Burns Continued from p 23


How’s the regulatory environment right now? Is there any legislation coming up that might impact your business? Nationally, we continue to monitor discussions regarding user fees, the bonus depreciation schedule and air traffic control modernization.


What will be the biggest challenges your business will face in the next three to five years?


One of our biggest challenges has also been one of our biggest successes: the growth of our company around the world. In 2001, 80 percent of Gulfstream sales were within the U.S. This year, 70 percent of Gulfstream sales are outside the U.S. Most of Gulfstream’s growth has come in the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The growth means we’ve had to expand and adapt to meet the needs of our international and customer base. The expansions in Luton, Savannah and Westfield are all part of that effort.


In addition to people, Gulfstream has added hangar space, parts warehouses and mobile support units around the world. What changes are you making to your business to adapt to the times? We are always looking at ways to improve what we do. That means incorporating lean initiatives to enhance safety and quality, and reduce waste. Our goal is to standardize our maintenance and business practices throughout our product support network. We are also hiring more employees who speak more than one language.


Heule Continued from p 25


have on our business. In the day-to-day interaction, we are providing several solutions to global clients that have been strongly encouraged to operate more fuel efficient, cost effective aircraft or risk forfeiting future contracts.


What will be the biggest challenges your business will face in the next three to five years? Optimizing our technical staffing levels, executing strategic capital investments, and seamlessly integrating new technology for our expanded capabilities. What changes are you making to your business to adapt to the times? We are investing in tooling, equipment and training to strategically expand our heavy check capabilities across the Airbus and Boeing fleets. We are also focusing on expanding our storage, flight line, and end of life management business.


MacLeod Continued from p 23


For complete write-ups please visit www.avm-mag.com Duncan Continued from p 24


the industry is a shortage of highly skilled technical workers. Do presidential (or global) politics impact the maintenance business? Of course, there are and always will be the politics of aviation safety; indeed, the U.S. Congress seems to be hell-bent on micromanaging the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration when it comes to “contract maintenance.” There have been threats of similar action in Canada and Australia so it will only get worse. How’s the regulatory environment right now? Is there any legislation coming up that might impact the maintenance industry? I suppose it is great for regulators since there is no possible way for any business to be 100 percent compliant with all regulations 100 percent of the time.


What will be the biggest challenges the industry will face in the next three to five years?


Integrating SMS will be an enormous challenge; the flow down effects and requirements are not recognized by regulators; I can’t imagine the impact on small businesses. The industry must ensure “compliance” without exposing itself to more litigation. It will be some trick!


Lee Continued from p 24


for operators of Cessna aircraft, and MXPro training for operators of Hawker Beechcraft aircraft, similarly leveraging our excellent, day-to-day relationships with those manufacturers. Our newest dedicated maintenance Learning Center, a 65,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility for Cessna operators, opens this June in Wichita, Kan. What areas does maintenance training need improvement? How are you helping facilitate that improvement? Aircraft technology and customer expectations both are advancing at an astonishing rate. This means that it’s not sufficient to look at current needs and try to address them – we must look ahead and anticipate future needs. One rapidly increasing need is training for cabin equipment intended for passenger use. Previously, cabin communications and networking were minor issues but now they are integral to both the aircraft and to customer training needs.


pockets. It is very important that political leaders worldwide talk with associations and leaders in the business aviation industry before passing policy that will affect the industry. They need to truly understand the potential ramifications and the issues that policy change might bring about before acting. What will be the biggest challenges your business will face in the next three to five years? Not to sound like a broken record here, but the biggest challenge for the industry will be the continued and ongoing health of the global economy. Many of our U.S.-based customers have, over the years, migrated to larger business jets that travel consistently to international locations. They are therefore affected even more by the world economies and their businesses rely on economic health in all of these locales. What changes are you making to your business to adapt to the times? As mentioned previously, we spent quite a bit of time formulating and developing a 10-year strategic plan for Duncan Aviation. Obviously, this plan is not a crystal ball and we know that it will need to be adjusted as we go forward. However, we have been able to better position ourselves for the future through this plan.


Sobral Continued from p 24


How’s the regulatory environment right now? Is there any legislation coming up that might impact your business? At the present time there is an overwhelming amount of legislation being produced, which is creating bureaucratic chaos, without any evidence that it will bring safety to higher levels. The legislation on SMS, which we welcome, will in fact impact our business since it has implications in very different segments of the maintenance business.


What will be the biggest challenges your business will face in the next three to five years? For sure, the arrival, in a way, an arrogance, we had never seen before, of most of the airframe manufacturers, engine manufacturers and components manufacturers into the aftermarket. I favor free competition, but I totally oppose closing the market to just a few elected ones. What changes are you making to your business to adapt to the times? I do firmly believe that the war between manufacturers and airlines/MROs is far from being won by the manufacturers, but time is come for airlines/MROs to fight back.


Aviation Maintenance | avm-mag.com | April / May 2012 53


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