Qantas could cut more jobs as 30 engineers are expected to be shown the door after recent disputes with recent changes in maintenance procedures.

Even though the airline announced last week that it no longer required safety checks on all aircraft before every domestic flight, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) told members to carry on checking under the old system.

Qantas and the ALAEA again found themselves in front of the industrial umpire, with a Qantas spokesperson confirming the changes would lead to 30 voluntary redundancies, AAP reported.

This comes after the flag carrier’s recent announcement to shed 500 jobs from the Victorian and Queensland heavy maintenance facility,

Despite the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) giving approval for the changes to maintenance procedure, ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said they would battle these concerns with CASA.

“If CASA doesn’t listen, we will go to the Transport Minister (Anthony Albanese),” Mr Purvinas said.

Mr Purvinas expressed concern that Qantas’ new procedures of pilot-only checks would lead to errors being missed, accusing the airline of turning a blind eye to safety concerns while trying to turn it into a low-cost carrier.

Qantas responded to what they call scaremongering by the union by confirming there was “absolutely no safety risk”.

The airline states the new system is endorsed by the regulator, recommended by the aircraft manufacturers themselves and is used by other airlines around the world do, including Virgin Australia and Jetstar.

Arik Air has begun a partnership with Lufthansa of Germany for the local maintenance of Arik aircraft to ensure flight safety.

Capt. Ado Sanusi, Arik Air Vice President for Flight Operations, confirmed this to journalists in Lagos after their tour of the airline’s operational control centre.

“We in collaboration with our technical partners from Lufthansa will be carrying out daily and weekly checks on our aircraft to ensure safety standards,’’ he said.

Sanusi, however, attributed delays in the flight movement of passengers in the mornings to poor weather.

“This is usually caused by infrastructure development that is ongoing at some of the airports across the country including Lagos,’’ he said.

He stated that Arik Air was planning to have more flights in the afternoons to make up for the shortcomings usually experienced in the mornings.

Capt. Rob Thomas, Senior Vice-President for Operations of the airline,  also confirmed the partnership, saying it was to further enhance the quality of services rendered and the security of passengers.

“Engineers from Lufthansa are here to check every type of aircraft used by Arik Air for flight operations, everything they will be doing here has to do with maintenance checks of our aircraft.

“We want to ensure that we follow international standards as prescribed by the various international regulatory bodies,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a team of engineers from Lufthansa were seen on Monday carrying out the maintenance work of Arik aircraft, when journalists visited.

Lufthansa team led by Mr Mike Ronnerberger of Lufthansa  Technik of Germany said that they were contracted  to  carry out checks on all parts of Arik aircraft on daily and weekly basis.

“We will also carry out C-checks which we are to carry out after two years of flying operations,’’ Ronnerberger said.

NEW DELHI: Air Works, a leading aircraft maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) firm, has made a strategic investment of Rs 120 crore in a Dubai-based plane asset management specialist Empire Aviation Group (EAG) in a bid to cash in on the business jets market in India.

Empire Aviation (India), which sets shop in the country in a month’s time beginning with Bangalore, seeks to be a one-stop shop for private aviation services offering aircraft sales, aircraft management charter, finance and insurance. Air Works has funded this strategic investment through a mix of internal accruals and structured debt finance.

“We are also looking at acquiring an engine MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) provider in a year’s time and would need $40 million for the same. We are looking to raise $35-50 million for acquisition plans and development of more infrastructure and expertise,” Vivek Gour, MD, Air Works, said.

The services of aircraft asset management through Empire Aviation would also entail providing crew and catering for private jet owners. Gour explained that private jet owners spend Rs 5-6 crore annually on the operations and upkeep of their planes, of which Air Works earned Rs 1 crore for providing its maintenanceservices.

Source: The Economic Times

Airbus SAS, which aims to boost production of its A330 to 11 planes a month from 9.5, is considering a variant of the twin-engine widebody that would extend the plane’s range or payload.
The Toulouse, France-based planemaker is talking with Rolls-Royce Plc (RR/), General Electric Co. (GE) and Pratt & Whitney about incremental improvements to engines and is considering other improvements including measures to reduce drag on the wing and boost fuel efficiency, Chief Operating Officer John Leahy said.
Improving performance of its only widebody plane would help Airbus extend the life of the airliner and fend off challenges by Boeing Co. (BA), which is weighing plans to extend its new wide- body 787 series with another version, the 787-10. For airlines, boosting the maximum takeoff weight to 240 tons from 235 to allow for more fuel or passengers would allow for higher revenue from more seats or new destinations.

By Andrea Rothman

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-25/airbus-may-sell-new-a330-to-boost-range-or-passengers-carried.html

Turkish Technic has signed a component pool services agreement for A320 family fleet with Onur Air for 5 years period.

The pool agreement covers access to all Turkish Technic component stocks, logistic support, engineering support and shop visits for components of 22 A320 family aircraft.

Searce :www.arabianaerospace.aero

Aftermarket parts supplier AeroInv.com today will name FL Technics, the maintenance arm of Vilnius-based Avia Solutions Group, its exclusive sales representative in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltic and Eastern European.

