February 18, 2019 - No. 014 In This Issue HNA Weighs $1 Billion Sale of Aircraft Maintenance Firm SR Technics Southwest Airlines Pulls 22 Aircraft Out of Service Over Maintenance Issue India-Singapore to sign pact for skilling Indians in aviation Airbus poised for take-off in Thailand's MRO hub Flexjet and Flight Options lawsuit says firms were harassed by pilots organization After successful make-or-break week, Pensacola's 'Project Titan' not yet ready for flight Qatar Airways graduates first batch of aircraft mechanics STS Sees Broad Support of Narrowbodies as Key to Serving Latin America EASA warns over exploding passenger doors Elon Musk Says SpaceX Is Developing a Complex 'Bleeding' Heavy-Metal Rocket Ship HNA Weighs $1 Billion Sale of Aircraft Maintenance Firm SR Technics HNA Group Co., the embattled Chinese conglomerate, is exploring options for Swiss aircraft-maintenance firm SR Technics including a potential sale, people familiar with the matter said. The Chinese group, which grew out of an airline on tropical Hainan island, is working with an adviser on the potential disposal, the people said. HNA's 80 percent stake in SR Technics could be valued at $700 million to $1 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Though HNA began its selling spree with sales of property and other peripheral businesses, the Chinese conglomerate has started unloading assets close to its core aviation operations. As it seeks to trim one of China's biggest debt piles, HNA is aiming to sell airport-cargo handler Swissport International as well as container-leasing business Seaco, Bloomberg News has reported. SR Technics business could be hurt as the airlines it services face increasing pressure, according to one of the people. Air Berlin Plc, one of SR Technics's customers, filed for insolvency last year amid fierce competition and volatile oil prices. No final decision has been made, and HNA could still decide to pursue other options for SR Technics or retain its ownership of the company, the people said. Representatives for HNA and SR Technics declined to comment. Based in Zurich airport, SR Technics has more than 3,000 employees globally and provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for airframes, engines and components, its website shows. HNA bought its controlling stake in the company from Mubadala Development Co. in 2016 for an undisclosed sum, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Abu Dhabi government-backed investment fund retains the remaining stake. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-18/hna-is-said-to-mull-1-billion-sale-of-aircraft-maintenance-firm Back to Top Southwest Airlines Pulls 22 Aircraft Out of Service Over Maintenance Issue Nearly two dozen Southwest Airlines 737s sidelined over a maintenance issue are back in service, NBC News learned Friday. NBC News confirmed through government sources the Dallas-based airline pulled 22 of their Boeing 737s out of service on the belief that the wrong O-Rings were installed on some engines. Southwest confirmed to NBC 5 that no leaks were found in any of the fuel pumps and that all aircraft have been returned to service. "Southwest Airlines made the FAA aware of a maintenance issue involving the suitability of engine O-rings on a limited number of the company's aircraft. Southwest removed those planes from service while the airline completed the necessary repairs. The FAA was in contact with Southwest as part of the agency's ongoing airline safety oversight program and closely monitored the situation," the FAA said. NBC aviation expert John Cox said the O-Ring in question most likely keeps oil from bleeding out of the engine and that if it were to escape it could force pilots to shut down an engine. In a letter to Phoenix Maintenance Teams, Southwest Airlines management wrote: "We have been experiencing an unusually high number of out of service aircraft over the last few days. Due to this number of out of service aircraft, out operation requires all of our scheduled aircraft maintenance technicians and inspectors. I am declaring Phoenix in a state of Operational Emergency effective 10 a.m. central time (Friday)." In an emergency, a 737, the only aircraft Southwest flies, can fly on one engine. In a statement to NBC 5 the airline said on an average day they plan for as many as 20 of their 750 aircraft to be unexpectedly out of service for maintenance items. Southwest added that they did have more maintenance issues this week than normal, but that there was no common theme among the reported issues and that they brought in more staff to promptly return the aircraft to service. At the same time, Southwest said operational planners were working in the background to minimize the impact to travelers. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/Southwest-Airlines-Pulls-22-Aircraft-Out-of-Service-Over-Maintenance-Issue-505907461.html Back to Top India-Singapore to sign pact for skilling Indians in aviation India and Singapore will sign an agreement for skilling Indian youths in the aviation sector at the Aero India Show next week. Academies will be set up in Bengaluru and other places in India that will act as regional hubs for the training of Indian youths for domestic and overseas jobs in these sectors. National Skill Development Corporation of India's (NSDC) Aerospace and Aviation Sector Skill Council in collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic and a Singapore-based private sector firm will signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 22 to establish skill development centers. Aero India show 2019 will be held in Bengaluru from February 20-24. It will provide a significant platform in bolstering business opportunities in International aviation sector. These 'Centers of Excellence in Advance Skilling' will provide training and certification drawing from Singapore curriculum and standards in sectors such as aerospace and aviation, emerging technologies, automotive and logistics. "These are all priority sectors under 'Skill India' and 'Make in India' programmes, which require large workforce with