AircraftOwner Online

Airlines are outsourcing major aircraft repairs to foreign countries in ever-increasing numbers. National Public Radio reported this week that in 2007 U.S. air carriers sent 71% of "heavy airframe maintenance" to private facilities in cheap foreign labor markets (see our Oct. 19, 2009 post). Airlines cite a recession-driven need to lower maintenance costs as the primary reason for taking maintenance jobs outside the U.S. However, several in-air maintenance failures have focused media and industry attention on the issue. There is considerable concern that:

• foreign workers do not have the same level or training, repair experience or professional certification as U.S.-trained airline mechanics; and
• foreign maintenance facilities are not subject to the same levels of inspection and oversight as American shops.

Many are placing blame at the FAA's door, charging that the FAA's lack of oversight or insistence that repairs and maintenance meet U.S. standards is placing passengers at risk and unfairly denying American workers the opportunity to compete. While the FAA is charged with inspecting all maintenance and repair work, NPR charges that:

"the inspector general at the Department of Transportation has investigated those checks and balances, and has repeatedly warned over the past six years that FAA and industry inspectors are not monitoring the work the way they should."

U.S. airline mechanics and repair facilities are understandably angry. While the FAA has failed to hold foreign competitors to account, the agency has been increasingly aggressive in punishing safety and maintenance lapses in the U.S.We here at Lindbergh Aircraft Tug Co. would like to know what you think. We're in the business of designing and manufacturing safe, ergonomic aircraft tugs to ease the physical burden of moving heavy aircraft. Our mission is to make airplane maintenance safe for the airline workers and mechanics who make aircraft safe for passengers. We do our job. We think they should be allowed to do theirs. What do you think?

The Taliban are rampaging. We lost the Olympics to Rio. Time for some good news. We couldn't pass up this great story about two down on their luck aircraft mechanics who found their pot of "gold" in Alaska. Reported by Elizabeth Bluemink in the Anchorage Daily News, the tale starts with two good ole Memphis boys, Carlos Nelson and Roy Adhern, who nine years ago quit their jobs as FedEx mechanics, pooled their savings and retirement money, and headed north to Alaska to seek their fortune.

Their dream was almost derailed before it started when the maintenance van holding all their tools and supplies broke down in British Columbia, hundreds of miles from their goal, Anchorage. The two friends managed to convince a flatbed driver to carry the van on to Anchorage which he did for $10,000, a bargain even a decade ago. Nelson and Adhern followed in their sturdy Dodge pickup and on a wing and a prayer opened Pegasus Aircraft Maintenance.

From that all-American start, the two entrepreneurs built a multimillion-dollar aircraft maintenance business that now employees 100 and serves Anchorage's largest fleet of air-cargo jumbo jets. Since nearly item used in Alaska goes in and out of Anchorage by plane business is booming. When Nelson and Adhern set off for Alaska, the "gold" they were seeking wasn't bright and shiny; it was covered with axle grease, engine oil, sweat and hard work. But the end result was just as rich. The friends just sold their thriving business for an undisclosed, but we're sure very lucrative sum, to NANA Development Corp., an Alaska Native firm with $1 billion in annual revenue.

At Lindbergh Aircraft Tug Co. we identify with men like Nelson and Adhern who risk it all to follow their dream, convinced they've got a good product to sell. That';s how we feel about our ergonomically designed Lindy's Aircraft Tugs. Come check us out.

Despite current problems, European commercial aircraft builder Airbus predicted a rising global market for the airline industry over the next 20 years. Reported in the Wall Street Journal online, the French-based aeronautic manufacturer predicted demand for 25,000 new aircraft worth $3.1 trillion over the next two decades, an annual passenger traffic growth rate of 4.9%. The world's biggestaircraft manufacturer, Airbus expects airline manufacturing growth to come from emerging economies,airline expansion,discount carriers and replacement of aging airplanes.

As WSJ points out, the new prediction represents a 2.9% increase over the 24,300 planes/$2.8 trillion market prediction Airbus made just 19 months ago in February 2008. That's good news for the aviation industry. If airline manufacturers are starting to see light at the end of the recession's bleak, black tunnel, an industry turnaround can’t be too far off in the future. Don't look for blue skies yet though. Airbus expects the current passenger traffic retraction (pegged at 2% in 2009) to continue through the end of this year before a gradual expansion (Airbus predicts 4.6%) begins in 2010. Of course, for the first couple of years we'll just be climbing back up to previous norms. But in the long term, airline travel and the myriad businesses and people it supports is expected to recover and prosper.

Airbus expects even greater and faster growth in airline cargo traffic as businesses ramp back up to fill restocking orders and meet increasing customer demand, particularly in developing countries. Airbus predicts 5.2% average annual growth in cargo traffic over the next 20 years requiring 3,440 additional air freighters. While most of these freighters are expected to be passenger jet conversions, a need for 850 new aircraft is predicted.

Airbus' predictions mean a lot of airplanes are going to need to be pushed around hangers and airports in the future. Lindy's aircraft tugs and aircraft tractorswill ensure that you're ready to meet the challenges of the future.

"Recession Is Over" headlines blared last week. After analyzing key economic data for August, the nation's top economists assigned the most severe recession since the Great Depression to history. A 12.8% annual increase in the index of leading indicators over the past three months led economic analysts to proclaim that the "contraction" has ended. For the first time in 19 months manufacturing indicators rose, led by a surge of new orders. August also saw a slowdown in the job-loss rate, although unemployment continued to rise in about half of the country's major metropolitan areas.

However, pronouncements of the recession's end were quickly tempered by cautionary statements that recovery will take time, possibly years. And don't expect things to return to the way they were. The depth of the recession and the unsustainability of the inflated economy that preceded it are forcing America to recalibrate. No one's sure what the new "normal" will look like, but changes are coming.

So what does this mean for the aviation industry? With money tight, savings decimated and jobs on the line, Americans have been traveling less. In August, American Airlines reported an 8.1% decrease in traffic, and United's traffic was down 5.8%. As demand has declined, major carriers have reduced seat capacity. In August, American’s capacity dropped 9.4%; United’s fell 8.9%. International carriers which draw from a greater passenger pool have experienced less loss. Continental Airlines reported a 3.9% decline in August traffic resulting in a 6% reduction in seat capacity.

On the plus side, offering passengers fewer flight choices has increased load factors, or number of filled seats per plane, allowing major carriers to operate more efficiently. American's load factor rose from 83.5% to 84.7%, and United's load factor increased from 84.3% to 87.2% over the past year. Continental reported record load factors.