Tag: maintenance

Amazon Launches Aviation Maintenance Career Training Program

Aviation Week reported that Amazon has “joined widespread efforts to grow the aviation maintenance workforce pipeline.” It has “partnered with a recently launched Part 147 school in Lakeland, Florida to offer a career training program for workers interested in pursuing a new career path in MRO.” The partnership is “part of Amazon’s Career Choice program, which enables its employees to learn new skills to launch career paths internally or in other industries.” The program “includes a vertical called Pathways, in which Amazon covers tuition costs to help employees earn certifications in areas such as technology, health care, transportation, mechanical and industrial systems, and business and administration systems.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Embraer Executive Jets Announces Doubling of its MRO Network

Aviation International News reports that Embraer Executive Jets “is doubling its maintenance service network in the US from three to six facilities ‘to support the continued growth of its executive jets customer base,’ the company announced today.” The three new factory-owned service centers – “to be based at Dallas Love Field, as well as in Cleveland, Ohio, and Sanford, Florida – are scheduled to open in the second quarter of next year.” Embraer Services and Support Vice President of MRO Services Frank Stevens said, “We are pleased to offer additional service locations for our customers as we will significantly expand the capacity, capability, and footprint of our MRO network in the U.S. Our Executive Jets fleet has been growing rapidly over the last several years as strong demand continues across the entire product portfolio. This expansion will provide immediate additional capacity and ensures that we are poised to care for our valued customers and strategically grow for many years to come.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

N3 to Add MRO Capacity in Expansion at Arnstadt Site

Aviation Week reports that Rolls-Royce engine maintenance specialist N3 Engine Overhaul Services “is targeting the overhaul of nearly 200 engines next year and plans to expand capacity at its facility in Germany over the next two years to facilitate future ramp-ups.” The Lufthansa Technik and Rolls-Royce joint venture “plans to invest €150 million ($167.3 million) at the Arnstadt site, located in the Thuringia region in central Germany.” N3 says the project “aims to further establish it as an important European location in the global maintenance network for Rolls-Royce aircraft engines while creating hundreds of new jobs.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

FAA to Set New Maintenance Requirements for Pratt & Whitney PW1100G Engines

FlightGlobal reports that the FAA “plans to place new maintenance requirements on airlines after learning that more components in Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines may be affected by a powder-metal manufacturing problem.” The FAA “laid out new proposed requirements in a regulatory filing released on 11 December, saying some PW1100G rotors, hubs and air seals will need ‘accelerated replacement’ due to the manufacturing issue.” The proposal “would affect 430 US-registered PW1100Gs, which power Airbus A320neo-family jets.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

American, Delta, United Driving MRO Spending in North America

Aviation Week reported that the North American MRO market “is projected to account for 21.8% of the worldwide total from 2024-33.” This will “derive from more than 67,000 service events, according to the 2024 edition of Aviation Week Network’s Commercial Aviation Fleet & MRO Forecast.” The active North American aircraft fleet “increases from just more than 9,480 active aircraft in 2024 to more than 11,200 in 2033, an 18% increase during the period.” This growth “of the fleet and the commensurate utilization expected will drive MRO spending to increase by more than 9.3% over 10 years.” The forecast “projects that Boeing aircraft will account for the majority of MRO expenditures by type certificate holder, capturing more than 57% of the total market, followed by Airbus (29%) and Embraer (7%).”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Pratt & Whitney Projects Peak Number of Grounded Aircraft to be Lower Than Previously Thought

FlightGlobal reports that Pratt & Whitney “expects the peak number of aircraft grounded as a result of manufacturing problems with geared turbofan engines will be lower than previously anticipated as the propulsion specialist continues to work through the issue.” In September, the engine maker “expanded a previously announced requirement for ‘accelerated inspections’ of the PW1100G engines that power Airbus A320neo-family jets due to a manufacturing problem.” Caused by contamination “of the powder metal material used to make high-pressure turbine and compressor disks, the issue will see thousands of aircraft taken out of service over the next two years for checks.” But “speaking to analysts on a full-year earnings call on 23 January, Christopher Calio, chief operating officer of P&W parent RTX, said although the recovery process was in its early stages, progress is being made.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

