy, as Avery says, is clearly one of 

the fundamental pillars of efficiency. By their 

very nature, the range of next-generation bestof-breed 

(BOB) and commercial off-the-shelf 

(COTS) systems tailored to the aviation MRO 

Component Control‘s Todd Lewis: “Doing things offline means it’s too slow and too late.” 

AviTrader:Tell us how the StockMarket differs 

from other products on the market? 

StockMarket.aero is a repository of inventory items for 

both our Quantum Control users and other customers 

who send us listings. It’s an open community – anyone 

can log in. 

It’s a completely different model from others in the 

industry, which use a subscription-based revenue 

model. 

Our model is like the Google model: our revenue comes 

in large part from advertising. Customers can advertise 

their company, and they can advertise or sponsor parts. 

StockMarket.aero is an open and free community, and 

that’s why it’s growing; our customers get a lot out 

of it. In September, we achieved a record 37 million 

qualified line items of available inventory and services 

in our StockMarket.aero system, listed by our more 

than 2,300 customers and aircraft parts vendors. 

What’s particularly significant about our system 

is that we tell our users what’s available on the 

StockMarket in real time. That’s a major efficiency 

right there, it’s a clear example of lean logistics. The 

system allows users to have a very quick reaction 

time to any parts that need repair or replacement. 

If a customer needs a part they can’t find, they 

can broadcast a RFQ, and get that RFQ in front of 

multiple vendors quickly. 



sector generate efficiencies unknown to the 

industry a decade ago, when many tasks were 

performed manually by the workforce. 

John Stone, director of product and market 

management at Ramco Systems, a New Jersey-based 

company that produces the Series 5 

Aviation M&E/MRO system used by MROs like 

Aveos and FL Technics, says that it’s “somewhat 

surprising how the most basic pieces of 

automation have provided the biggest impact 

- not to mention how far behind the curve we 

find many operations”. 

“We are often helping our customers initiate 

bar-coding, which can provide significant savings 

in both labor and cost accounting. Electronic 

data interchange (EDI) is also a large contributor 

to efficient operations with benefits to 

schedule efficiencies, inventory rationalization, 

and labor as well.” 

“And the boom in tablet based mobility device 

has created a big demand for our tablet compatible 

dashboards, which unite management 

teams with a common set of data and metrics, 

freeing them up to move around the organization 

and help managers solve the problems 

without being tied to a desk.” 

Simple things, like electronic signatures, can 

create disproportionate savings, according to 

Jeff Cass, chief technical officer at MxiTechnologies, 

which provides integrated software 

solutions for the aviation industries under its 

Maintenix brand. 

“The use of electronic signatures has led to a 

97% reduction in handover effort to 30 minutes 

per shift and per crew, while the time needed to 

support audits has fallen by more than 50%,” 

he explains, “Our optimized planning applications 

have reduced the time to create work 

packages by over 60%, at the same time as a 

30% improvement has been reported for base 

maintenance production planner productivity.” 

APO offers instant traceability for aircraft parts VAS Aero Services 


Enigma’s John Snow: “We are information central” 

To those looking in from the outside, Enigma software solutions can seem as mysterious 

as the name might imply. But John Snow, the company’s VP marketing and 

business development, says that Enigma’s aviation MRO products provide a clear and 

quantifiable solution to managing and improving efficiencies. 

“Enigma is a complete, accurate and up-to-date encyclopedia of aircraft, engine and 

component manuals, he explains. Other MRO software solutions are all about maintenance 

planning – they do the heavy math. In short, they provide the ‘who’, the ‘what’ 

and the ‘where’ of maintenance planning. What they lack is the ‘how’. They don’t go 

deep into the job. That is what Enigma does. “ 

John Snow 

Enigma 

Every 90 days, the OEMs issue six major maintenance manuals containing any revisions or updates. Snow explains 

that a number of instructions will have changed and the recipient has to figure out what has changed. The 

OEM tries to tell them, but they may not have the mechanisms to do so. The problem is that every airline operates 

its aircraft differently and every plane has different levels of wear and tear. Over time, the mechanics figure out 

better ways or customer originated change (COC) of fixing their planes. The airline will then change the maintenance 

manual or issue a supplement or an engineering change notice (ECN). Almost all airlines modify or deviate 

from the OEM manuals. This is done to gain efficiency - airlines know their own fleets better than the OEM.” 

“In short, the OEM doesn’t know what the airline has changed. The airline needs to be able to compare the old 

manuals with the new ones. Handling the revisions, which can run up to thousands of pages, is very important 

but labour intensive, with the potential for massive inefficiencies. Enigma’s InService MRO Revision Manual 

automatically compares the two versions and electronically documents all the changes and where they occur, 

turning a labour-intensive task measured in weeks and months into an automated process often completed 

in hours or days.“ 

Snow gave the example of Enigma customer Korean Airlines, which was able to input the entire maintenance 

library for its new Airbus A380s and to set up the ability to generate customized job cards in seven days. Before, 

the process was done manually and took months to complete. 

“Everything is tied to the maintenance manuals,“ concludes Snow. ”They are how OEMs and airlines communicate 

changes and updates. We do it all automatically. THAT is where the gains are being made. We 

don’t care how the documents come in; they can be XML, pdfs, in fact most of the component manuals are 

in pdf format. We’ve been working with high-end documentation - and helping technicians turn wrenches, 

not pages - for close to 14 years.” 

Efficiency in the aftermarket also provides substantial 

time and cost savings. For any MRO 

employing Just-in-Time strategies, efficient 

ordering and online tracing of parts and the 

generation of automatic purchase orders as 

soon as a certain minimum stock level has 

been reached, access to business-to-business 

e-marketplaces is essential. 

With more than 10 years in the 

business, ILS is the original emarketplace 

for aftermarket 

parts and services, and with over 

five billion parts listed, the biggest 

in the business. But newcomers 

are edging in, taking a 

growing slice of the market with 

innovative applications and revenue 

models. 

unlike ILS, which charges users a 

subscription fee to access its database, 

Stockmarket.aero, owned 

by San Diego-based Component 

Control is a subscription-free 

service that relies on advertising 

and sponsorship for its revenue 

base, similar to the way Google 

operates (see previous page). 

12 

Another recent entry operating on a similar 

model is Aviation Parts Outlet (APO), operated 

by VAS Aero Service, the fomer Volvo Aero 

Services. “Registration with APO is free; there 

are no terms or charges to access the system”, 

said the company’s senior director of sales and 

marketing Nick Dague. 

Dague explains that APO ‘cuts out the middleman’ 

and provides a direct line from buyer 

to seller. “With APO, customers get the part 

number, the quantity available and an RFQ, 

and they can also purchase directly from APO, 

and track quotes and orders. We were the first 

company to launch such a product. More importantly, 

he argues, APO provides trace documents 

instantly. “With other systems, you 

have to request traceability through an RFQ, 

and then there are lots of calls and emails back 

and forth. These emails are often a minimum 

of 3mbs, so they go to your spam folder or 

they could lock up the customer’s system.” 

In keeping with the times, VAS will also soon 

launch a live chat service, which will kick in once 

a user has been on the system for more than 

two minutes. “It’s all part of making the aftermarket 

more efficient,” says Dague. “APO saves 

time - and in this business, time is money.”

Events - PMA Summit 

International pMa Summit 2011 

Aircraft leases: Debunking the PMA myth 

Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) Noun [pa:rt / mæn.jų’fæk.t∫∂r.∂r / ∂’pru.vªl] 

1.a combined design and production approval for modification and replacement articles. It allows a manufacturer to produce and sell these articles for installation on type 

certificated products (FAA); “PMA parts are replacement parts used in the repair of aircraft, engines and components” 

Antonym: Original Equipment Manufacturer parts 

tHE 2011 INtErNatIONaL pMa SuMMIt earlier this month brought 

together executives from across the industry for two days of discussion 

and debate. One of the key issues facing the PMA sector is the increase in 

the number of leased aircraft around the world. Today, around 20,000 aircraft, 

or 36% of the global fleet, are leased, and that number is forecast 

to rise to 50% by 2020, as airlines seek to remove increasingly expensive 

assets off their balance sheet and focus on their core business of flying. 

Lessors have traditionally been wary, if not downright hostile, to PMA 

parts, largely because of a lingering belief that they will negatively affect 

the residual value of an aircraft, engine or component when it comes up 

for lease or sale. Some may be inherently opposed to their use due to 

shareholding links with OEMs, while others may accept limited PMA use, 

pat Markham, vp technical 

Services, HEICO 

The lessor share of the 

global fleet has expanded 

over the past 30 years or 

so to about 36% today, but 

that’s not necessarily a big 

threat to the PMA industry. 

