Jazz RJ heavy checks going south?

[conehead]

DATE:20/07/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news
Pluna to become first CRJ MRO provider in South America
By Brendan Sobie

Uruguayan carrier Pluna has unveiled plans to add heavy maintenance capabilities for Bombardier CRJ aircraft.

Pluna in a statement today says later this year it will become the first company in South American to perform a heavy check on a CRJ. Pluna will initially perform c-checks on its own fleet of CRJ900s but says it also plans to pursue third-party work from other CRJ operators in Latin America.

Pluna currently has a fleet of seven CRJ900s, including one aircraft which is leased to Argentinean sister carrier AeroVIP. It has three more CRJ900s on order, all of which are slated for delivery later this year.

Pluna says its first CRJ900, which was delivered in March 2008, will come up for c-check in September. It is planning to conduct this c-check at its Montevideo hub using 20 of its own mechanics with supervision from Bombardier.

Pluna says it plans to complete five c-checks between September and November, with each check taking 12 working days. The carrier says the other two CRJ900s in its fleet will come up for c-check from March 2011.

Pluna vice president operations Martin Harrison says the company looked at outsourcing heavy maintenance for its CRJ900 fleet but decided to instead invest in enhancing its maintenance capability and establish a regional maintenance centre for the CRJ in Montevideo.

Pluna maintenance manager Oscar Prieto adds that the carrier hopes to not only work on Pluna's CRJs but CRJs from other operators in the region.

Pluna's maintenance operation is currently certified by Uruguayan as well as Argentinean authorities. In Argentina, AeroVIP and Andes currently operate the CRJ900.

While Pluna currently only operates CRJ900s it has been looking at potentially acquiring smaller CRJ200s and will be capable of performing heavy maintenance on all types of CRJs.

Pluna, which is partly owned by Canada's Jazz, operated Boeing 737s, 757s and 767s before transitioning to CRJ900s in 2008 as part of a new strategy which focused on developing a regional network.

[ourkid2000]

Well for what it's worth, this is written in our contract........it's pretty strong language. Not to say they can't get around it somehow.

2.03 Sub-Contracting of work falling within the scope of this Agreement will be governed by the
following provisions:

2.03.01 - All work presently sub-contracted out specific to a base may continue to be subcontracted.
All work not presently sub-contracted may not be sub-contracted and will be performed by employees except as provided for in Article 2.03.02 and Article 2.03.03.

Work which is not presently sub-contracted at a base may not be sent to another base and
sub-contracted.

The two mentioned articles have to do with AOG situations & extra work that is required to be done.

[conehead]

Yeah, there's language in the Air Canada - I.A.M. contract against subcontracting. Doesn't even slow them down.

[acidgambit]

if an airline wants to save money. It will. And yep...no way to stop them. Hope it won't turn into a gong show for Jazz and everything goes smoothly.

[ourkid2000]

Well they did try to contract out our 705's a couple years ago and it ended up going to an arbitrator. In the end, we won & they paid for it big time.....and I mean BIG TIME.

[davemccarthy737]

They are going a little north of halifax actually

[ourkid2000]

Are you referring to the lease returns going to Premier in Quebec?

[davemccarthy737]

Nope. You wouldn't believe it if I posted it.

[conehead]

They are going a little north of halifax actually

Pray tell?

[ourkid2000]

So RJ100/200 heavy maintenance checks are being outsourced? This is what you are saying?

These are serious allegations.

[davemccarthy737]

Nope, I never said the checks were being outsourced either.

[davemccarthy737]

For the record Jazz has outsourced lots of heavy checks in the past. Places such as Field and Air Atlantic did their last few 146 checks just to name a few.

[Troubleshot]

Summerside PEI perhaps?....

[slapshot22]

Edited

[CRJ 2000]

I hear it may possibly be sourced to new start up MRO Discovery Air in YQB. (At the former Exeltech facility)

Makes fiscal sense I guess

[dashx]

A C check on an RJ in 12 days........???

Most impressive........

[bombardierfixer]

Are you saying 12 days is good or bad for a C check? At Avmax we punched them out in 7 days, without breaking a sweat. Mind you that was the 100/200's though. I have no idea how long for a 700/900...

[dashx]

Every C check is different ........

What exactly did you do in those 7 days?

How many shifts did you have? 2? 3? How many on each shift? Was overtime approved? Contractors (looking to prolong their hours) and/or employees?

Did Avmax keep their stores stocked with all the parts you needed?

Did the customer supply all rotables that were required to be changed? Were they there before the check started?

Here is an example: 2 condenser/mixers and and 2 heat exchangers to be sent out. Can you get them back in 7 days or less?
(not necessarily CRJ)

Did you do any mods to the A/C? Any major sheet metal repairs? Configuration change?

I could go on and on but what's the point?

And yes I was being sarcastic about the 12 days mostly because I have seen my small share of C checks and I have yet to see one take less than one month.

But then again all the Checks I have done have also involved engine changes/configuration changes/AD's/SB's/SFAR mods which tend to prolong the checks.

Mostly because customers wait to do absolutely everything when they take the plane off line. Or as little as possible when the plane is active. And there are always surprises.........

[bombardierfixer]

Go to your happy place.

Oh this was a while ago but...
They were C1's and I think C2's for SkyWest. We'd nose to tail them. Basic package but would include the afore mentioned precoolers and heat exchangers were part of the pre pull. Part support was there.

We'd do the 280 beam, door handles (on the phase 3-4 doors) the blocker doors on the t/rs, the stab lube, leading edges picilo tubes ect...
This also included the SB's, AD's ect. We hadn't really gotten in to SFAR 88 yet, but we still had to do all of the drains. We didn't have to do to many engine changes that was done online by SkyWest.

We had two crews: 8 guys plus 2 sheet metal and 2 cone heads. There was afternoon and evening shift. Granted on the big checks when the engine beam mod and the 640 and the 590 had to be done that check would go on to be a month, but that only happened about 5 times.

We also had to do the Jazz flap mod stuff a few years ago and we had those in and out in 4-5 days. My hand was the one in the picture pouring out the water in the flex shaft that really started the whole metal gasket thing.

If you doubt my word go ask any of the Jazz YYC guys who worked on the SkyWest line at Avmax and ask them.

Say what you want about Avmax and the owners/management but the guys on the floor were some of the best, hardest working individuals I have ever met.

Of course a Dash 8 c check well....that was a completely different story...

[Grease Nipple]

7-10 days is enough for a CRJ C check depending on the package. Although Bombardier's Center of Excellence in West Virginia does them in
3-4 days, they find it helps to wear very dark sunglasses when dong inspections.

[ourkid2000]

Of course a Dash 8 c check well....that was a completely different story...

Oh man, the Dash-8 C check is a struggle for us.....big time. We have 18 days to do it and it is a struggle every single time.

[casey]

What is a Conehead ? Is it a spark chaser

[ChallengerDan]

Not sure about the C Checks, but the some of the Lease Returns are getting done about 45 km north of one of Jazz's maintenance bases.

Union is on it already.

[bombardierfixer]

Of course a Dash 8 c check well....that was a completely different story...

Oh man, the Dash-8 C check is a struggle for us.....big time. We have 18 days to do it and it is a struggle every single time.

Well it doesn't help that once they are in the barn they grow friggin roots! My favorite is on the last day...Drag it out side put on fuel and that dam gasket from the tank to the dry bay starts to leak, and everyone looks around surprised...

Not to mention the exhaust, elevator servo, anything under the cockpit floor...I thought I missed those things, huh, turns out I don't.

[conehead]

What is a Conehead ? Is it a spark chaser

Affirmative.