For Tim Komberec, 2004 was a crossroads year. After operating a fleet of Fokker F27s for FedEx Express regional service over several years, the president and CEO of Idaho-based cargo carrier Empire Airlines was poised to re-fleet and expand with ATR-42 aircraft, which were being converted to freighter configuration.
\nThen there was the question of maintenance for the converted aircraft. \u201cWe did not have enough capacity in house in our Spokane facility to handle it, so we ultimately ended up having a facility built up here in the Coeur d\u2019Alene Airport,\u201d Komberec said.
\nThat facility in Idaho, he soon learned, was \u201cquite a bit more than I knew we were going to need\u201d once the converted aircraft arrived. Being a company that had a do-it-yourself attitude since its founding in 1977, Empire decided it would open up its new Idaho facility for outside maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, naming it Empire Aerospace.
\nAs Empire Airlines continued providing feeder service for FedEx, Empire Aerospace was just as busy developing the expertise and the experience to run its own MRO. \u201cFirst couple of years, we were pretty much consumed by our own work,\u201d Komberec said. \u201cBy around 2006, we started to take on other airlines.\u201d
\nToday, Empire\u2019s MRO, Komberec said, is growing every year and adding more revenue, but the story of Empire has become an increasingly rare one. The small- to medium-sized carrier that decides to get into the MRO business has become somewhat of an endangered species in the air cargo market, as most carriers decide to outsource their maintenance work to third-party MROs to save on costs, space and time.
\n\u201cMost airlines today will do some line maintenance and some lesser A- and B-checks, but not larger checks,\u201d said Brian McCarthy, vice president, marketing and sales, for Precision Aircraft Solutions. \u201cConversions are the easy part. They\u2019re predictable \u2013 you basically count the days until it is done. The hard part is maintenance, when you\u2019ve got engine checks and landing gear checks and other non-routine maintenance.\u201d
\nFor those carriers that already have the space and expertise to handle their own maintenance, a full-fledged MRO could end up providing a significant boost to the bottom line, considering the projected growth of aircraft demand. For instance, Air Cargo Management Group estimates that nearly 2,500 new freighters will be on the market in the next 20 years \u2013 and that\u2019s just maindeck lift. According to McCarthy, most commercial aircraft built in the 1990s will need between US$ 1 million and US$ 1.5 million worth of upgrades in avionics alone to meet future standards.
\nThe issue comes down to a tough decision for a carrier: What kind of aviation business do you want to be?
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"