advanced technical skills," India's High Commissioner in Singapore Jawed Ashraf said here on February 15. He said that these sectors also provide more productive and remunerative employment opportunities. Singapore is a leader in aviation services including maintenance, repair, overhaul services as well as skill development across various sectors, Ashraf said. This is one of the many collaborations between India and Singapore in the crucial skill development sector following the signing of two MoUs between NSDC and Singapore Polytechnic to establish state-of-the-art Trainer and Assessor Academies across India. "Skills development is one of the new areas that have gained prominence in the bilateral engagement with many countries, but especially with Singapore, not only at central but also at state level," the envoy said. There are several institutional engagements including plans for setting up the first Indian Institute of Skills in Mumbai in collaboration with Singapore's Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES); training programmes for state government officials in public administration and governance; urban planning, logistics and infrastructure development in collaboration with many Singapore-based institutions, including Institute of Technical Education, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise and Civil Service College. Singapore has also opened three internationally acclaimed Skill Centers in India (New Delhi, Udaipur and Guwahati) and more coming up, Ashraf said. The World Class Skill Centre (WCSC) in New Delhi has seen hundreds of students clearing the courses in the areas of Hospitality and Retail Sectors with 100 per cent employment rate. There are plans to move WCSC to a new site and further expand it, he said. Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam and Odisha are also working with ITEES and Polytechnics in Singapore to develop skill centres. Odisha conducted training of 100 officials from ITI in Singapore last year. "The close ties between India and Singapore have a history rooted in strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people links, reinforced by convergent strategic interests," Ashraf said. The relationship, elevated to a Strategic Partnership in November 2015, has gained a new momentum and direction in last three years, he said. "The initiatives in skill development taken during Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's visit in 2018 are now showing results," Ashraf added. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/india-singapore-to-sign-pact-for-skilling-indians-in-aviation-3547021.html Back to Top Airbus poised for take-off in Thailand's MRO hub TOULOUSE, FRANCE (The Nation) - UNCERTAINTY over the political situation in Thailand is apparently not shared by French investors in the aeronautical industry, who have expressed confidence in the Kingdom's push to become a regional hub for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, which first set up shop in Thailand more than 40 years ago, said the MRO sector offered enormous potential for the country's aerospace business in the coming years. France Airbus and national flag carrier Thai Airways International last June launched a joint venture for MRO facilities at U-tapao Airport, in a deal overseen in France by junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha. Prayut is seeking to extend his tenure as prime minister after next month's election. The MRO facility at U-tapao is part of the military government's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) strategy and enjoys strong support from the business community, which has called for its continued rollout after the March 24 election. "We are looking forward to the future as Thailand has good prospects and potential for [developing] the aeronautical industry, given its strong supply chain based on automobile and electronics industries," said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, a former Thai ambassador to France in an interview with The Nation. Sihasak helped close the MRO deal last year and is now an adviser to the EEC project. The MRO will be a key piece of the aeronautics industry in Asean, given that many airlines had bolstered their fleets with new planes in recent years and those aircraft now need maintenance, said Cedric Post, the French Aerospace Industry Association's deputy director for European and international affairs. Fast-growing budget airlines such as AirAsia and Vietjet continue to add aircraft, which will require maintenance and even overhauls in the next few years, added Post. The in-service fleets in the Asia Pacific region will grow in size from 6,900 aircraft to over 20,000 in the next 20 years, according to Airbus. While other Asean members including Singapore have been in the MRO market for a long time, there is still room for Thailand due to its strong automobile and electronics manufacturing base, said Post. Singapore is short of land and costly while Thailand's U-tapao Airport is large enough to serve current operations and expansion, he said. The U-tapao MRO centre will be one of the most modern and extensive in the region, offering heavy maintenance and line services, said Airbus head of marketing for Asia and North America, Joost van der Heijden. "We will incorporate the latest digital technologies, specialised repair shops and a maintenance training centre," he added. "For Airbus, our MoU with THAI is about the opportunity to innovate and to lead the way in the aerospace sector." When fully operational, the U-tapao MRO centre is to offer heavy and routine (line) maintenance for all wide-body aircraft types, specialised repair shops including for composite structures, as well as extensive maintenance training courses for technical personnel from Thailand and overseas. Airbus and THAI are still working on the final details of the deal, while already partnering to address the MRO requirements. "This will be a major new facility that reflects our confidence in Thailand," said van der Heijden. Airbus and Thailand's Civil Aviation Training Centre (CATC) in