787 GoldCare Expanding

AMSTERDAM -- Boeing expects to select a North American airframe MRO partner for its GoldCare 787 lifecycle support program by the end of year, according to Dan da Silva, vice president of Commercial Aviation Services at the OEM. He was quick to add, however, that the company was not necessarily going to announce the identify of the selection by yearend. Boeing expects to announce an Asia/Pacific partner by the end of the first quarter 2007. Currently, SR Technics is the line MRO provider signed up for the program. Other participants are 787 suppliers Smiths Aerospace, Hamilton Sundstrand and Rockwell Collins. During a Q&A session with the media here, da Silva admitted Boeing went public with GoldCare earlier than planned after details about it leaked out. The OEM originally had planned to wait until it secured its first customer.