Pratt & Whitney-Powered A320neo Groundings Start as FAA-Required Inspections Begin

Aviation Week reports that groundings of Pratt & Whitney-powered Airbus A320neos “are climbing fast as operators remove engines for accelerated inspections recommended by the manufacturer and mandated by regulators.” The percentage of the PW1100G-powered Airbus fleet “on the ground stood at 19% at the end of September, or 267 aircraft out of 1,378 in the global fleet, an Aviation Week analysis shows.” The figure “is a 6% jump compared to August 31’s figure of 175 aircraft out of 1,358, the data show.” Mandates issued “by the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) gave affected operators until late September to remove the first batch of engines flagged for inspections.” The initial batch “consisted of about 140 engines, Pratt said when it unveiled its fleet management plan to address potential cracks in certain high-pressure turbine disks and high-pressure compressor integrally bladed rotors (IBR).
Full Story (Aviation Week)

US Airline Maintenance Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels

Aviation Week reported that a new report by investment bank Jeffries says that American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines collectively “spent $2.1 billion on maintenance in the 2023 second quarter (Q2), 47% above the level seen in pre-pandemic Q2 2019.” This reflects an upward trend for the commercial aftermarket with revenue forecast “to be 106% above 2019 levels and engine overhaul demand providing potential upside.” Further capital expenditure revisions “suggest delays in new aircraft deliveries into 2024.” On a trailing twelve-months basis, the three airlines collectively spent $7.7 billion on maintenance, which represents a 31% increase from $5.9 billion in 2019.
Full Story

Japanese Airlines Make Use of Predictive Maintenance Platforms

Aviation Week reports that Japanese airlines such as All Nippon Airways (ANA) operate a mix of Boeing and Airbus jets. However, due to the advanced age and smaller number of Airbus aircraft in the fleet, the carrier does not use Airbus’s Skywise predictive maintenance program. Instead, ANA utilizes The Boeing Company’s predictive tools including Airplane Health Monitoring, Self-Service Analytics and Insight Accelerator.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Astronauts Complete Upgrades, Maintenance on ISS Exterior

Spaceflight Now reports that NASA astronaut Raja Chari and German astronaut Matthias Maurer “floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday and installed refurbished ammonia jumpers in the lab’s cooling system to bring it back up to full efficiency, replaced a high-definition camera and made power and data connections on a European experiment platform.” Astronaut Kayla Barron reported water inside Maurer’s helmet at the end of the excursion. Once Maurer’s helmet was off, “the crew estimated up to 50 percent of the visor was coated with a thin film of water and that an absorption pad added to NASA helmets in the wake of the Parmitano incident was damp.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Russian Air Industry No Longer Able to Source Parts, Maintenance for Foreign-Made Aircraft

CNN reported, “Sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union mean that the world’s two major aircraft makers, Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EADSF), are no longer able to supply spare parts or provide maintenance support for Russian airlines,” which is also “true of jet engine makers.” One expert said the result will be that “within a year[,] Russia will cease to have any kind of viable airline industry.”
Full Story (CNN)

Aviation Industry Coalition Calls for Measures to Prevent Use of Unapproved Plane Parts

CNBC reports, “A report issued by an aviation industry coalition on Wednesday called for new steps to help prevent future unapproved parts from entering the aviation supply chain. The report from the Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition that was created in February called for strengthening vendor accreditation, digitizing documents and improving part traceability. It also proposed adopting best practices for receiving and inspecting parts and scrapping and destroying non-usable material.”
Full Story (CNBC)

Airbus and Astroscale Expand Collaboration On In-Orbit Servicing

Space News reports, “Airbus is expanding its partnership with in-orbit servicing venture Astroscale to explore ways to collaborate beyond potentially removing space junk and refueling satellites. The companies announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Aug. 12 — between Airbus Defense and Space and the Japanese venture’s British subsidiary — to focus on U.K.-based in-orbit servicing and manufacturing opportunities in particular.”
Full Story (Space News)