Lots more lessors means a 

lot more choice, giving airlines leverage when 

negotiating end-of-lease conditions. 

Airlines can regain control by insisting on the 

option to use PMA parts. The use of PMA parts 

can lead to savings of up to $1 million per event. 

Leases that do not allow PMA will become unattractive. 

Resistance to PMA is breaking down. Lessors 

say they won’t have them in their planes, but 

what they’re really saying is that they don’t 

want PMA in ‘scary things’ like life-limited parts. 

Many lessors will say that PMA in expendables 

and consumables ‘doesn’t bother them - but 

stay away from the flowpath and LLPs’. 

phil Seymour, president and CEO, IBa 

Certain lessors don‘t like 

PMA parts or it‘s not in 

their interest, given their 

shareholding structure, to 

have PMA parts in their 

planes. 

13 

provided it does not involve critical parts. Jon Sharp, president of engine 

lessor ELFC, recently told AviTrader MRO that “acceptable PMA is typically 

on non-critical parts. No engine lessor would accept PMA in the engine 

gas path, for example. We do not accept PMA because some airlines 

don’t, so we would be excluded from leasing to them if our engine had 

PMA in it”. 

The issue of PMA parts in leased aircraft was the subject of an animated 

panel session, Avoiding Leasing Agreement Limitations and Debunking 

the Myth of How PMA Impact Aircraft Valuations. While clearly ‘preaching 

to the converted’, it offered compelling arguments about the acceptability 

of PMA use. We’ve provided brief summaries below of the key 

points presented by the three panellists: 

tamsin 

Hayward, solicitor, Keystone Law 

Airlines have far more negotiating 

power with suppliers 

than they realize. I 

see too many repeat deals 

in this sector; airlines are 

failing to push the bound- 

aries in their negotiations 

with lessors and that stifles 

innovation, competition and commercial 

progress. 

Heico IBA Keystone Law 

That said, it is very difficult 

to prove there‘s no PMA in a 10-year old A321. 

It gets tricky when a PMA part is approved, as 

it won‘t necessarily be in the records as PMA. 

Many of these lessors who say no to PMA know 

there are PMA parts in their engines. 

Furthermore, it‘s often not the lessors who 

are ‘causing mischief‘ for the PMA sector, it‘s 

the banks that finance them. The way forward 

for the PMA sector is to convince the 

bankers of the merits of PMA. As PMA parts 

manufacturers and distributors, you may be 

great at selling your products to the airlines, 

but you haven‘t sold them to the financiers 

- and they matter. 

There are no legal issues surrounding the use of 

PMA parts, but in Europe and the Middle East, 

at least, these negotiations are not happening. 

Airlines need to challenge the concept of 

standard industry practice. If a lessor refuses to 

accept PMA parts, then turn it around - would 

the lessor warrant that, at delivery, there was no 

PMA on the aircraft? If they can‘t do that, then 

you need to say, right then, let‘s negotiate in 

the real world... And if a lessor doesn‘t honour 

a warranty, then take legal action if you have a 

legitimate claim. 

AELS 

Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions

Financial News 

OEM financials - Third quarter and first nine months 2011 

Shining amid the gloom 

It WaS a GOOD QuartEr for the OEMs 

across the board as they bucked the downward 

trend provoked by the growing economic 

crisis in Europe. EADS was alone is reporting 

a decrease in third quarter revenues, 

due to lower commercial aircraft deliveries at 

Airbus Commercial, but it raised its full-year 

forecast, citing strong demand for commercial 

aircraft that would compensate for a dip 

in defense spending. 

Boeing boss Jim McNerney, meanwhile, said 

that “strong operational performance drove 

double-digit margins in both of our major 

OEM financials 2011 - selected companies 

businesses and produced an outstanding 

quarter.” The airframer also upped its full-year 

earnings outlook , as did united Technologies 

(uTC), parent of Pratt & Whitney, hamilton 

Sundstrand and Sikorsky, and from next year, 

Goodrich. “It’s not as bad as everyone seems 

to want to think it is,” said uTC’s CFO greg 

Hayes in an interview with the Financial Times. 

“We are still seeing growth, most of it coming 

from emerging markets. 

In the absence of Bombardier, which does 

not report until next month, Embraer put in 

a good show for the second tier of airframers, 

REVENUES (million) Q3 2011 Q3 2010 % 9m 2011 9m 2010 % 

Boeing $17,727 $16,967 4% $49,180 $47,756 3% 

EADS €10,751 €11,246 (4%) €32,687 €31,544 4% 

Embraer $1,364 $1,044 31% $3,778 $3,387 12% 

United Technologies $14,804 $13,620 8.7% $43,224 $39,462 9.5% 

- Pratt & Whitney $3,251 $3,230 0.65% $9,798 $9,350 4.8% 

- Hamilton Sundstrand $1,531 $1,420 7.8% $4,503 $4,125 9.2% 

- Sikorsky $1,877 $1,547 21.3% $5,245 $4,597 14.1% 

Safran Group €2,728 €2,593 5.2% €8,350 €7,790 7.2% 

- Aerospace propulsion €1,459 €1,329 9.8% €4,436 €4,092 8.4% 

- Aircraft equipment €697 €696 0.1% €2,201 €2,070 6.3% 

Goodrich $2,033 $1,748 16% $5,930 $5,161 15% 

Honeywell Aerospace $2,922 $2,704 8.1% $8,428 $7,857 7.3% 

GE (Aviation) $4,835 $4,391 10% $13,935 $12,815 9% 

MTU Aero Engines (OEM business) €447.3 €380.9 17.4% €1,291.3 €1,199.9 7.6% 

Spirit AeroSystems $1,130 $1,002 13% $3,645 $3,101 18% 

B/E Aerospace $636 $495 28.5% $1,845 $1,442 27.9% 

EARNINGS (millions) Q3 2011 Q3 2010 % 9m 2011 9m 2010 % 

Boeing¹ $1,098 $837 31% $2,625 $2,143 22% 

EADS¹ €312 €13 2,300% €421 €198 113% 

Embraer¹ $1.9 $126 - $203 $204 - 

United Technologies² $2,202 $1,928 14% $6,201 $5,333 16% 

- Pratt & Whitney $535 $547 (3%) $1,460 $1,505 (3%) 

- Hamilton Sundstrand $282 $255 11% $793 $680 17% 

- Sikorsky $215 $163 32% $633 $477 33% 

Safran Group n/a n/a - n/a n/a - 

Goodrich¹ $201 $160 26% $573 $430 33.5% 

Honeywell Aerospace³ $532 $458 16.2% $1,450 $1,314 10.4% 

GE (Aviation)¹ $862 $805 7% $2,662 $2,483 7% 

MTU Aero Engines (ebit adjusted) €58.9 €62.9 (6.4%) €181.1 €165.9 9.2% 

Spirit AeroSystems¹ $67 $46 45% $132 $157 (16%) 

B/E Aerospace² $112 $84 34.4% $319 $234 36.2% 


14 

posting strong rises in revenues, although its 

net income was well down, primarily a result 

of deferred income taxes generated by the appreciation 

of the uS dollar. 

Other strong performers included Goodrich, 

which posted double-digit increases in 

both revenues and net income and B/E 

Aerospace, a manufacturer of cabin parts. 

Amin J. Khoury, the company‘s chair and 

CEO, said that “demand for our products is 

increasing, consistent with the start of what 

is expected to be a very strong new aircraft 

delivery cycle“. 

SELECTED MRO FINANCIAL NEWS 

SIA Engineering Group posts profit of 

$139.3m for first half 2011-12 

SIAEC Group recorded a profit attributable to owners of 

the parent of $139.3m for the first half ended 30 September 

2011, an increase of $2.0m or 1.5% compared 

to the corresponding period last year. This included a 

write-back of tax provision of $3.1m. Operating profit 

decreased marginally by $1.9m or 2.7% to $68.7m as 

the impact of a weaker US dollar was mitigated by exchange 

gains of $8.6m from hedging and the revaluation 

of net US dollar denominated assets. Revenue declined 

by $15.4m or 2.7% primarily from lower revenue from 

materials. Material costs were similarly lower, contributing 

to the $13.5m or 2.7% reduction in expenditure. 

MTU Aero Engines posts net income of 

€134.6m for first 9 month 

MTU Aero Engines Holding AG increased its revenues 

in the first nine months of 2011 by 4% to €2,067.3m 

(1-9/2010: €1,992.3m). The company’s operating profit 

rose by 8% to €244.3m (1-9/2010: €226.1m), while 

net income improved by 9% to €134.6m (1-9/2010: 

€124.0m). The EBIT margin thus rose to 11.8% 

compared with 11.3% in 1-9/2010. In the commercial 

engine business, including spare-parts sales, the 

company’s revenues surged by 18% to €970.0m (1- 

9/2010: €821.6m). The key revenue earners were the 

V2500 for the Airbus A320 family, the PW2000, which 

is deployed in the Boeing 757 and C-17, the CF6-80C, 

which powers the Boeing 747 and Airbus A310 and 

A330, and the GP7000 for the Airbus A380. 

