Aerospace Diary

Does anybody care anymore?  From an AI engineer's point of view Neelam Mathews Sept 24, 2012 There is little doubt   there is dissatisfaction among the  ranks of the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines engineers, upset with the formation of the MRO subsidiary for which they were not consulted nor made aware of where they would stand in seniority. Like it or not, this could become a safety issue. Interestingly, most of the engineers we spoke to, had little confidence the AI MRO would make money “especially with the high taxes “and the incapable Air India Engineering Management.” “Unless the MRO is handed over to a professional management, it will not be able to breakeven even after 10 years,” moans an engineer. VRS is not applicable for licensed category of employees like AMEs. There is trepidation that while the government  has promised to protect salaries and extend financial support to the MRO for the first three years, th...

Neelam Mathews, Cochin, Aug 17, 2012: We’ve been hearing about CIALs plans for MRO for two years now with its two hangars ready to do business. By the looks of it, the chicken has come home to roost. CIAL will soon be signing a joint venture with a third party provider- the discussions of which are in the final stages, Aerospace Diary learns from an OEM. The announcement is expected to made in a month’s time. “The MoU has already been executed and the non disclosure agreement signed,” we are informed. The draft shareholders agreement is also being finalized. Plans are to start with 'C' checks on Boeing 737s by May 2013. CIAL, an official informs, has kept its overheads low by building the hangar at a low cost. The facility will be provided to the JV partner through a lease agreement. CIAL presently does line maintenance for Air Arabia, Qatar, Tiger, Etihad and SriLankan at Cochin airport that gets 440 flights a week, was just given a CAR 145 for A checks on the A-3...

Singapore Air Show  » February 15, 2012 by Neelam Mathews IndiGo, India’s largest budget carrier with a fleet of 48 Airbus A320 airliners, has awarded SriLankan Engineering its largest contract for maintenance of 26 C-checks through 2012. This is the fourth consecutive year IndiGo has outsourced to SriLankan and it is the largest overseas outsourcing of maintenance, repair and overhaul work by an Indian carrier. The contact has been awarded at a time when onerous taxes appear to be making Indian MRO providers uncompetitive. Fast-growing IndiGo is to add 12 aircraft by next December, taking its fleet to 60 (of 100 ordered in 2005). A further order was placed last year for 150 A320 NEOs and 30 A320s. “The core business of a budget carrier is flying, not MRO,” said an official for the airline, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We don’t need inefficiencies and having to deal with labor issues.” SriLankan Engineering, based in Colombo, just 30 minutes flying time from south...