Management at American Airlines has decided to perform upgrades to avionics on its Boeing 757s and 767s in Tulsa instead of Kansas City, MO as part of plans to adjust work performed at its three maintenance bases.
Last month the carrier explained excess capacity existed in its bases, and as part of the realignment explained it was starting a Boeing 777 check line at its Tulsa facility. Its Alliance base in Fort Worth will move to a full 767 check line.
In the latest refinements to its maintenance base capacity, American plans to open an avionics upgrade and winglet line in Tulsa for the 757s and 767s, and open a second line for the 767s in the summer, VP base maintenance Fred Cleveland explains in a memo. "We are evaluating ways to accelerate the start of this line," he says.
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Kansas City was under consideration for the avionics upgrades, but American ultimately selected Tulsa to perform the work. Winglet installations on 757s performed in Kansas City should wrap up by the end of the year, and work performed at that base on 767 pylons is scheduled to end in November of this year.
Third-party work on Boeing 737s American is performing in Kansas also has a yearend target date. Cleveland notes that the possibility exists for Kansas in January 2009 to possibly have on standalone 767 winglet line, and the base is continuing the business class cabin upgrades on those aircraft.
Previously, American said 1,500 maintenance positions would be eliminated, and the deadline for voluntary exits is 23 August.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