CTS Engines announces $25m capital expansion 

program 

CTS Engines, announced the implementation of a $25m 

capital expansion program. The investment, which will 

be provided by parent company Neff Capital Management 

LLC, is expected to greatly increase both the size 

and scope of the company’s on-site MRO capabilities 

over the coming year. 

¹Net income, ²Operating profit; ³Profit from continuing operations before taxes Source: Company reports More Financial News on pages 20 to 24

Jet Values 2 

Whether you require up-to-date lease rates, current or forecast market values or 

simply aircraft specifications, Jet Values 2 delivers comprehensive data on over 

23,000 commercial aircraft in service. 

Jet Values 2 is delivered through an intuitive, user friendly online portal, giving 

you true flexibility and ease of use. With monthly aircraft updates, and semi-annual 

value updates, you can be sure that the information and opinion provided is 

up-to-date. In addition, Jet Values 2 also offers the added functionality of online 

access to IBA’s trade publications. 

Benefiting from IBA’s market information collected from more than two decades, 

Jet Values 2 enables you to search by specific serial number, registration or aircraft 

type to determine: 

• Current Base and Market Values, and Current Market Lease Rates 

• Forecast Base, Market and Soft Values, and Forecast Base Lease Rates 

• Full-Life Valuations and detailed Specification Adjustments 

• Current and Forecast Portfolio Valuations 

• Total User Control over Fleet Management 

The system also delivers total flexibility on the model, specification, length of 

forecast, inflation parameters, and a choice of Excel or PDF outputs. 

“IBA’s JV2 online valuation system is 

an exceptional tool for the analysis of 

existing and potential aircraft, aircraft 

fleet values and for conducting ‘what 

if’ scenario analysis. The Excel outputs 

are easy to use; the data is constantly 

updated; and one is confident that the 

values and rates are based on expert 

knowledge and common sense.” 

Shane Miller 

Commonwealth Bank 

Call: +44 (0) 1372 224488 

marketing@ibagroup.com 

www.ibagroup.com 

www.jetvalues2.com 

IBA Group Ltd IBA House 7 The Crescent 

Leatherhead Surrey KT22 8DY United Kingdom

IBA Analysis - Landing Gear costs: Part III 

Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way 

In this third and final installment of our Landing Gear costs series, Phil Seymour, president 

and COO of the International Bureau of aviation (IBa) provides a cost analysis of 

the final piece of the landing gear puzzle - the wheel 

B737 Classics and NG Wheels 

Wheel overhauls take place after 870- 

1,170 cycles for the nose wheel and 

1,380-1,500 cycles for the main wheel, 

at a cost of up to $900 depending upon 

workscope. Prior to a full overhaul, a typical 

wheel cycle would involve up to six 

inspections at a cost of $300-600, three 

of which include non-destructive testing 

(NDT) to monitor corrosion. 

Some operators opt to carry-out full overhauls 

at the same time as NDTs are per- 

16 

formed. This process leads to considerably 

higher maintenance costs as overhauls can 

reach up to $1,200 if the rim is sufficiently 

damaged. Wheels do not have any specific 

life-limit and tend to survive at least 5,000 

cycles before requiring replacement. 

Checking the tyres on an Airbus A330-300 in Frankfurt Gregor Schläger / LHT 


737-300 737-400 737-500 737-600 737-700 737-800 

NW wheel insp. cost $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 

NW wheel insp. cost range $300-$600 $300-$600 $300-$600 $300-$600 $300-$600 $300-$600 

NW Insp. per overhaul 5 5 5 5 5 5 

NW Insp. per overhaul range 3-6 3-6 3-6 3-6 3-6 3-6 

NW overhaul cost $600 $600 $600 $600 $600 $600 

NW overhaul cost range $500-$900 $500-$900 $500-$900 $500-$900 $500-$900 $500-$900 

NW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

MW wheel insp. cost $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 

MW wheel insp. cost range $300-$650 $300-$650 $300-$650 $300-$650 $300-$650 $300-$650 

MW insp. per overhaul 5 5 5 5 5 5 

MW insp. per overhaul range 3-6 3-6 3-6 3-6 3-6 3-6 

MW overhaul cost $600 $600 $600 $600 $600 $600 

MW overhaul cost range $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 

MW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

Total NW cycle 1,020 cycles 870 cycles 1,170 cycles 1,110 cycles 990 cycles 810 cycles 

Total MW cycle 1,440 cycles 1,380 cycles 1,500 cycles 1,500 cycles 1,350 cycles 1,080 cycles 

Cost per NW per landing $2.06 $2.41 $1.79 $1.89 $2.12 $2.59 

Cost per MW per landing $1.46 $1.52 $1.40 $1.40 $1.56 $1.94 

Cost per wheel shipset per landing $9.95 $10.91 $9.19 $9.38 $10.46 $12.96

IBA Analysis - Landing Gear costs: Part III 

a320 Wheels 

Wheels are routinely inspected when the tires are retread or replaced at a 

cost of $350 for the nose wheels and $450 for the main wheels. Inspection 

costs rise significantly if non-destructive testing is included. Overhauls are 

performed about every five inspections at a cost of $700. This can also rise 

sharply to $1,200 if significant rim damage has been sustained. 

A319 A320 A321 

NW wheel insp. cost $350 $350 $350 

NW wheel insp. cost range $250-$650 $250-$650 $250-$650 

NW Insp. per overhaul 5 5 5 

NW Insp. per overhaul range 1-7 1-7 1-7 

NW overhaul cost $700 $700 $700 

NW overhaul cost range $250-$1,000 $250-$1,000 $250-$1,000 

NW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

MW wheel insp. cost $450 $450 $450 

MW wheel insp. cost range $300-$650 $300-$650 $300-$650 

MW insp. per overhaul 4 4 4 

MW insp. per overhaul range 1-7 1-7 1-7 

MW overhaul cost $700 $700 $700 

MW overhaul cost range $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 $500-$1,200 

MW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

Total NW cycle 1,500 cycles 1,320 cycles 1,140 cycles 

Total MW cycle 1,600 cycles 1,550 cycles 1,400 cycles 

Cost per NW per landing $1.63 $1.86 $2.15 

Cost per MW per landing $1.56 $1.61 $1.79 

Cost per wheel shipset per landing $9.52 $10.16 $11.44 

Some airbus wide-body cost examples 

A330-200 A330-300 A340-300 

NW wheel insp. cost $650 $650 $650 

NW wheel insp. cost range $600-$1,000 $600-$1,000 $600-$1,000 

NW Insp. per overhaul 3 3 3 

NW Insp. per overhaul range 2-4 2-4 2-4 

NW overhaul cost $750 $750 $750 

NW overhaul cost range $650-$1,400 $650-$1,400 $650-$1,400 

NW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

MW wheel insp. cost $750 $750 $750 

MW wheel insp. cost range $600-$1,250 $600-$1,250 $600-$1,250 

MW insp. per overhaul 3 3 3 

MW insp. per overhaul range 2-4 2-4 2-4 

MW overhaul cost $800 $800 $800 

MW overhaul cost range $750-$1,700 $750-$1,700 $750-$1,700 

MW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

Total NW cycle 1,280 cycles 1,240 cycles 1,200 cycles 

Total MW cycle 1,400 cycles 1,360 cycles 1,320 cycles 

Cost per NW per landing $2.11 $2.18 $2.25 

Cost per MW per landing $2.18 $2.24 $2.31 

Cost per wheel shipset per landing $21.65 $22.30 $27.61 

Some Boeing wide-body cost examples 

777-200/-200ER 777-300 

NW wheel insp. cost $600 $600 

NW wheel insp. cost range $600-$1,000 $600-$1,000 

NW Insp. per overhaul 3 3 

NW Insp. per overhaul range 3-5 3-5 

NW overhaul cost $650 $650 

NW overhaul cost range $650-$1,250 $650-$1,250 

NW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

MW wheel insp. cost $650 $650 

MW wheel insp. cost range $600-$1,150 $600-$1,150 

MW insp. per overhaul 3 3 

MW insp. per overhaul range 3-5 3-5 

MW overhaul cost $800 $800 

MW overhaul cost range $700-$1,300 $700-$1,300 

MW rim lifetime >5,000 cycles >5,000 cycles 

Total NW cycle 1,200 cycles 1,160 cycles 

Total MW cycle 1,400 cycles 1,320 cycles 

Cost per NW per landing $2.04 $2.11 

Cost per MW per landing $1.96 $2.08 

Cost per wheel shipset per landing $27.65 $29.22 

The International 

Bureau of Aviation 

is an independent 

aviation consulting 

firm based in Leatherhead, UK, 

with representation worldwide 

Would you like to know more about IBA 

publications? Do you require independent 

research and consultancy services to give 

your company an edge? 

