Bombardier To Quadruple Singapore Mx Center

Bombardier Business Aircraft will quadruple the size of its Singapore service center and nearly double its employment there to support an increasing fleet of its airplanes in the region, the Canadian airframer announced late yesterday. The footprint of its Singapore site will expand from 100,000 sq ft to 430,000 sq ft.

“Our high-capacity, optimized Singapore service center will bring industry-leading aircraft availability, faster turnarounds, and greater convenience and peace of mind to Bombardier’s growing customer base in Asia,” said Bombardier v-p and general manager of customer experience Jean-Christophe Gallagher. The expansion will include new customer facilities; a 37,000-sq-ft paint facility; a 10,000-sq-ft integrated parts depot; heavy structural and composite repair capabilities; expanded component, repair, and overhaul facilities; and advanced interior finishing. 

Bombardier's larger facilities will support more than 2,000 annual visits of its Learjet, Challenger, and Global models, including the new Global 7500. The current center has more than 20 certifications and authorizations from international regulators and provides scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and AOG support. It is also recognized as a center of excellence for complex retrofit work, which includes avionics and Ka-band satellite communications installations.

Groundbreaking on the expansion took place today. The new facility is expected to be operational in 2020.

Streamlined LOA Approvals In the Works

Business aviation stakeholders and the FAA have teamed on a letter of authorization (LOA) streamlining initiative, it was announced this week at the 2019 NBAA International Operators Conference in San Francisco. This initiative aims to accelerate approvals that Part 91 operators need to use RVSM, RNP, CPDLC, MELs, and other core capabilities that stakeholders and the FAA call the “Big Ten.” The effort is focused on new aircraft, which lose key operational authorizations upon delivery.

For LOA approval, operators must show they meet equipage, procedures, and training requirements, but the problem is that no standardized application format exists. Under the initiative, OEMs are developing standardized statements of capability, training providers are working on a standardized training compliance matrix, and the FAA will adjust inspector guidance, said Fred Armstrong, the FAA's manager of performance-based flight systems. Additionally, upon electronic submission, the application will be available to all departments whose sign-off is required, replacing the prior sequential review process.

The current schedule calls for workshop meetings to resume in late March and continue through the year, followed by “change management execution.” LOAs take an average of six months for processing and have become a growing issue. The FAA reauthorization bill passed last year requires the agency to streamline its approval process.

Dassault Buys TAG Aviation’s Europe Mx Ops

Dassault Aviation has reached an agreement to acquire TAG Aviation’s European maintenance operations, the companies announced today. TAG’s main service location for the region is Geneva, where it operates a “one-stop shop” in a 64,600-sq-ft (6,000-sq-m) hangar. Also in Switzerland, TAG Sion provides maintenance activities from a 34,400-sq-ft (3,200-sq-m) facility. Other locations include the popular business hubs of Farnborough and Paris Le Bourget Airports, as well as Lisbon.

“The acquisition of TAG Aviation, a major MRO provider, will allow Dassault Aviation to reinforce its European service center network,” said Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. “With TAG Maintenance Services, we intend to develop further a network of excellence and to support TAG’s different aircraft clients with the same commitment to service quality, while expanding the share of Falcon maintenance activities controlled by the Dassault Group.”

TAG Group president Mansour Ojjeh noted his company has built up its maintenance division, specializing in Dassault and Bombardier business jets, over the past two decades. “Given the many challenges faced by independent MROs in the current industry environment, we are pleased to sell this segment of TAG Aviation to a respected OEM who values its employees and shares TAG’s high business standards,” he said.

Once the necessary approvals on the transaction are received, Dassault expects the integration to take place over the next few months.

Assembly of First Production AW609 Weeks Away

Production of the airframe sections of the first production AW609 civil tiltrotor is under way, with assembly to follow “in the next few weeks” at Leonardo Helicopters' plant in Philadelphia, the company told AIN. This will be followed shortly by a second production aircraft, it added.

Leonardo is also building a new training academy in Philadelphia that will support the AW609 with a full-flight simulator and maintenance trainer. That academy is expected to come online early next year.

The company is expected to release more details on the status of the aircraft’s order book, pricing, and available options next week at Heli-Expo in Atlanta. But Leonardo said ahead of the show that the AW609 flight-test program has amassed more than 1,400 hours. Two test aircraft are currently flying—AC1 is in Italy and being used primarily for load level survey certification flights, while AC3 is in Philadelphia and focused on engine performance certification flights. AC2 was lost in a 2015 fatal crash during high-speed dive testing in Italy, the result of problems related to the control laws of the aircraft’s fly-by-wire system. 

Meanwhile, AC4 is being assembled in Philadelphia and will fly later this year. It will be equipped with the standard Rockwell Collins Fusion cockpit and used for in-flight avionics testing.

Duncan Creates Searchable STC Database

Duncan Aviation has developed a searchable database that compiles supplemental type certificates (STCs) it has developed and that are available for sale. Many of them have not previously been offered for sale outside of Duncan, while other STCs might be widely used in business aviation but prospective aircraft owners may not have been aware of their availability, the MRO said.

