business is profitable because of the high volumes. Interior PMAs are
on the rise, as airlines realize they have a choice, Markham says. HEICO has piece parts for galley, seat, lavatory and cockpit areas—high wear-and- tear items, he says. Other PMA’ers
are active in auxiliary power units (APUs) and engine accessories. Timken, for example, has 50 to 80 PMA approvals in the APU arena, says Larry Shiembob, general manager of aerospace MRO for Timken Aftermarket Solutions. Timken is in the interesting position of being a PMA
Chong Yi, president of the joint venture between Chromalloy, Lufthansa Technik and United Airlines
company, an independent subsystem manufacturer, a DER repair supplier and an OEM supplier. It makes a lot of bearings for OEMS, to OEM specifications, but also develops PMAs for some of those parts. To develop PMA replacement parts for OEM bearings, Timken’s aftermarket unit has to go and buy the Timken bearings on the market and then reverse engineer them, Shiembob says. Timken has also invested during the downturn. It added an
engine overhaul shop, two engine test cells and invested in additional PMAs and DER repairs.
Interiors As the engine aftermarket is the scene of constant struggle, interiors are becoming an attractive field for both airlines and PMA companies. Wencor obviously sees interiors as a good niche. This year it acquired MEI Interiors, a manufacturer of aircraft interiors for seat OEMs, a repair facility and a PMA parts manufacturer. Wencor unit Dixie Aerospace this year also purchased AAR’s PMA product line, including some popular interior components. There’s a huge focus on interiors now due to airline
consolidation and consequent standardization as well as modification programs, Coleman says. “Customers see a lot of low-hanging fruit for cost savings in interiors.” Even though the unit dollar spend is a lot higher on engine parts, the interior
Competition on Quality Historically, PMA was probably driven by service and availability, and price was secondary, Shiembob says. Now obviously price counts, but there are other advantages to aftermarket parts, he says, such as the opportunity to improve the original part. Timken changed the material on the Rolls-Royce 250
replacement engine nozzles and compressor wheels, for example, so that they last much longer. This was such an improvement that years later the OEM changed its design to imitate Timken’s, Shiembob recalls. While some PMA companies focus on specific areas,
Aviation Component Solutions takes the opposite tack, spreading its offerings through about 18 different ATA (Air Transport Association) chapters, Kvasnicka says. This platform diversification lessens exposure to aircraft retirements and
42 Aviation Maintenance |
avmain-mag.com | October / November 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63