Contact Owen Geach, IBA commercial 

director, for more information: 

E: owen.geach@ibagroup.com 

T: +44 (0) 1372 224 488 

M: + 44 (0) 7917 648 712 

17 


News in Brief 

Lufthansa Technik supplies components to 

Europe Airpost 

Europe Airpost and Lufthansa Technik signed an extensive 

Total Component Support TCS contract. The agreement 

means that one of France’s largest airlines can now rely 

on the services of Lufthansa Technik, which will establish 

a home base at Charles de Gaulle Airport especially for 

this purpose. The contract concerns component supply 

for Europe Airpost’s fleet of seventeen Boeing 737-300 

aircraft. 14 of these planes are equipped with a Quick 

Change Kit, which enables a rapid conversion from 

cargo to passenger configuration. In order to meet the 

customer’s time-critical material requirements, the new 

home base will be equipped with a broad inventory on 

site, including line replaceable units, wheels and brakes, 

as well as thrust reversers. 

EL AL Israel to equip aircraft with WheelTug 

Aircraft Drive System 

EL AL Israel Airlines and WheelTug plc announced their 

execution of a Letter of Intent to enter an agreement 

under which EL AL will obtain a substantial part of the 

Aircraft Services 

Designed for aircraft repair stations, MRO 

facilities and full service FBOs. Includes 

an integrated approach to Quoting, Work 

Package Generation, Job Card Management, 

Labor Recording, Consumables Management, 

Rotable Exchanges, Shop & Vendor Services, 

Cost & Profit Management, and Invoicing. 

Hangar Management 

Allows for complete maintenance and 

resource management across an 

individual or entire fleet of aircraft. The module 

is completely integrated with Quantum's entire 

software suite and adds the capability to track 

flight history, maintenance history, upcoming 

maintenance events, on-going work orders, 

available resources and due-lists for technicians 

on the hangar floor. 

Forms Designer 

The Forms Designer in Quantum Control 

is a powerful and flexible tool that 

allows our standard forms to be customized or 

enhanced to meet any customers needs. 

AVREF Catalog Files 

The AVREF Catalog System provides the 

latest OEM pricing information along with 

access to Government MCRL cross reference data. 

Warranty Module 

Manages the tracking and statusing of 

incoming warranty claims from 

customers and outgoing claims to vendors. 

Includes customer centric warranty claim 

request capability. 

Rental and Leasing 

The Rental and Leasing module has the 

versatility required to handle all of your 

rental and leasing transactions including 

flight-time based billing. 

Max-Q 

With Max-Q you get Quantum Control 

implemented with the latest database 

technology from Oracle to provide the ultimate 

in database Security, Reliability, Scalability and 

Performance. 

initial production of WheelTug Aircraft Drive Systems 

for Boeing 737NG aircraft for installation on their own 

aircraft subject to financial and operational feasibility 

checks and regulatory approvals. The WheelTug 

electric drive system uses high-performance electric 

motors, installed in the nose gear wheels of an aircraft, 

to provide full mobility while on the ground, without 

the use of the aircraft’s jet engines or tugs for both 

pushback and taxi operations. WheelTug enables 

aircraft to be electrically driven from the terminal 

gate to the takeoff runway, and upon landing from 

runway exit to the gate. The resulting improvements 

in efficiency, flexibility, fuel savings, and reduced 

engine foreign object damage (FOD) yield projected 

savings a substantial operating expenses per aircraft 

per year, plus substantial reductions in CO2 and other 

greenhouse gas emissions. 

SmartStem Wireless Tire Pressure System to 

be certified for Dassault Falcon 20 and 50 

Crane Aerospace & Electronics announced the 2012 

release of a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for 

its SmartStem Wireless Tire Pressure System to be fit- 

MRO & Logistics Software Solutions 

Integrated with 

Shop Control 

Manages the complete Component and 

Assembly Repair and Overhaul process. 

Includes real-time Cost and Schedule 

Management functions that put you in complete 

control of your shop’s activity. 

Time and Attendance 

Accurately manages the collection and 

tracking of employee's work time. Shift 

patterns can be configured to accommodate 

overtime, grace periods and to identify 

exceptions that require management attention. 

Bar Coding 

Prints bar codes and allows for the 

scanning of physical inventory to track 

and manage stock and account for all parts 

when shipping, receiving, etc. 

Document Imaging 

Allows for the association and storage of 

documents or images to almost any 

Quantum record including part numbers, 

stocklines, quotes, repair orders, repair manuals, 

work orders, manufacturing records, and 

companies. 

Contact Manager 

This module provides a tool for sales, 

service or support centers to record, 

track, status and assign contact activity. Email 

list management & broadcasting is also included. 

Quantum Portal 

Quantum Portal enables our customers to 

present Quantum functionality to their 

users via a standard web browser. Contains 

functional modules for your customers to check 

status and shipping information for Sales Orders 

and Work Orders out of the box. 

Manufacturing 

The Manufacturing Module is a powerful, 

yet easy to use application that 

addresses all aspects of the manufacturing 

process including product lines, floor control, 

inspections, materials planning, purchasing and 

outside servicing. The straightforward processing 

allows you to generate orders for stock or 

planned customer orders all from one screen. 

Lot Costing 

Manages lot purchases and assembly 

teardowns. Provides total tracking of 

acquisition costs, overhaul expenses, component 

part sales, profit margins & full traceability. 

The StockMarket 

Quantum users can search, buy, and sell 

parts with other Quantum Users in real 

time without leaving the software. Inventory 

postings are automatic and can include details 

such as serial numbers, images, time life & prices. 

Storefront Quantum 

The Storefront module is the key to your 

web services sales strategy. Customers 

can login to your website to search, view, RFQ or 

purchase from your existing stock. Your selected 

inventory is updated automatically in real-time 

all the time so no manual updates are required. 

EDI Integration 

The EDI Module provides the infrastructure 

to deploy a fully-integrated solution 

between a Quantum user and his trading 

partners, with EDI transactions ranging from 

quote to purchase to invoice, and more. 

Aeroxchange Integration 

Provides users with the ability to receive 

and respond to customer part inquiries 

using either broadcast and/or quote requests. 

These requests are generated directly from 

Aeroxchange's Airline customers, through their 

AeroBuy module working in concert with 

Component Control's StockMarket. 

Component Control 619.696.5400 · info@componentcontrol.com · 1731 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, Ca 92101 

18 

ted on Dassault Falcon 20 and 50 business jets. Starting 

in 2012, STC retrofit kits for this equipment will 

be available exclusively through Dassault Falcon Jet 

Corp. SmartStem Tire Pressure Sensors are already 

certified for use on a variety of other business jets, 

and Crane is in the process of certifying SmartStem 

on additional business, regional, and large commercial 

aircraft. SmartStem was developed by Crane 

Aerospace & Electronics to provide a fast and reliable 

method of checking tire pressure without gas loss. 

It is also designed to be easily retrofitted on existing 

aircraft. The technology provides numerous benefits 

including reduced maintenance costs, improved 

convenience, and automatic tracking of tire pressure 

checks – information which helps assure safety and 

extends tire life. 

Constant Aviation Birmingham becomes 

Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 Authorized 

Service Center 

Constant Aviation was selected by Embraer to become 

an Authorized Service Center at their Birmingham (BHM) 

facility on the Phenom 100 and 300 airframes. Constant 

Integrated Accounting 

The Accounting Module includes General 

Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts 

Payable, and more - all integrated with Sales, 

Purchasing, Repair, Exchange, Work Order and 

Invoicing modules. 

Fixed Asset 

Tracks and depreciates assets, flagging 

master parts inside traditional master 

part and stock tables. Enables users to flag 

master parts for depreciation and tracking, and 

modify transactions such as how the asset is 

sold, issued to a job or scrapped. 

QuickBooks Accounting Bridge 

The QuickBooks Accounting Bridge 

Module is for customers that prefer 

QuickBooks accounting. Relevant data is sent 

through the 'bridge' directly to QuickBooks. 

Remote Inventory 

Accommodates supply chain practices 

where the inventory is managed 

'remotely' by either the vendor or the customer. 

Planning is based on the customer's expected 

demand and on previously agreed minimum and 

maximum inventory levels. 

Shipping Manager 

Manages the shipping and order 

consolidation process to include user 

defined stages and statuses. Creates custom 

invoices, packing slips and certification forms 

within one shipment. The Starship option 

provides integration to UPS, FedEx, & USPS for 

automatic shipping labels and rate calculations. 