January signed an MoU on projects to develop and implement maintenance training and pilot training courses in the country. The goal is to support the development of the country's aviation industry by helping to ensure a steady supply of pilots, engineers and mechanics for Thailand's airlines and MRO centres. Under the agreement, Airbus and the CATC will deepen their cooperation in training aviation professionals within the country. Airbus has begun working with the CATC on basic maintenance training courses, which could be expanded and also include flight training courses for pilots. "The main challenge [for the aeronautics industry] is to face the growth and train all required technicians and engineers. Airbus is confident that CATC, with Airbus assistance and cooperation, is able to address this challenge," said van der Heijden. The MRO centre is a major step forward for Thailand in the new-growth S-curve industries and its grand Thailand 4.0 strategy, Sihasak said, adding that the country's next government needed a positive vision of its aerospace industry. "We need good infrastructure, of course, for the future industry as well as consistent regulations to offer conducive conditions for investment," he concluded. https://elevenmyanmar.com/news/airbus-poised-for-take-off-in-thailands-mro-hub-asianewsnetwork Back to Top Flexjet and Flight Options lawsuit says firms were harassed by pilots organization Two related Richmond Heights-based aircraft management firms, their executives and pilots have sued a group of pilots from a competitor's labor organization claiming harassment and defamation during a vote to decertify the union that represented pilots of the two local firms, Flexjet LLC and Flight Options LLC. The lawsuit, filed by the two companies and a group of employees in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, claims that the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) and several individuals associated with NJASAP sent "hundreds upon hundreds of anonymous, threatening, harassing, defamatory and insulting postcards" to the homes of company managers and employees who spoke up in support of the May 2018 union decertification vote that led to the pilots severing their connection to the Teamsters Union. "They took a very aggressive approach with some of our employees," said Bob Sullivan, Flexjet's chief administrative officer. Decertification, he said, "felt like the right thing to do and it still feels like the right thing to do." The postcards were crude and, in some cases, profane. Said one printable expression, addressed to an executive's home: "Do You Believe the Drivel You Spew?" Another was a single word in white letters on a black background: "Dumbass." Sulllivan emphasized that the Teamsters were not involved in the postcard campaign, only the independent pilots organization. NetJets Inc., based in Columbus, is the industry leader with as much as a 60% share of market, according to several sources. The combined Flexjet and Flight Options is No. 2, with perhaps 30% of the market. The suit asks for more than $125,000 in damages. The lawsuit was filed in October but was stalled by an action by the NJASAP to have the suit dismissed. The impetus behind the decertification was the purchase of Flexjet, which was created and owned by the Candadian aircraft maker Bombardier Inc., by Directional Aviation Capital, which already owned Flight Options. Directional Aviation is the parent of aircraft rebuilder Nextant Aerospace, aircraft maintenance firm Constant Aviation and several other aviation-related businesses created by chairman Kenn Ricci. Directional Aviation paid Bombadier $195 million for Flexjet in 2013. Both Flexjet and Flight Options manage what the air service industry calls fractional ownership aircraft, where, like vacation time shares, businesses and people can purchase time on private jets. At the time of the merger, the Teamsters represented Flight Options pilots, while Flexjet pilots were nonunion. The Teamsters won the right to represent both pilot groups, after a December 2015 election, by a vote of 330-314. An arbitrator from the National Mediation Board then put together a collective bargaining agreement in 2017 that sought to resolve conflicts between the two pilot groups over the seniority list, which helps determine pilot pay, perks, job security and other issues. Management of the now-combined firms balked at the agreement since it wanted to reshape its operations and fleet of aircraft into separate tiers and raise pilot salaries. It considered the union agreement a roadblock. A key innovation of the combined company was a tier called Red Label by Flexjet, the top of the line. Red Label would offer ownership participants the company's newest aircraft and offered pilots an opportunity for premium pay and greater flexibility in when and where they worked. The company could not make planned changes in pay or working conditions during the period of labor negotiations. The Red Label program and management's plans for improvements in pay and benefits for all pilots pushed the aviators to seek to decertify their union. The postcard mailings occurred during a 28-day voting period that ended May 31. The pilots voted 318-220 to decertify the union. In a statement following the vote, Ricci praised the pilots. "While this underscores the dissatisfaction our pilots felt with the union, it is more importantly a testament to the trust our pilots have in this company and our leadership team, and a rejection of the tactics of fear and intimidation that the Teamsters used during this vote," said Ricci. An email sent Tuesday, Feb. 12 to Coley George, vice president of industry affairs with NJASAP, was not returned at press time. "Everything was stifled by the negotiations," Sullivan told Crain's, adding that all employees got an immediate $1,000 bonus when the decertification was official. "Once the relationship (between management and pilots) was direct, we were able to do the right thing and that (the bonus) was one of the things we did right away." The starting salary, plus bonus, of pilots