Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
BBA Aviation and Gulfstream Aerospace have signed deals under which they will swap their respective aircraft and engine service businesses.
UK firm BBA will now own Gulfstream's engine overhaul operations in Dallas, Texas, acquired when the business jet manufacturer bought K-C Aviation in 1999. The overhaul operation will become part of BBA's Dallas Airmotive engine services subsidiary.
Gulfstream, meanwhile, will acquire the regional maintenance centres (RMC) of BBA subsidiary Signature Flight Support. The facilities in Dallas, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and West Palm Beach will service Gulfstream and other business jets. The net cost of the deal to BBA is $43 million for Gulfstream's profit-making facility, and signals the end of BBA's involvement in the maintenance business, which was established in 1997. The RMCs are still under development, making small losses linked with their start-up phase.
The agreement is part of Gulfstream's strategy to support the growing fleet of GIV-SPs and GVs while increasing its share of the market to maintain other manufacturers' business jets. Gulfstream entered the market when it bought K-C, and acquiring the BBA centres will increase its capability to support Bombardier Challenger, Dassault Falcon, Raytheon Hawker and other turbine-powered aircraft.
For BBA, the transactions provide Dallas Airmotive with the capability to service Honeywell engines and auxiliary power units (APUs), the General Electric CF34 turbofan and Hamilton Sundstrand APS 500 APU.
The deal includes a long-term agreement under which Gulfstream will remove and re-install engines for Dallas Airmotive, and buyers of new Gulfstreams will receive a fuel discount at Signature fixed-base operations for a year after delivery of their aircraft.
Source: Flight International