Event Manager & Report Scheduler 

Allows for the automated reporting, 

emailing and faxing to customers, 

suppliers as well as internal users. Email 

notifications and reports can be created using 

pre-packaged scripts, e.g. shipping notifications 

for items leaving the warehouse, or custom 

designed to fit your business.

News in Brief 19 

Aviation will be able to provide complete maintenance 

and avionics services as well as modifications, composite 

repairs, Airworthiness Directives and Service Bulletins 

on both types of aircraft. The organization will also 

use their previous experience working with Embraer 

on warranty claims to provide seamless service to the 

Phenom customers. 

Air Methods awarded Eurocopter EC145 

medical interior completion agreement 

United Rotorcraft, a division of Air Methods (formerly 

known as the Products Division of Air Methods), was 

awarded a contract by OSF Aviation, Peoria, Ill., a part of 

OSF HealthCare, to complete OSF’s four new Eurocopter 

EC145 aircraft. The agreement includes the design, manufacture, 

FAA approvals for the medical interior and avionics 

suite, plus exterior paint. The aircraft are expected 

to be delivered to OSF during the first half of 2012. 

MAEL sign agreement with Rossiya Airlines 

Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) signed a line 

maintenance technical handling agreement with Rossiya 

Airlines. The agreement will see MAEL to provide support 

to the Russian operator’s winter flights to Goa, India, on 

which they will operate Boeing 767-300 aircraft. 

MAEL concludes maintenance contract with 

Thomas Cook 

Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) concluded a 

contract to provide Thomas Cook Scandinavia with 

heavy maintenance support. MAEL performed three 

Airbus A321 C Checks, which also include embodiment 

of rear spar corrosions service bulletins at their London 

Luton Airport maintenance facilities. 

MANUFACTURING NEWS 

Tail section for THAI’s first A380 rolls out 

of paint shop 

The vertical tail section for the first A380 for Thai 

Airways International (THAI) was painted with the 

airline’s orchid logo at Airbus facilities in Hamburg. 

THAI will become the ninth operator of the A380 

when it takes delivery of its first aircraft in the third 

quarter of 2012. The airline has firm orders for six 

A380s and will operate the aircraft on its premier 

routes from Bangkok to Europe. 

Seven new suppliers sign on for Bombardier 

Global 7000 and Global 8000 jet program 

Bombardier Aerospace revealed more information about 

the selection of seven suppliers on major packages on 

its new Global 7000 and Global 8000 jets. The awarding 

of these contracts to renowned aerospace companies, 

who will design and manufacture key systems, is an 

important milestone in the program development. 

Rockwell Collins has been selected for the avionics 

system and primary flight control computer; Parker 

Aerospace, the hydraulics system and fly-by-wire flight 

control technology; Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, the main 

and nose landing gear system; Meggitt Aircraft Braking 

Systems (MABS), the wheels and braking system; 

SELECTED ENGINE NEWS 

ST Aerospace secures CFM56-7B/7BE engine maintenance contract 

ST Aerospace was awarded a contract to support Japanese low fare airline Solaseed Air’s CFM56-7B and CFM56- 

7BE engines, powering its entire fleet of 13 Next-Generation Boeing 737 aircraft over five years. The services 

provided to Solaseed Air will involve off-wing engine maintenance support, technical support and short term 

leasing of the CFM56-7B engines. 

GE Aviation and Bombardier sign engine service agreements 

GE Aviation and Bombardier Aerospace announced two new engine service agreements that will boost services 

support and provide additional peace of mind for Bombardier business aircraft customers. GE’s OnPointSM 

solutions engine maintenance coverage is being offered on Challenger aircraft equipped with GE CF34 engines 

and Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft. What’s more, Bombardier’s five wholly owned business aircraft service 

centres in the United States are named GE Authorized Service Centers for CF34 engines for business aircraft. Both 

agreements are effective immediately. 

Under the service centre agreement, Bombardier’s five wholly owned business aircraft service centres, located in 

Dallas, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; Tucson, Arizona and Wichita, Kansas, will expand 

their offering to provide factory-quality line maintenance and mobile repair services on GE CF34 engines. GE 

Aviation will provide Bombardier facilities with comprehensive material and technical support. 

Cutter Aviation named Authorized Service Center for M601/H80 engines 

Cutter Aviation, a leading business & general aviation services provider, has signed an agreement with GE Aviation 

to become an Authorized Service Center for GE’s M601 and H80 turboprop engines. As part of the agreement, 

Cutter Aviation will offer comprehensive line maintenance, removals and re-installations of engines and linereplaceable 

units (LRUs) and engine spares for the M601 and H80 engine families. These engine services will be 

provided at five Cutter Aviation locations that currently offer aircraft maintenance & service: Albuquerque, NM; 

Dallas – McKinney, TX; Phoenix – Deer Valley, AZ; Phoenix-Sky Harbor, AZ; and San Antonio, TX. 

ExecuJet Africa signs new Service Agreement 

with Blackhawk 

Blackhawk, a provider of engine performance solutions 

to the global turboprop fleet, signed a new Service 

Liebherr-Aerospace, the air management system; 

Apparatebau Gauting GmbH, the water and waste 

system; and Arrowhead Products, the ducting system. 

Boeing 737 program begins production at 

higher rate 

Boeing began building the first Next-Generation 737 

at the program’s new production rate of 35 airplanes 

a month. The rate is increasing from 31.5 airplanes 

a month to meet worldwide market demand for the 

best-selling single-aisle airplane. Employees loaded 

chords and webs manufactured by the Boeing 

Fabrication division into the company’s newest 

automated spar assembly tool, the first visible 

step in the final assembly of the airplane. The parts 

were then joined to make a spar, the main support 

structure for the wings. 

CIRCOR Aerospace to supply actuation 

packages for Messier-Bugatti-Dowty 

The CIRCOR Aerospace Products Group was selected by 

Messier-Bugatti-Dowty (Safran Group) to manufacture 

a complete suite of 20 actuators for multiple business 

and regional aircraft platforms. CIRCOR Aerospace will 

perform the manufacturing, final assembly and testing 

Agreement with ExecuJet Africa. The service agreement 

will expand ExecuJet’s expertise whilst facilitating the 

Blackhawk performance upgrades for turboprop aircraft 

owners in Africa. Blackhawk, who in just a decade 

has established industry leadership in performance 

of these actuators at its Corona, California facilities. 

CIRCOR Aerospace was previously awarded several 

design and development and legacy program contracts 

for landing gear actuators by Messier-Bugatti-Dowty. 

Spirit AeroSystems ships first composite 

fuselage section panels for A350 XWB 

Spirit AeroSystems shipped the first production 

composite center fuselage panels for the Airbus A350 

XWB program out of its Kinston, N.C., facility. The 

Section 15 fuselage panels are being sent to Saint- 

Nazaire, France, where final upper shell assembly 

will occur. Section 15 of the fuselage consists of the 

center composite upper and forward lower shells 

manufactured by Spirit. 

Airbus signs new deal with Messier- 

Bugatti-Dowty 

Messier-Bugatti-Dowty was chosen by Airbus to supply 

the nose and main landing gear for the A320 family, 

including the A320neo family. Airbus accounts for 

60% of Messier-Bugatti-Dowty’s landing gear activity 

as it supplies landing gear to the entire Airbus single 

aisle program as well as A330, A340 and A380 nose 

landing gears and A350-800/900 main landing gears. 


News in Brief 

SELECTED FINANCIAL NEWS 

German government to buy half of Daimler stake in EADS 

Germany is to buy half of Daimler’s 15% stake in EADS in a deal valued at €1.22bn ($1.66bn) after the German 

automaker said its holding was no longer core to its operations. Daimler will retain control of the voting rights of 

a further 7.5% stake held by public and private German banks. State-owned development bank KfW Group will 

hold the stake until a long-term solution can be found. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed to buy 

the shareholding, after a private investor failed to materialize, to maintain parity with France, in accordance with 

company statutes. French publisher Lagardère owns a 7.5% share and controls the voting rights of the French 

government’s 15% stake. 

Astronics Corporation’s net income improves 43% 

Astronics Corporation released financial results for the three and nine months ended October 1, 2011. Sales in 

the third quarter of 2011 were $56.4m, up $6.5m, or 13.0%, from the prior year third quarter. Aerospace sales, 

which represented approximately 95% of total third quarter sales, increased 16.3% over the prior year period 

to $53.5m. Sales for the first nine months of 2011 were $167.0 million, up $23.1m, or 16.0%, from the same 

period last year. Aerospace sales, which represented approximately 93% of total year-to-date sales, increased 

17.2% over the prior year period to $155.7m. Net income in the third quarter of 2011 was $6.7m compared 

with net income of $4.6m in the same period of last year. Year-to-date net income for the first nine months of 

2011 was $16.4m compared with net income of $10.5m in the same period of last year. 