“We’ve been providing engineering and certification services for our customers for more than 30 years, and featuring our STC database on our website gives our customers an idea of the range of STC solutions we hold and now have made available for sale,” said Shawn Carraher, Duncan's manager of engineering and certification services business development.

The database is searchable by aircraft or STC category and can be narrowed according to make and model. Categories encompass ADS-B, broadband and Wi-Fi, FANS, interior, and Iridium, among others. Noting Duncan holds more than 500 STCs, Carraher said the posted list is not exhaustive, but added that customers can contact the company if they don’t see a specific STC they are seeking.

Since going live in recent weeks, the company already has received 20 requests for quotes on the STCS, including for those related to ADS-B, TCAS, FANS, and connectivity for Cessna Citations, Hawkers, and Bombardier Challengers.

Ontic Takes On New Aftermarket Engine Parts Work

Aircraft legacy parts manufacturer and aftermarket support provider Ontic has entered an exclusive license agreement with a UK-based OEM to manufacture engine pressure transmitters, fuel flow transmitters, and fluid monitoring chip detectors. Ontic said those components are used on engines that include the GE CF6 turbofan, Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop, and GE T700 turboshaft.

Under the agreement, Ontic will continue Part 21 new-build manufacturing and Part 145 repairs and spares for the unidentified UK company. Ontic said users of those parts account for a large installed base of aircraft that includes the Boeing 747, 757, and 767; Airbus A300 and A330; Pilatus PC-9 and PC-21; Beechcraft King Air; and Bombardier CRJ900. “This license of product families in particular highlights Ontic’s capability to strategically assist OEMs with the ongoing support of their non-core products, allowing the OEM to progress and concentrate on its strategic priorities,” said Ontic president Gareth Hall.

The new license follows four licenses Ontic signed with different OEMs in 2018, which the company said it will support from its Chatsworth, California base. Ontic, a unit of BBA Aviation, also operates manufacturing and MRO facilities in Creedmoor, North Carolina; Plainview, New York; Cheltenham, UK; and Singapore.

Military Spat Closes Pakistan Airspace, Snarls Traffic

India has reopened eight airports it had closed this morning following Pakistan's F-16 fighters violating Indian airspace. Indian military fighters struck what it claims were terrorist training camps in Pakistan yesterday, an action that was in response to a militant that killed more than 40 Indian troops in disputed Kashmir on February 14. As a result, Pakistan’s civil aviation authority has said flight operations in northeastern and northwestern regions of Pakistan will remain suspended until further notice. The India-Pakistan military action also caused airspace over Afghanistan to be closed for several hours earlier today.

The Pakistan airspace closure has forced hundreds of airline flights to reroute. In fact, Europe-bound flights by Singapore Airlines now have to make refueling stops in Dubai or Mumbai before proceeding to their destinations. According to Flight Radar, Thai Airways has canceled its flights to Pakistan and to European destinations today due to the airspace closure, while Air Canada has temporarily suspended service to India.

Flight Service Bureau said the Pakistan Notam is currently valid until the end of tomorrow, but added the situation “depends on the politics to be played out as this unfolds.” The flight-planning company is advising pilots to “avoid Pakistan airspace (no choice right now) and consider routings over India carefully.”

West Star Adds Lineage Service in Chattanooga

West Star Aviation’s maintenance center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has expanded its Embraer Executive Jets portfolio after being named an authorized service center for the Lineage 1000 and 1000E, joining the company’s East Alton, Illinois facility in that authorization. West Star provides factory-approved base services on the Phenom 100 and 300, as well as the airframer’s Legacy family at Chattanooga, East Alton, and Grand Junction, Colorado locations.

Additional capabilities include avionics repair and installation and engine inspections, Service Bulletin installation and compliance, cabin redesign and refurbishment, and exterior paint services.

“We are pleased to be able to add the Embraer Lineage 1000/1000E to our Embraer authorization at our Chattanooga facility,” said Steve Goede, the location’s general manager. “We will continue to expand our capabilities scope to ensure we provide our customers the quality service they deserve at each of our locations.”

AIN Webinar: Safe and Efficient Single-pilot Operations

Technology and a shortage of pilots to fill the flight decks of tomorrow’s business jets and airliners are creating pressure to facilitate more single-pilot operations. Avionics manufacturers are developing technology for safe single-pilot operations, but pilots have been flying alone safely in light aircraft through Part 23 jets for many years. Learn about factors that are causing the flying landscape to shift toward more single-pilot operations, what kind of automation avionics manufacturers are developing for single-pilot operations, and what we can learn from experienced pilots flying in single-pilot operations.

Join AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber on April 24 at 1:30 p.m. EDT as he moderates the discussion with Tal Golan, manager, rotorcraft business development for Universal Avionics, and Charlie Precourt, former NASA astronaut, safety expert, and Citation owner. Sponsored by Universal Avionics.

Register for the free webinar.