is now nearly $100,000, Sullivan said. Some, in particular those in the Red Label program, are able to make more than double that. "Red Label is 30% (of our business), but we expect it to grow," said Sullivan. "Ninety-one percent of our pilots want to participate." The rise in salaries is at least partly a response to a rising demand for pilots worldwide, as both the private jet market and the commercial airlines have finally recovered from the economic downturn of a decade ago. "Right now, the sun is shining for the pilots because pilots are in demand," said Doug Gollan, who operates a website, Private Jet Card Comparisons, that follows the private jet industry. "They are seeing both their monetary rewards and benefits associated with scheduling and the work environment getting markedly better." https://www.crainscleveland.com/transportation/flexjet-and-flight-options-lawsuit-says-firms-were-harassed-pilots-organization Back to Top After successful make-or-break week, Pensacola's 'Project Titan' not yet ready for flight Three votes last week appeared to clear Pensacola's "Project Titan" for takeoff, but the project is still not quite ready to take flight. The five-year, $210 million project to build three additional hangars, a warehouse and office building for ST Engineering's aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at the Pensacola International Airport has multiple moving parts and at least eight sources of funding. Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson came into office in November facing a tight deadline to secure the remaining funding for the project or risk losing a $56 million grant from Triumph Gulf Coast. Over the last three months, Robinson has been successful at securing most of the sources of funding and likely ensuring the project will become a reality. However, his work is not quite finished yet. Robinson convinced the Triumph Gulf Coast board to first extend and then remove the deadline for the remaining funding, and the board approved granting the project an additional $10 million last week. However, the additional funding came with additional performance requirements ST Engineering has to meet for Triumph to pay out the grant. The biggest requirement is a commitment from ST Engineering to guarantee that the 1,325 jobs it will create at the facility will stay in Pensacola for at least seven years. ST Engineering has agreed to keep the jobs in Pensacola for three years, but it's still an open question if the company will up its commitment to seven years. Bill Hefner, president of VT MAE in Mobile, Alabama which also manages ST Engineering's Pensacola location, said the decision about the job commitment will be evaluated by ST Engineering's management. "People on our side above my pay grade are reviewing that right now," Hefner said. However, Hefner said the company is committed to the Pensacola region. "It's the cradle of Navy aviation," Hefner said. "It's got the basis, the flavor of what we're looking for. We feel like we belong and it's a good fit. We've gotten good response from all the educational institutions and we're working on recruiting down there. And that's been going very well. I just think it's going to be a very prosperous, very successful operation." Three days, three votes Pensacola has been working to bring ST Engineering to the city for more than four years, starting with the development of a new airport master plan and the construction of the first hangar for ST Engineering, which opened in 2018. The hangar now employees more than 150 people and is expected to reach 300 by the end of the year. When the hangar is fully staffed, it will be the workplace for 400 people. The city is already moving forward with the design of the second hangar that will begin construction at the end of this year if the proposed timeline is followed. Hefner said the majority of the employees who work at the first hangar live in the Pensacola area and all of the employees live in Northwest Florida. Although the plan has been in the works for years, the project faced a crucial series of make-or-break votes last week before the Pensacola City Council, Escambia County Commission and Triumph Gulf Coast board for additional funding. In back-to-back meetings starting Feb. 6, Robinson convinced the City Council to narrowly approve $5 million more to the project in a 4-3 vote. The County Commission voted 4-1 the following evening to contribute another $5 million to the project. Both governments had already pledged $10 million to the project before those votes. Now, each government has committed $15 million to the project. On Friday, Triumph approved another $10 million - in addition to the previously approved grant for $56 million - on the condition of the seven-year commitment from ST Engineering. At a press conference Monday, Robinson said he was confident a letter of support would be coming from FDOT for another $20 million, and on Wednesday the letter came. And with that, in one week, the project had gained an additional $40 million of support. Robinson said the city is on the hook for the remaining $5 million, but they city will work to find grants or other sources of funds. "We think we can manage to close that gap," Robinson said. Members of the City Council and the County Commission who voted against additional funding for the project said they couldn't support the increase when the city and county needed the money for other basic needs like streetlights and sidewalks. "I'm tired of telling citizens 'no' to street lights, sidewalks and safe roads, while we say 'yes' to things like this," Commissioner Doug Underhill said at the County Commission meeting Feb. 7. Robinson said he knows there are people who will complain about the project, but he believes the benefit to the community will be proven over the long-term. "I remember I lived in Birmingham and a lot of people complained about the Mercedes contract that the state of Alabama gave them," Robinson said referring to when Alabama gave Mercedes more than $250 million in economic incentives to open a factory in the state in the 