Rockwell Collins reports fourth quarter 2011 earnings 

Rockwell Collins reported fourth quarter fiscal year 2011 net income of $175m, an increase of $25m, or 17%, 

from $150m in the same period last year. The company reported a sales increase of $25m, or 2%, to $1.296bn for 

the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to sales of $1.271bn for the same period a year ago. Commercial Systems, 

which provides aviation electronics systems, products and services to air transport, business and regional aircraft 

manufacturers and airlines worldwide, achieved 2011 fourth quarter sales of $517m, an increase of $44m, or 9%, 

compared to sales of $473m reported for the same period last year. 

Sales related to aircraft original equipment manufacturers increased $37m, or 16%, to $268m driven by higher 

product deliveries for the Bombardier Global platform and increased sales of avionics to air transport OEMs resulting 

from higher aircraft production rates. Aftermarket sales increased $6m, or 3%, to $214m. 

improvement systems for single- and twin-engine 

turboprop aircraft, planned on expanding its worldwide 

business in Africa. 

Precision Conversions receives conformity 

aircraft for 757-200PCC Combi Program 

In continuation of the 757-200PCC Combi 

program, Precision Conversions received the 

conformity aircraft from Cargo Aircraft Management 

SELECTED TRANSACTIONS 

Curtiss-Wright acquires South Bend Controls 

Curtiss-Wright Corporation acquired the assets of South Bend Controls for $10m 

in cash. South Bend Controls is a leading designer and manufacturer of highly 

engineered, solenoid-based components used in critical applications serving the 

aerospace and defense, industrial and medical markets, and had sales of approximately 

$8m in 2010. The business will operate within Curtiss-Wright’s Motion 

Control segment. 

Stony Point Group reports acquisition of Broadwing Air Repair 

Stony Point Group, a private equity and management firm focusing on middle market 

companies in the aerospace, defense and industrial sectors, reported the acquisition 

of the assets Broadwing Air Repair, (BAR). Financial terms of the transaction, which 

closed October 7, were not disclosed. Located in Melbourne, Arkansas, BAR is an 

FAA Part 145 Repair Station that provides composite and sheet metal repair and 

is particularly well-known for its expertise in flight control surface and door repair. 

Founded in 2007 by former managers of Boeing’s Melbourne repair station, BAR 

services components for more than 25 different airframes, including those manufactured 

by Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier, McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. 


(CAM), a subsidiary of Air Transport Services Group. 

The 1994 Pratt & Whitney powered 757-200 has 

been inducted at Flightstar Aircraft Services facility 

in Jacksonville, FL and is currently undergoing 

modification. The Combi award from CAM is part of 

a two aircraft deal, both of which will include 10 full 

cargo positions and 48 passenger seats. Precision 

Conversions is finalizing engineering and certification 

efforts and will soon begin joint worldwide marketing, 

with CAM, for the 757-200PCC. 

AAR Corp acquires Airinmar Holdings 

AAR CORP. acquired Airinmar Holdings Limited (Airinmar), an international provider 

of aircraft component repair management services. The acquisition was paid for from 

available cash on hand and it is expected to be modestly accretive to earnings over 

the balance of the Company’s fiscal year 2012. The newly acquired business will 

operate as part of AAR’s Aviation Supply Chain segment. With headquarters located 

in the United Kingdom near London Heathrow Airport, Airinmar supports airlines, 

aircraft manufacturers and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers with 

component repair management services. 

Lockheed Martin acquires Sim-Industries B.V. 

Lockheed Martin Corporation announced the acquisition of Sim-Industries B.V., a 

commercial aviation simulation company located in the Netherlands. The acquisition 

is a demonstration of the Corporation’s strategy to expand into closely related 

markets that build on core capabilities and expand their customer base. The terms 

of the agreement were not disclosed. Sim-Industries develops and manufactures 

full-motion and fixed-based civil aviation flight simulators for a wide range of airline 

customers and independent pilot training centers worldwide. 

20 

Turkish Technic signs agreements with 

Somon Air and Pegasus Airlines 

Turkish Technic and Pegasus Airlines signed a base 

maintenance services contract for one Boeing 737-800 

C-Check. Work will be carried out at Turkish Technic’s 

Istanbul Facilities, within the fourth quarter of 2011. 

Turkish Technic also signed a GTCP131-9B APU repair 

services contract with Somon Air in October 2011, which 

covers one GTCP131-9B model APU repair ans spare 

APU support for Somon Air (Tajikistan). 

Jet Midwest Technik scores paint contract 

with Skywest Airlines 

MRO and commercial aircraft paint facility Jet Midwest 

Technik recently entered into an agreement with 

SkyWest Airlines to perform “Premium” aircraft paint 

services for the airline’s CRJ-200 fleet currently operated 

on behalf of United Express. Jet Midwest Technik 

is currently painting two continuous lines of aircraft 

at their 1.2m ft² MRO facility at MCI. Jet Midwest 

Technik will also commence with painting additional 

aircraft in Skywest’s CRJ fleet as Delta Connection. 

GE wins position on Gulfstream’s G650 for 

Aircraft Health and Trend Monitoring 

GE Aviation was awarded two contracts from Gulfstream 

Aerospace Corporation to provide the Integrated 

Vehicle Health Management technology and 

service for the G650 business jet aircraft. The G650 

entry-into-service is anticipated for 2012. The system is 

provided from GE facilities in Grand Rapids, Michigan 

and Southampton, UK. 

PPG to supply Falcon 20/50 all-glass 

cockpit windows to Dassault Aviation 

PPG Industries’ aerospace transparencies group 

signed an agreement with Dassault Aviation to supply 

all-glass heated windshields and all-glass heated 

side cockpit windows for Falcon 20 and Falcon 50 

business jets. Under the contract, PPG will produce 

replacement windshields and side windows for

News in Brief 

Dassault to support operators as long as four of these 

Falcon aircraft are flying, according to Arthur Scott, 

PPG Aerospace global director for general aviation 

transparencies. There are 1,200 Falcon 20 and Falcon 

50 jets flying today. 

Enflite awarded Gulfstream G650 aircraft 

interior contract 

Enflite, the interior and galley products division of 

LifePort announced the signing of an agreement to 

provide customized interior cabin mechanisms and 

galley appliances for Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation’s 

G650 newly designed aircraft cabin. The G650 

cabin mechanisms include electrically operated pocket 

doors, monitor lifts, console tables and manually 

operated pedestal tables. 

Coopesa RL signs C-check maintenance 

deal with Tame, Ecuador 

Coopesa RL signed a C-check maintenance 

agreement for two A319 aircraft. Maintenance will be 

carried out at Coopesa´s facilities in San Jose, Costa 

Rica, in the fourth quarter of 2011. 

Brussels Airlines selects Lufthansa Technik 

Malta for Airbus A330 base maintenance 

Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa Technik Malta signed 

a base maintenance contract for the Airbus A330 fleet 

of the carrier. Lufthansa Technik Malta will provide C- 

Checks for the five A330s of Brussels Airlines starting 

from now on. Additionally Lufthansa Technik Malta 

has been selected to do a full cabin retrofit of the 

aircraft starting in February 2012. 

NIKI Luftfahrt signs agreement with Turkish 

Technic 

NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH (based in Vienna/Austria) and 

Turkish Technic have signed a contract providing base 

maintenance and paint services for five Airbus A320 

Aircraft. The newly signed contract is the first business 

agreement between the parties. The services will 

be carried out at Turkish Technic Istanbul facilities between 

October and December 2012. 

A J Walter Aviation launches corporate jet 

support division 

In partnership with its business aircraft sales and acquisition 

broker, Loudoun Aviation, AJW has extended 

its successful commercial spare parts and power by 

the hour programmes to owners/operators of corporate 

Boeing and Airbus aircraft, primarily BBJ and ACJ, 

but also corporate conversions from airliners. AJW has 

identified that more than 400 aircraft globally fall into 

this category and full support can be provided for ACJ, 

BBJ, 747,757,767,777 and in the future 787. “We 

recognise that BBJ and ACJ operators have completely 

different needs to our airline customers so we have 

worked hard with our partner Loudoun Aviation to 

refine our approach to this specialist sector” explains 

AJW president, Christopher Whiteside.” 