This deal should give AeroInv.com a greater presence in emerging aviation markets by utilizing FL Technics’s two maintenance facilities in Lithuania, one more in the Ukraine and 32 line maintenance stations in Europe, the CIS and Asia-Pacific.

AeroInv, which held $200 million worth of aftermarket consumable and expendable parts in April, specializes in Airbus and Boeing models, except for the A380 and 787, and several regional aircraft and engines; inventory that closely parallels the aircraft FL Technics maintains and supports.

This aftermarket inventory agreement follows one announced May 1 between VAS Aero Services and British Airways Engineering that moves VAS Aero’s European inventory to BA’s London Heathrow facility so the airline could access more parts. BA Engineering also became VAS’s preferred suppliers of component repair.

Airbus is working hard to delivery  the first green A380 which will be converted into a VIP configuration for Prince Al-Waleed, Saudi billionaire.

Although Airbus failed to delivery the Aircraft in 2011 which was the targeted year of the delivery,  the company is sure that the Aircraft will be delivered to an undisclosed completion centre “soon” for VIP configuration.

There are only two conversion centers in the world have capabele of handling this project;  Jet Aviation and Lufthansa Technik.  The next question will be that which company will handle it and how much will  the programme’s total costs?

Airbus has forecast a total market for about 30 sales of A380s with VIP interiors.

by Editor

Airlineberg

This long term contract will continue Magellan’s revenues from work for Boeing Commercial beginning in 2013 and into the next decade and provides a fundamental pillar of support to Magellan’s core commercial platform.  Direct Boeing Commercial sales in 2011 contributed in excess of $80 Million Cdn. in revenue to Magellan. Magellan’s core aerostructures expertise is in the provision of complex, machined components for large commercial platforms.  Boeing and Magellan have an established relationship and have benefited from working together to develop improved efficiencies using Boeing lean and value engineering tools as well as the Magellan Operating System™ (MOS™).  “We continuously find ways to improve our processes to ensure our customer’s needs are fully satisfied,” stated James Butyniec, Magellan President and Chief Executive Officer.

The Boeing contract provides a solid base of work for Magellan over the contract term.  “We look forward to continuing our strong, long-term “partnership” with one of our most valued customers and are well prepared to support future program requirements as they develop,” said Daniel Zanatta, Magellan Vice President, Business Development, Marketing and Contracts.

About Magellan

Magellan Aerospace Corporation is one of the world’s most integrated and comprehensive aerospace industry suppliers. Magellan designs, engineers, and manufactures aeroengine and aerostructure assemblies and components for aerospace markets, advanced products for military and space markets, and complementary specialty products. Magellan is a public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: MAL), with operating units throughout Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains information and statements of a forward-looking nature and is based on assumptions as to the ongoing requirements for this customer and uncertainties as well as on management’s reasonable evaluation of future events.  These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties relating to the general economic climate that are difficult to predict, and/or are beyond the Corporation’s control.  The principal risks and uncertainties can be found in the Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2012, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Magellan Aerospace Corporation

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft’s top salesman is defending the manufacturer’s CSeries program, arguing that the program’s capacity to build 220 of the aircraft in the first three years of production should be acknowledged when comparisons are made with sales of Airbus’s A320NEO or Boeing’s 737 MAX.

The CSeries’ sale performance has been criticized as lackluster against those booked by Airbus and Boeing, and lessors in particular are wary that the Canadian manufacturer is unable to achieve the critical mass to support a secondary market. But speaking at ISTAT Asia conference yesterday in Singapore, Bombardier Senior VP Commercial Chet Fuller told the audience that by the end of 2013 the company should have 20-30 CSeries customers and 40 by December 2015.

Fuller added that a strong secondary market is achieved once an airframer sells 400 aircraft spread across at least 40 customers. Bombardier’s current order book includes firm orders for 133 CSeries, with 110 orders assigned to five disclosed customers while the remainder is undisclosed.

He also says Bombardier is more capable than Airbus and Boeing of meeting deadlines for development of new aircraft, arguing that while Bombardier is a smaller manufacturer it has produced more aircraft programs in the past two decade. “Bombardier has type-certified 26 aircraft in the past 20 years. More than any other airframer,” Fuller notes.

Bombardier expects the first flight for its CS100 by the end of this year, and entry-into-service in December 2013. Fuller declines to name the launch operator, although it is listed as an undisclosed firm order and according to Fuller it is one of the oldest operators in the world.

Source: http://www.aviationweek.com

“More than four years ago we launched a project to internalize maintenance processes. In addition to being a new business opportunity, this allows us to offer services to other companies, representing a major advance for GOL and underlining the maturity of the work developed in the Maintenance Center,” declared Adalberto Bogsan, GOL’s Technical Vice-President. “Our goal is to further improve the Company’s techniques, train our personnel, optimize costs and post quality results.”

GOL’s Aircraft Maintenance Center was expanded in 2010, to reach its current capacity of up to 120 aircraft per year. The expansion absorbed investments of R$65 million, enabling the Center to undertake heavy fuselage maintenance, preventive maintenance, aircraft painting and internal aircraft configuration for GOL’s entire fleet.