1990s. "Well, clearly, that has leveraged that state and their workforce significantly. We're hoping this will do the same thing for us in aviation." Hefner said the project is a city-led one, but he appreciates people's concerns over spending. "Some of the folks see that the money can be spent in other areas and make the quality of life better," Hefner said. "My only response to them is that when you fund industry, when you bring jobs to the community and you get things like this going, it's a rising tide situation. What we'll bring back to this community will more than pay back anything that was put into the development of the site. I can absolutely guarantee that." ST Engineering is contributing $35 million directly to the cost of constructing the new hangars. Rick Harper, economic adviser to Triumph Gulf Coast, gave the project an "A" in his summary to the Triumph Gulf Coast board saying the project will likely create a high number of "spin off" jobs. Remaining hurdles Although city officials consider final funding for the project secured, the truth is the city is not quite done. Besides the almost $5 million the city has committed itself to funding, the final term sheet for Triumph's $10 million grant must still be approved both by ST Engineering and Triumph Gulf Coast. The $20 million commitment from FDOT must still be ratified by the Florida Legislature. Details of Escambia County's $5 million in additional funding still need to be worked out since $1.3 million of it will be coming from RESTORE Act funds initially meant to go to the county's master plan of Navy Outlying Field 8 in Beulah. Robinson also verbally committed that the bulk of the county funding wouldn't have to be put into the project until 2024, although the interlocal agreement between the city and the county calls for the funding to come in 2023. Changing the agreement will require another vote of the City Council. Additionally, a $12.25 million grant from the Federal Economic Development Administration has not been awarded. John Atwood, a spokesman with the Economic Development Administration, confirmed to the News Journal that the grant had "not yet been finalized/awarded." A letter to the city dated Feb. 1 from the government agency, said the city's application had "been selected for further consideration" and requested additional documentation from the city. However, on Wednesday, city officials maintain they considered the funding for the grant secured. Assistant City Administrator Keith Wilkins said he understands it looks "iffy and gray" but said 100 percent of the grants that he's worked that have gotten to this stage have been funded. "We've considered it that it's secured funding, and ST has considered it as secured funding," Wilkins said. "So, they're comfortable going forward also with it. So yes, we've listed it as committed." https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2019/02/15/pensacolas-projepensacolas-project-titan-not-yet-ready-for-flightct-titan-not-yet-ready-flight/2858900002/ Back to Top Qatar Airways graduates first batch of aircraft mechanics Qatar Airways has announced that 11 successful candidates have officially completed the Aircraft Mechanics Apprenticeship Programme, a three-year academic and practical programme designed to ensure the quality and workmanship of Qatar Airways' mechanics, while also assisting the airline in implementing its future growth plans. Upon completion of the programme, candidates are awarded an Aircraft Mechanic Category A certificate, and are automatically enrolled into a two-year bond with the Light Base Maintenance Department. Qatar Airways Group chief executive HE Akbar al-Baker said, "This is a proud moment for all of us at Qatar Airways. The graduation of the first batch of mechanics from our Aircraft Mechanics Apprenticeship Programme lays the pathway for the future development of the airline. "We believe this programme will also benefit the wider community, particularly young people who are interested in becoming aircraft mechanics. I would like to congratulate the first batch of Aircraft Mechanics graduates and welcome them to our rapidly expanding group." Qatar Airways Technical Training department offers a comprehensive range of training programmes suited to all technical personnel. Qatar Airways Maintenance Training (QAMT) is internationally recognised for its "exceptional training standards and service quality", a press statement notes. QAMT was awarded the Maintenance Training Organisation approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency and Qatar Civil Aviation Authority. QAMT's facilities include 10 classrooms equipped with newly installed Airbus Competence Training and Boeing Desk Top Simulation training media, which provide engineering students with a training experience utilising access to virtual aircraft. Candidates also experience first-hand training with a real aircraft. Qatar Airways is one of the world's fastest-growing airlines, with a fleet of more than 200 aircraft flying to business and leisure destinations across six continents. As part of its continued expansion plans,the airline plans a host of new destinations throughout 2019, including Valletta, Malta, and more. Qatar Airways was named 'World's Best Business Class' by the 2018 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named 'Best Business Class Seat', 'Best Airline in the Middle East' and 'World's Best First Class Airline Lounge'. https://www.gulf-times.com/story/622458/Qatar-Airways-graduates-first-batch-of-aircraft-me Back to Top STS Sees Broad Support of Narrowbodies as Key to Serving Latin America If a non-Latin American company is looking to establish a strong foothold in the Latin MRO market, it is a big advantage to specialize in supporting narrowbody aircraft, according STS Marketing Director Bryan Shaw. Latin America is expected to receive 1,000 additional aircraft over the next decade, and the great majority of those will be narrowbodies. "There is simply no capacity to support widebody maintenance in Latin America at this time," Shaw says. "Third-party hangars just aren't