AFTERMARKET AGREEMENTS 

NAYAK becomes MRO partner for Boeing GoldCare program 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes selected NAYAK Aircraft Services in Europe to provide Boeing GoldCare maintenance, 

repair and overhaul (MRO) services. The GoldCare program is a maintenance concept Boeing designed to 

maximize airline operations for the 737 NG and the new 787 Dreamliner aircrafts. NAYAK is one of the largest 

independent providers of aircraft maintenance in Europe, headquartered in Cologne (Germany) and with offices 

in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Rome (Italy). 

Singapore Airlines signs new Flight Hour Services contract with Airbus 

Singapore Airlines signed a new Flight Hour Services (FHS) Tailored Support Package contract with Airbus to 

integrate and provide full component support, line and base airframe maintenance, as well as fleet technical 

management services for its 15 additional A330 aircraft ordered in September this year. Under this long-term 

agreement, the airline will benefit from Airbus’ expertise in the areas of maintenance, engineering, reliability and 

supply chain management, partnering together with component manufacturers and with maintenance, repair 

and overhaul organisations. This contract builds on the existing FHS agreement signed with the airline in 2008 

for 19 A330 aircraft. In addition, Airbus is already committed to Singapore Airlines with a components support 

agreement signed in 2007 for its A380 fleet, as well as a contract signed in 2010 covering its five A340-500 

aircraft. 

Boeing selects FL Technics to be GoldCare partner 

FL Technics commenced a strategic partnership with Boeing and will support its aircraft, including the Boeing 

787 Dreamliner, under the GoldCare program. According to the agreement, FL Technics will provide line and base 

maintenance, component solutions and engineering services for the fleet participating in the program. 

Germanwings and Lufthansa Technik sign strategic partnership 

Germanwings and Lufthansa Technik significantly strengthened their existing relationship by signing a strategic 

cooperation contract regarding technical services for the complete fleet, currently consisting of 30 Airbus A319. 

A dedicated cooperation management has been implemented to guarantee an optimal technical service for 

Germanwings. A Lufthansa Technik Fleet Manager is based at the airline’s headquarters in Cologne/Germany 

as the single point of contact for every operational issue to guarantee a fully integrated and dovetailed service. 

Additionally, the two companies have agreed to integrate the existing contracts for maintenance, repair and 

overhaul (MRO) services, engineering services, engines, landing gears and components under one perennial frame 

contract and are in talks to add further services. 

Nok Air signs Total Technical Support contract with LHT 

Lufthansa Technik recently signed a Total Technical Support TTS contract (including Total Material Operations 

TMO) with Nok Air and will consequently provide all-round support for the Thai airline’s new Boeing 737 NG fleet 

from November onwards. In addition, the agreement comprises landing gear and APU overhauls as well as repairs 

on large composite structures such as radomes and thrust reversers. 

INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT AND CONNECTIVITY 

SR Technics and Panasonic sign contract 

SR Technics signed a contract with Panasonic Avionics for the installation of Panasonic’s new in-flight 

entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) system, the Ku-band satellite-based global communications suite 

(GCS). The agreement covers the modification of the Gulf Air Airbus A330 and A320 family fleet comprising 

30 aircraft as well as the modification of a Middle Eastern airline’s A319. The new GCS system offers 

wireless high-speed broadband Internet access for WLAN-enabled laptops and smart phones, and GSM 

mobile phone service. Under the agreement work started in September 2011 and will take one and a half 

years to complete. All work will be carried out in Zurich. Future opportunities will be reviewed, following 

this initial installation program. 

Aircell Axxess selected by Gulfstream for new G650 business jets 

Aircell, a leading provider of in-flight connectivity for business aviation, announced that its flagship 

communications system, Aircell Axxess, was selected by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation as standard 

equipment aboard its new, ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range G650 business jet. Aircell Axxess is a cabin 

communications system that provides global voice service and narrowband data capabilities via the Iridium 

Satellite network. Integrated cabin handsets allow passengers and crew to easily place and receive voice 

calls to or from anywhere in the world. 

21 


News in Brief 

SELECTED LESSOR NEWS 

Willis Lease Finance reports nine month 

net income up 50% 

Willis Lease Finance Corporation reported third 

quarter pretax profits grew 19% compared to the 

year ago period. Net income was $2.3m in the 

third quarter of 2011, compared to $3.1m in the 

third quarter a year ago. The current quarter’s net 

income was reduced by $1.3m due to the inclusion 

of a tax adjustment related to the accounting for 

the sale of engines to the recently formed JV with 

Mitsui. After payment of preferred dividends, net 

income available to common shareholders was 

$1.5m compared to $2.3m a year ago. For the 

first nine months of 2011, net income grew 35% 

to $10.9m from $8.0m in the first nine months 

a year ago. Net income attributable to common 

shareholders increased 50% to $8.5m from $5.7m 

in the first nine months of 2010. 

MRO NEWS FROM ASIA 

ST Aerospace receives CAAS and EASA Part 147 Maintenance 

Training Organisation approvals 

ST Aerospace was certified as a Part 147 Maintenance Training Organisation 

(MTO) by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and European 

Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to provide aircraft type training for narrow-body 

and wide-body aircraft. The training courses will be conducted at ST Aerospace’s 

dedicated technical training centre in Paya Lebar, Singapore. 

HAECO signs ITM service contract with Cathay Pacific for Boeing 

747-8 Freighters 

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO) entered into an ITM contract with 

Cathay Pacific Airways to provide Inventory Technical Management (ITM) services for 

the airline’s fleet of 10 new Boeing 747-8 freighters, to be delivered between 2011 

and 2012. The ITM service includes inventory management, reliability management, 

supply chain management, technical services, and comprehensive 24/7 Aircraft-on- 

Ground (AOG) support, covering Boeing 747-8F peculiar components for Cathay 

Pacific’s Hong Kong base and its line station network. 

Garuda Indonesia, CFM sign MOU for support of CFM56-7B 

engines 

Garuda Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CFM 

International for the long-term support of the CFM56-7B engines powering the 

airline’s fleet of 63 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Under the terms of the potential 

15-year Rate Per Flight Hour (RPFH) contract, CFM would provide comprehensive 

engine maintenance service and guarantee maintenance costs on a dollar per 

engine flight hour basis. As part of the proposed contract, CFM and Garuda’s 

Maintenance arm, GMF Aero Asia will jointly develop overhaul capability for the 

CFM56-7B engine. Once capable, Garuda’s CFM56-7B engine overhauls will be 

undertaken by GMF as part of the RPFH agreement. 

IPTN and GE sign CT7 engine overhaul contract 

GE and PT. Nusantara Turbin Dan Propulsi (NTP) signed an overhaul support 

agreement covering CT7 engines that power CN235 turboprop aircraft. NTP is a 

subsidiary of PT. Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), formerly IPTN. Under the agreement, 

NTP will provide overhaul services for in-service and future CN235 engines (CT7- 

5/CT7-7/CT7-9 models) at its Indonesia facility. GE Aviation will continue to 

manufacture, assemble, inspect and test CT7-9 engines for CN235 orders at its 


Government of Singapore Investment 

Corporation invests $300m in Avolon 

Avolon announced a $300m equity capital 

commitment from sovereign wealth fund GIC, subject 

to customary regulatory approval. Avolon has now 

secured a total of $1.4bn in equity capital from GIC 

and leading private equity firms, Cinven, CVC Capital 

Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners. GIC joins 

Cinven, CVC Capital Partners and Oak Hill Capital 

Partners as equity investors in Avolon. Avolon’s 

committed fleet now stands at 88 aircraft with 26 

customers in 18 countries. Avolon’s fleet is one of the 

youngest lessor fleet with an average aircraft age of 

1.4 years. The proceeds of this capital raising will be 

used to accelerate Avolon’s expansion; and, to fund 

the continued growth of its aircraft fleet. Avolon’s 

objective is to reach a fleet size of 150 aircraft, 

valued at close to $6bn, by 2014. 

AerCap signs $400m credit facility for 

twelve Boeing 737-800s 

AerCap Holdings N.V. signed a new $400m credit 

facility with a 10-year term to provide long term 

financing for 12 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The aircraft 

will be leased to American Airlines and form part of 

AerCap’s previously announced transaction with 

American Airlines for the purchase and leaseback 

of 35 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The facility was 

co-arranged by Credit Agricole Corporate and 

Investment Bank, Norddeutsche Landesbank 

Girozentrale, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 

Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale and 

DVB Bank SE. Credit Agricole Corporate and 

Investment Bank acted as coordinating bank and 

facility agent. 

Lynn, MA, facility. The CN235 is currently built by both Airbus Military and PTDI. 

EGAT completes 50th heavy check for Asiana Airlines 

Evergreen Aviation Technologies (EGAT) completed the 50th airframe heavy 

maintenance check for Asiana Airlines, on a Boeing 747-400, including full cabin 

upgrade modifications with new seating and enhanced In-Flight Entertainment 

system installations. 

