American Airlines is targeting component maintenance repair and overhaul to expand its work for outside carriers, and plans to market those capabilities to fellow Oneworld alliance members in a push to develop third party business.
Explaining that interior refurbishments of the carrier's older Next Generation Boeing 737-800s and overhaul of its own aircraft are comprising nearly all capacity for heavy airframe work, American managing director of component repair and overhaul Peter Laszcz tells ATI and Flightglobal the airline is dedicating its energy to stressing its component and engine overhaul capability in marketing services to potential third party customers.
American has performed some panel repair work for fellow Oneworld member Cathay Pacific and shortly plans to begin landing gear exchanges for another alliance member Japan Airlines (JAL) on some Boeing 767s the carrier plans to return to US lessors, says Laszcz.
American is also currently performing third party work from carriers outside the Oneworld alliance including 767 component repair for SkyTeam member Aeromexico and landing gear repair for Hawaiian Airlines.
Overall about 5% of American's maintenance throughput is dedicated to third party work, Laszcz estimates.
American has also started "grassroots thinking" regarding maintaining the nearly all-composite 787, says carrier director of maintenance facilities at the carrier's Tulsa base Joe Prater.
The carrier has 42 787-9s on order, and in 2010 American stated its first delivery was scheduled for 2014.
While Prater explains it is not definite Tulsa will ultimately perform 787 maintenance, he does note the Tulsa facility - American's largest maintenance base - already has two autoclaves and has a composite repair centre at the site.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