equipped. Narrowbody specialists have the edge in the region, and that likely won't change in the near future." Shaw acknowledges that finding the right local workforce is often a hurdle for companies like STS. "Finding maintenance workers, onboarding them, training them and putting them to work takes a fair amount of time and effort for an American-based company conducting work in the region." But STS has some advantages in addition to its focus on narrowbodies, says Tom Covella, president of STS Component Solutions. Its nine divisions enable STS to offer an all-in-one solution to MRO demands. "Need narrowbody maintenance or overhaul support? We can do that. Need parts? We can do that, too. How about engineering or the creation of custom maintenance programs? At STS Aviation Group, we offer all of that and more under a singular corporate roof." The component exec believes Latin America is a great opportunity for surplus parts. "The airlines that we work with do not have issues with surplus parts, as long as the trace documents meet internal requirements and local aviation authority regulations." STS is also seeing a growing acceptance of PMAs in Latin America. "But it is much more selective and based upon operator, lease terms and criticality of the component," Covella says. "The biggest hurdles usually lie in an airline's understanding and acceptance, local authority approvals and lease terms." Covella says Latin carriers have been open to flight-hour maintenance support, particularly in early stages of programs. Many major operators have entered into flight-hour agreements, but some also have exited programs. "Some programs have been cancelled and others added, so the net use probably hasn't changed all that much." Covella says it is critical for any Latin supplier to support a broad range of OEM products. "We are seeing more airlines looking to consolidate their vendor bases, and the ability to provide a broad range of products and services is a key factor for success." It is also helpful to offer vendor managed inventory programs, flexible credit terms and local part support. STS Components plans on continuing to expand its presence in Latin America. "We have already increased staff and stock levels in the region," Covella says. "We will continue to this on an as-needed basis." https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/sts-sees-broad-support-narrowbodies-key-serving-latin-america Back to Top EASA warns over exploding passenger doors Europe's regulator has warned over the hazard of passenger doors on parked business jets exploding open following a string of serious incidents, including one in which the aircraft's captain was killed. In a safety information bulletin (SIB) issued on 12 February, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) identifies "an excessive differential pressure between the inside and the outside of the aircraft", as the root cause of the problem. The agency says such events have resulted in injuries and even fatalities to people inside and outside the aircraft. These include an incident at Kittila airport in Finland on 4 January 2018, when the captain of an Austrian-registered Gulfstream G150 (OE-GKA) died from injuries sustained when the passenger door blew open as he was attempting to release it. The midsize jet was being prepared for its flight, with an attendant on board, the auxiliary power unit (APU) running and the cabin heat on. However, the doors and the air pressure outflow valve were closed. Finnish investigators concluded that the cabin was "over-pressurised", and once the door-locking mechanism was released, it "blew open with excessive force, hitting the captain". EASA says while closing the aircraft doors helps to reach and maintain the "desired" cabin temperature during the heating or cooling process, it can also result in an "undesired build-up" of a pressure differential between the cabin and the outside environment, particularly if the outflow valve is closed. This can happen during normal operation of the aircraft, maintenance, or training. The safety agency recommends that aircraft owners and operators, maintenance personnel, ground handlers, airport operators, firefighting and other emergency workers are made aware of the risks described in the SIB. Personnel must verify, if possible, that all relevant outflow valves are in the open position. A pressure build-up relief mechanism should also be operated before opening a fuselage door on a pressurised aircraft, EASA says. Where flightcrew or maintenance personnel are unable to control the outflow valve or other "external valve" positions without the APU or engine, one cabin fuselage door must remain open, the safety agency mandates. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/easa-warns-over-exploding-passenger-doors-455792/ Back to Top Elon Musk Says SpaceX Is Developing a Complex 'Bleeding' Heavy-Metal Rocket Ship SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, is working diligently on a wildly ambitious project: to permanently settle people on Mars. To help make that vision a reality, Musk's company is developing a colossal, fully reusable launch system called Starship. Starship is envisioned as a 180-foot-tall spaceship that will ride into orbit atop Super Heavy, a rocket booster about 220 feet tall, according to Musk's latest descriptions. The spaceship is designed to be refueled in low-Earth orbit in order to propel 100 passengers and more than 100 tons of cargo at a time to Mars. But the success or failure of the launch system - and by extension Musk's plan to back up the human race - may boil down to the viability of two major and recent design changes, which Musk has described as "radical" and "delightfully counterintuitive." One change involves building the spaceship from stainless-steel alloys instead of carbon-fibre composites. But the most surprising shift, according to aerospace-industry experts, is the way Starship will try to keep itself from burning up in the atmospheres of Mars and Earth. Instead of relying on of thousands of heavy ceramic tiles to shield Starship from heat, as