Bombardier extends inlet cowl repair capability to Hong Kong 

Bombardier Customer Services extended its repair capability on the inlet cowl for 

the Trent 700 engine to Hong Kong. Through a strategic service agreement with 

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO), Bombardier is now 

offering repair capability on the Trent 700 inlet cowl in Hong Kong, in addition to its 

Belfast and Dallas MRO facilities. As original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the 

Trent 700 inlet cowl, Bombardier has been providing a full range of maintenance 

support for more than 15 years in Belfast, and recently in Dallas. This Bombardier 

service is now available to be performed at HAECO’s component and avionics 

overhaul centre in Tseung Kwan O,50 km east of Hong Kong International Airport. 

Peach Aviation signs LHT for component services 

...continued on p. 23 

Japan-based Peach Aviation and Lufthansa Technik have signed a multi-year 

component supply contract for 16 Airbus A320 aircraft. To ensure that everything 

runs smoothly until the first three Airbus A320s are delivered in Toulouse (France) 

starting in November 2011, Lufthansa Technik has already begun to monitor the 

aircraft assembly within the frame of the Aircraft Production Inspection Program 

(APIP). The components will be supplied to the airline’s home base at Kansai 

International Airport by Lufthansa Technik’s facilities in Hamburg and Frankfurt. 

Shanghai Hawker Pacific receives first Part 145 MRO 

certification 

China’s first MRO dedicated to Business aviation has been certified by the CAAC 

(Civil Aviation Administration of China). Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business 

Aviation Service Centre received the approval for Part 145 Maintenance 

Operations from the CAAC following an extensive audit and inspection process. 

Located at Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport, the 4000m² maintenance 

facility is next to Shanghai’s first Fixed Base Operator (FBO) facility, also operated 

by Shanghai Hawker Pacific. 

22

Industry People on the Move 23 

Rolls-Royce released that Sir 

Frank Chapman has joined 

the Board as a non-executive 

director. Sir Frank is the chief 

executive of BG Group and 

a Fellow of the Institution of 

Mechanical Engineers. 

Revima APU, an independent 

APU MRO provider, based in 

Caudebec-en-Caux, France, 

SELECTED LESSOR NEWS 

Continued from p. 22... 

Sir Frank Chapman 

BG 

appointed antoine Marez as director of Strategic 

Purchasing. Antoine will be responsible for the 

development of long term agreements with suppliers 

in support of existing and new APU programs . 

Before joining Revima APU, Antoine was the head of 

Aftermarket Supplier Management at Pratt & Whitney 

Canada and previously was general manager of 

Chromalloy France. 

General Dynamics released that Leda M . L . Chong 

will become senior vice president, Asia-Pacific Region, 

of the company’s Aerospace group on November 

1, with an initial focus on the People’s Republic 

of China. Chong will report to Joseph T. Lombardo, 

executive vice president of the General Dynamics 

Aerospace Group, which comprises Gulfstream Aero- 

AeroCentury releases third quarter 2011 

results 

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2011, 

AeroCentury reported total revenues of $6.2m 

compared with total revenues of $6.90m for the 

same period a year ago. For the nine months 

ended September 30, 2011, the Company 

reported total revenues of $17.9m compared 

with revenues of $24.8m for the same period 

a year ago. The Company reported a net loss of 

$243,000 for the third quarter of 2011, compared 

to net income of $241,000 for the third quarter of 

2010 and a net loss of $2.7m for the nine months 

ended September 30, 2011, compared to net 

income of $2.7m for the same period of 2010. 

FLY Leasing reports third quarter 2011 

financial results 

FLY Leasing reported its financial results for the 

third quarter of 2011. FLY’s net income and basic 

and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter 

of 2011 were $3.4m compared to $12.2m in the 

same period of 2010. The decrease in net income 

is primarily due gains realized on the sale of three 

aircraft in the 3rd quarter of 2010 and recognition 

of $2.9m of end of lease revenue also in the 3rd 

quarter of 2010, neither of which is present in the 

current period. At September 30, 2011, FLY’s total 

assets were $2.0bn, including flight equipment 

with a net book value of $1.6bn. 

space Corporation and Jet Aviation. Chong will be 

based in Beijing. 

Mubadala Aerospace reported the formation of a 

senior leadership team for its global MRO network, 

encompassing ADAT in Abu Dhabi and SR Technics, 

based in Zurich, Switzerland. Homaid al Shemmari 

will be the chairman of the Mubadala Aerospace 

MRO network; Jeremy Chan is appointed 

executive vice chairman; and James Stewart is 

appointed Group CEO, leading a highly talented leadership 

team with long-standing industry experience. 

Other key members of the leadership team are: abdul 

Khaliq Saeed: president, MENA , andré 

Wall: president, Europe, abdulla Mohamed 

Shadid: chief commercial officer and pierre Steffen: 

chief supply chain officer. 

Boeing executive vice president, 

corporate president 

and chief financial officer 

James Bell announced 

plans to retire from the company, 

effective April 1, 2012. 

Greg Smith, corporate 

controller and finance vice 

president, has been elected 

by Boeing’s board of directors 

to succeed Bell as executive 

vice president and chief 

James Bell 

Boeing 

financial officer effective Feb. 1, 2012; the two will 

work together over the coming months to ensure a 

smooth transition. Diana Sands, vice president of 

investor relations and financial planning and analysis, 

has been appointed corporate controller, also effective 

Feb. 1, 2012. 

Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) appointed Lee 

Burgess as head of Sales & Capacity Planning. Lee 

will be responsible for the acquisition and development 

of new business within Monarch Aircraft Engineering 

ensuring maximum utilisation of the company’s 

engineering facilities. 

tom Corum was named vice president of Business 

Development for Jet Midwest Technik (JMT), a member 

of the Jet Midwest Group. Tom Corum started his 

new position at Jet Midwest Technik in Kansas City, 

MO on October 24, 2011. 

Joe Clark, chair of Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) and 

CEO of Aviation Partners, announced the appointment 

of Bill ashworth as the new president of 

APB. Prior to joining the APB team he was president 

of Goodrich Aviation Technical Services and prior to 

that, he was manager of the Federal Aviation Administration 

Seattle Aircraft Certification Office. Ashworth’s 

senior management team at APB will include 

Mike Stowell, acting president of APB, executive 

vice president and chief technical officer. Dean 

poor, vice president of Operations and patrick La- 

Moria, vice president of Sales. 

Boeing appointed Matthew Knowles as communications 

director for the UK and Ireland. He will be 

responsible for developing the company’s communications 

strategies, communications partnerships with 

suppliers and customers as well as engaging with key 

stakeholders. He will also support the company’s successful 

community outreach programs and sponsorships, 

including the Boeing Build a Plane challenge 

for schools and the British Military Tournament. 

Air France and Air France-KLM reported that pierre- 

Henri Gourgeon has resigned from his duties as 

chief executive officer of the group. alexandre de 

Juniac was appointed as his successor. The appointment 

will be subject to the approval of the Board of 

Directors of Air France and will become effective after 

the opinion of the ethics committee. 

Simon Caldecott was appointed the new interim 

President and CEO of Piper Aircraft, Inc., effective immediately. 

Caldecott joined Piper in 2009 and is the 

former Vice President of Operations responsible for 

Manufacturing Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, 

Quality and Supply Chain. Caldecott replaces 

Geoff Berger, who joined as the previous interim CEO 

in mid-2010. Former Executive Vice President Randy 

Groom has left the company. 

PAS Technologies welcomes Gerard Hurley as 

general manager for PAS Technologies Ireland, located 

in Carrigtwohill, Cork, Ireland. His responsibilities 

include business development, operations, continuous 

improvement, and P&L management. 

Chromalloy announced the appointment of a new 

president to lead the company toward growth and 

expansion in the aerospace and Industrial Gas Turbine 

(IGT) markets. Carlo Luzzatto, a seasoned energy 

industry business leader, comes to Chromalloy from 

Ansaldo Energia, a division of the Italian conglomerate 

Finmeccanica S.p.A., and a leading provider of 

power plant equipment and power generation services 

where he was serving as co-general manager. 

CIRCOR Aerospace Products 

Group selected industry veteran 

Steve Cartolano as 

vice president of Business Development 

and Strategy covering 

the North American, Asian, 

European and North African 

aerospace businesses. Cartolano 

will be responsible for 

driving the complete business 

development strategy for 

Steve Cartolano 

CIRCOR 

CIRCOR Aerospace. He will lead the group’s sales and 

marketing activities, longer term business and technology 

development strategies, and play a key role in supporting 

acquisition opportunities. He will be focused on 

new business capture by leveraging CIRCOR’s technical 

capabilities to solve complex, systems-related applications 

for its global customer base.

MRO - AviTrader

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?