As aircraft maintenance becomes more technical, MROs are increasing training in specialized areas to help differentiate themselves and provide improved services for their customers. Today’s MROs are faced with a bit of a dilemma: On one hand they are providing inspections and maintenance for a fleet of legacy aircraft. Many of which should have been…

The European MRO marketplace has grown and thrived. In our annual foray into the European market segment, we are taking a two-part look at the region. We start, in this first part, with a look at Eastern Europe. Next issue we will delve into the Western European segment. While the Eastern European MRO market is…

The urgent inspections of the CFM International CFM-56 resulting from the Southwest Flight 1390 uncontained engine failure which killed a passenger, focused the industry’s attention on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT). But the workhorse GE engine is not the only one undergoing urgent ultrasonic inspections. The 380 Trent 1000 Package C engines are also undergoing inspections resulting…

Is the much-anticipated shortage of commercial aircraft mechanics going to impact the ability of the U.S. military to keep its combined fleets prepared If you’re involved in any way with aircraft operations and/or maintenance, you can’t help but have heard that we’re standing on the precipice of what many believe will be an industry-changing shortage…

Aircraft wiring is critical to safe flight as it supplies data/signals to critical avionics/flight equipment. The FAA has recognized the importance of wiring and created regulations for the Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS). Two key factors have contributed to this increased focus: the aircraft fleet is aging and repeated flights can affect the integrity of…

Airlines are operating at lower cost margins than ever before, meaning a single misstep or grounding of an aircraft can potentially result in missed revenue targets. The cost of flight delays in the U. S. is estimated to be as much as $31 million annually, according to Airlines for America. As a result, technicians have…

Industry Leaders Discuss Key Issues Facing Aviation MRO The annual Aviation Maintenance magazine State of the Industry Leadership Insights has always attracted great interest from the MRO industry. We contacted a wide range of industry leaders, from airline MROs to independents, industry associations, airplane manufacturers and engine OEMs. We received replies from chairmen and chief…

Big Data, ATM, Next-Gen, SESAR, Harmonization, Aviation System Block Upgrade. Big Data, ATM, Next-Gen, SESAR, Harmonization, Aviation System Block Upgrade. All around us, technology is racing forward. Aviation has always been one of the leaders of that race. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the avionics, aviation electronics and ATC end of the business. …

The evolution of winglet technology traces farther back than many may think—back more than a century, when the English engineer, Frederick Lanchester, patented wing end plates in 1897 and Scottish-born engineer William Somerville attached end plates to the top wing of his biplane 13 years later. In recent decades, incited by soaring fuel prices in…

Thanks to the combination of an increased demand for new passenger aircraft and the global explosion of online shopping; passenger-to-freighter conversions are bringing new life to aging airframes. What does English inventor Michael Aldrich have to do with the rapid growth of passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversions? Well, probably a lot more than you think. Aldrich invented…