NASA did with its space shuttle, Musk says the spaceship will "bleed" rocket fuel through tiny pores to cool itself down. In theory, putting liquid between Starship's steel skin and the scorching-hot plasma generated while it plows through atmospheric gases would prevent the ship's destruction. But whether SpaceX can pull off a launch system of this unprecedented size and design remains to be seen, says Walt Engelund, an aerospace engineer and the director of the Space Technology and Exploration Directorate at NASA Langley. "Large-scale entry, descent, and landing is something that NASA has been challenged by for decades. We've spent a lot of time and given a lot of thought to how we might do it at Mars," Engelund told Business Insider. "We've landed the metric-ton Curiosity rover - that's the biggest thing we've ever put down on the surface of Mars." To go from the Martian landing of a car-size robot to a building-size ship filled with humans, Engelund said, is "a couple orders of magnitude" - roughly 100 times - more difficult than the Curiosity landing, which he said "is arguably one of the hardest things we've ever done at NASA." "It won't be easy for us or SpaceX," Engelund said. Why Starship turned into a heavy-metal rocket ship Musk thinks he can build a self-sufficient city on the red planet by 2050. He wants individual tickets to Mars to be as cheap as a house on Earth, and for return trips to be free. The Starship-Super Heavy launch system is the way Musk plans to achieve that goal, and he said the switch to stainless-steel alloys is a way to keep costs down and build the system more quickly. "Starship will look like liquid silver," Musk said of the change in December, adding that the ship will have a mirror-polish finish to help reflect heat - a literal case of cool factor. n an interview with Popular Mechanics, Musk explained that steel is about 67 times as cheap by weight as the lightweight yet superstrong carbon-fibre composites that SpaceX had planned to use as late as September. Steel is also easier to work with than carbon fibre, allows for faster prototyping, and stands up better to intense heat. What's more, Musk said, steel's strength is "boosted by 50%" when it touches ultracold liquids, including the cryogenic methane and oxygen that Starship might use to propel itself through space. The problem with steel, though, is that the material is dense and heavy. At least one early version of General Dynamics' Atlas missile, which was made from the metal, crumpled under its own weighton a launchpad. Yet Musk has suggested that SpaceX's use of steel is much different and will make the redesigned Starship stronger, more durable, and less heavy. Ultimately, he said, the material change will improve the rocket ship's performance over the old design. "I'm confident that a stainless steel ship will be lighter than advanced aluminium or carbon fibre, because of strength to weight vs temperature & reduced need for heat shielding," Musk tweeted in January. But as tough as steel is, it's not invincible, especially when it forms the skin of a spacecraft screaming through atmospheric gases. Sweating and bleeding for survival Starship could enter through Mars' and Earth's atmospheres at 19,000 mph. At such speeds, Musk said, parts of the ship's underbelly, such as its nose, could be exposed to temperatures of about 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit. That's enough heat to destroy the steel alloy that Musk said SpaceX might use for Starship's outer skin. Called 310S, the material is often billed as a heat-resistant metal, since it has a lot of chromium and nickel blended into it. (It's not unlike the steel used in kitchen pots and pans.) But 310S steel nonetheless starts to react with oxygen and corrode at about 2,000 degrees and melts at about 2,400. The rocket ship needs protection from the intense heat, which is why Musk's plans call for Starship's body to cool itself using liquid fuel during landing. Musk toldPopular Mechanics that he decided to forgo space-shuttle-like thermal tiles to save weight and avoid the risk that a damaged or lost tile could compromise a heat shield. Instead, he explained, Starship would "bleed" or sweat rocket fuel from tiny holes in its steel skin, and that liquid layer would carry away the scorching heat of atmospheric entry. "On the windward side, what I want to do is have the first-ever regenerative heat shield. A double-walled stainless shell - like a stainless-steel sandwich," Musk said. "You flow either fuel or water in between the sandwich layer, and then you have micro-perforations on the outside - very tiny perforations - and you essentially bleed water, or you could bleed fuel, through the micro-perforations on the outside. You wouldn't see them unless you got up close." He added that the heat shield would do double duty by strengthening Starship's steel body. "To the best of my knowledge, this has never been proposed before," Musk said. Experts told Business Insider that Musk is correct that no spaceship has ever launched into orbit and returned to Earth using such a heat shield. But the concept of sweating or "transpirational" thermal protection is not novel, and it has a history of being an incredibly tricky engineering challenge. Transpirational cooling for moon men and ICBMs Transpirational or "active" cooling has been around for millions of years in the form of mammalian skin. When human body temperatures rise too high, for instance, microscopic pores push out sweat. This liquid then evaporates to carry away excess warmth and prevent overheating. As far as sweating spacecraft are concerned, NASA began toying with the nature-inspired cooling system before landing astronauts on the moon. "The idea of transpirational cooling is not new. That's been around for decades," Engelund said. One patent filed by NASA in 1965suggested using astronaut urine to cool down a heat shield on the bottom of a space capsule. As late as 2006, the space agency spent at least $US70,000 on research into an inflatable, transpiration-cooled heat shield that could help land spacecraft