Overhaul & Maintenance MRO Blog

Green Scene

Thinking about making your new year more green? If so, check out Overhaul & Maintenance’s January cover story to see what companies and regulators are doing to make aviation MRO more friendly to the environment.

Andreas Hardeman, IATA’s manager of aviation environment, emailed us some information today about IATA’s 2007 environmental strategy, which places more emphasis on “identifying sustainable solutions for the longer term, including emissions trading, alternative fuels and air traffic management improvements.”

IATA is offering two aviation environmental training courses in 2007: one in Khartoum, Sudan, in January, and the other in Geneva in November. It also launched an Aviation Environmental Best Practices Database in 2005 that has received more than 100 entries, said Hardeman. He said the best practices include aircraft noise and emissions, energy consumption, soil and water, waste, conservation and social development.

What is your company doing to be more green? Please let us know.

Onsite FAA Inspectors

Quick! Pick one. You’re running an independent MRO company and your FAA principal maintenance inspector takes up residence at your facility. Your PMI gets his/her own office and is on the hangar floor everyday poking around and watching your people at work. Is that a good thing or bad thing?

In the January issue of O&M, Ron Utecht, president and COO of Timco, addresses this very question. In the meantime, I'd be interested in hearing what you out there in MRO cyberspace have to say.

Hope you have a happy holiday, and joyous, safe New Year.

-- Frank Jackman, Editorial Director, O&M

MRO Networks Expanding

Two companies expanded their MRO networks this week. Pratt & Whitney Canada named Scandinavian Aircraft Technologies (ScanTech) of Denmark as a recognized maintenance facility for its PT6A, JT15D and PW100 series engines. This appointment provides P&WC engine customers in Scandinavia better access to maintenance, spare parts and a pool of rental engines.

ScanTech, an EASA Part 145 repair station located at Sindal Airport, will maintain PT6A and JT15D series engines, equipped with complete heavy maintenance tool kits for on-site, on-wing hot section inspection and gearbox repairs. It will also provide borescope inspections for PW100 series engines.

In addition, Bombardier appointed Gate V Aircraft Maintenance in Vienna, Austria, as an aircraft on ground (AOG)/line maintenance facility for Learjet aircraft. Gate V is the fourth service facility that Bombardier has added to its European customer service network in the past six months and is the 12th facility supporting Bombardier aircraft in Europe. The bizjet manufacturer said the Vienna airport gets about 60 corporate aircraft flights there daily.

In related news, Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services announced it will start providing AOG support for Bombardier business jets at Munich’s Franz Josef Strauss Airport in January. The Munich satellite station will be open 24/7.

Greening MRO

Overhaul & Maintenance's January issue will include an article on what the industry is doing minimize the enviornmenal impact of its activities now and in the future. If you have any feedback on what your company is doing, please send us an email: leeann_tegtmeier@aviationweek.com. We'd like to hear from you. Thanks.

Scholarships for MRO

The Northrop Rice Foundation contacted O&M and described its resources available for aviation maintenance training. We thought we would pass it on to you.

First, the foundation accepts donations or gifts of aviation equipment, machinery, tools or funds that will be used to purchase equipment for aviation maintenance schools. Second, it provides scholarships and financial aid programs, including:

* Northrop Rice Foundation Instructor Assistance Program: This program is established on the premise that there are many short-term training programs offered by the airlines, manufacturers, vendors and industry organizations free of charge to eligible participants if the individual can provide travel and per diem funds to attend. Since providing such funds is a financial burden for many instructors, this program covers those costs. The extent of the coverage is for one to three day seminars where the costs for travel, hotel and per diem expenses range between $800 to $1200.

* Dale Hurst Memorial Scholarship: This scholarship is sponsored by AVOTEK in memory of Dale Hurst. It is administered by the Northrop Rice Foundation and it will cover travel and per diem expenses for an instructor in the same manner as the NRF Instructor Assistance Program. The Dale Hurst scholarship will cover expenses up to $1500.

* S&K Hand Tool Company Scholarships: In a joint program between the S&K Hand Tool Co. and the Northrop Rice Foundation, S&K donates three sets of Aviation hand tools each year to be awarded to students of the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) member schools. The tools are donated to the NRF, which will select the tool recipients.

* Wing Aero Aviation Book Scholarships: These scholarships are sponsored by Wing Aero Products and are administered by the Northrop Rice Foundation. Wing Aero will donate 10 sets of Part 147 Aviation Books each year to be awarded to students of ATEC member schools. The book sets will be donated to the NRF, which will be responsible for selecting the award recipients.

* James Rardon Aviation Maintenance Technician Student of the Year Award: This award sponsored by the Northrop Rice Foundation recognizes the outstanding achievements of aviation maintenance students. These achievements must be demonstrated through academics as well as through community involvement. To be nominated, an individual must be a full-time AMT student at an institution that is a member of the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC). The Board of the Northrop Rice foundation serves as the selection committee. The winner of the Rardon AMT Student of the Year award will receive transportation costs (airfare, hotel, meals, etc.) to attend the ATEC Annual Conference.

For more informationk, visit www.northropricefoundation.org, or email a request for information to Ivan D. Livi at ivan.livi@verizon.net.

$870 Per Flight Hour in Direct Maintenance Costs

Airlines spend on average of $870 (US) in direct maintenance costs for every flight hour according to the Maintenance Cost Report. Note that is an average that ranges from between $300 per flight hour to $1,800 per flight hour, depending upon many variables, such as aircraft type, age, condition, operational parameters etc.

The report was distributed to participating airlines at the IATA Maintenance Cost Conference in Kuala Lumpur in mid-November. It also noted that for the first time outsourcing of maintenance finally exceeded 50% of maintenance conducted for the first time.

No surprise that engine maintenance represented the highest aircraft maintenance cost well exceeding 40% of direct maintenance costs. Airframe and component maintenance almost equally split the remaining cost.

The report is generated from airlines which contribute data for the program. This year, 28 airlines contributed data representing over 15% of the world's fleet, $7 billion of Maintenance expense and a wide variety of aircraft types.

For any addition details direct from IATA, leave your comment here (see comment link below). Dr. Chris Markou, Assistant Director Engineering and Environment IATA Operations will monitor this link and respond.

Ed Hazelwood – Editorial Director, Aviation Week Conferences.