on Mars. "Sweating" spacecraft also played a role in the Cold War arms race. In March 1976, the US Department of Defence test-launched a transpiration-cooled nose tip for reentry vehicles. Such reentry vehicles are made to fly into space atop intercontinental ballistic missiles, reenter Earth's atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour, and strike distant targets with nuclear warheads. But according to US Air Force historical documents, the project was canceled later in the 1970s because of limited funding and "design problems that had plagued the development effort." Engineers instead opted for simpler "ablative" heat shields that insulate a vehicle by burning away during reentry. Information about the problems in defence-related transpirational heat shields is mostly classified. But George Herbert, an aerospace engineer who's researched military uses of space-launch vehicles, told Business Insider in an email that "issues reported and known include blocked transpiration holes." In other words, a challenge commonly faced by teenage skin: clogged pores. 'What if a bird poops on your rocket?' Several experts told Business Insider they were concerned about the problem of blockage in Starship's heat-shield design. "You can imagine it wouldn't take much to clog something like that, if they were microscopic pores," Engelund said. Dwayne Day, who helped investigate the loss of NASA's Columbia space shuttle and its crew, imagined one annoyingly common scenario that the Starship would face at any launch site on Earth. "What if a bird poops on your rocket and it plugs up a few holes, and then when the thing is returning, no coolant comes out of those holes and that section of the vehicle overheats?" Day wrote in an email to Business Insider. Engelund said he's seen issues with clogged coolant systems in tests performed inside NASA's hypersonic wind tunnels. During such experiments, scale models of vehicles are put in the tunnel - which can blow air at thousands of miles per hour - to study how they perform. Some of the test runs involved heat shields that pump liquids through channels just below the model's skin to cool it off, but not all models survived. "I've seen instances where you'll get one clogged channel ... and it will immediately result in burn-throughs," Engelund said. "A model will disappear in a hypersonic wind tunnel. It almost vaporizes, there's so much energy and so much heat." Musk has said that using methane as a coolant might be better than water. "Rapid water vaporisation can counter-intuitively cause it to snap freeze & block cooling channels," he said in a Tweet last month. But Engelund also sees challenges with the methane option. When exposed to high temperatures, carbon atoms in hydrocarbon fuel (like methane) can "coke" or stick together and turn solid. Such debris can then block fine structures like pores. "I would be very worried about that," Engelund said, adding that another big concern would be impurities in fuels, which can also lead to clogs. One possible way to address these issues, Engelund said, could be to simply add more pores than seems necessary, "just in case some small percentage of the perforations get clogged, or the channels flowing coolant to those perforations." On top of issues like bird droppings and clogging, there's the fine dust that blows across Mars. This could get lodged inside Starship's fuel-oozing pores, and it may be difficult to find and remove those blockages while on the red planet. "Inspection and certification, in general, would be a thing of a concern for a large-scale active system like that - particularly at Mars, where you don't have access to a big gantry or towers to climb up and inspect," Engelund said. "I suppose you could use drones. Maybe that's something he's thinking about." Can Starship take the heat? Musk has shared only bits and pieces of Starship's latest design and has not presented a complete picture to the public, as he has done in the past. But Musk said in December that he would "provide a detailed explanation in March/April," pending successful launches of a "test hopper" prototype that the company is building in Texas. In the meantime, Musk shared a video (above) that appears to show the testing of a metallic heat shield for Starship. It's still unclear how much research SpaceX has performed on the transpirational-cooling concept. "It's a huge risk if they haven't worked to qualify and validate what they want to do," Herbert said. "But if they did, it could be a real winner for their new design." If it doesn't work, Engelund said, it's not necessarily a dead end for Musk's Starship. "He may find out it's untenable or too expensive to certify or test, and he might find a better idea," Engelund said. "He's been really good at that over his career." SpaceX also expects constant tweaks and changes as engineers work to make Starship a reality. "We are using the same rapid iteration in design approach that led to the success on the Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon programs," a company representative told Business Insider in an email, referring to the company'slatest rocket and spaceship designs. But SpaceX rejects any comparisons between Starship and NASA's Curiosity rover. "Curiosity was pushing the limits of 1970's Mars [entry, descent, and landing] technology including a specific parachute-based EDL architecture," SpaceX said. "We are taking an entirely different approach, leveraging what we have done with Falcon 9, and have ample opportunity to demonstrate it on Earth prior to flying to Mars." Despite the high hurdles SpaceX appears to face in its quest to launch and land Starship on Mars, no expert we spoke with said SpaceX's system was implausible. "They have surprised a lot of people, and have a lot of smart people working for them, and Elon seems to be really committed and dedicated to this," Engelund said. "Perhaps there are some things that we could do with them. I suspect there will be." https://www.sciencealert.com/elon-musk-says-spacex-is-developing-a-complex-bleeding-heavy-metal-rocket-ship Curt Lewis