Boeing is beefing up local MRO work in India for military aircraft such as the C-17 strategic transport, P-8I Neptune anti-submarine warfare aircraft, and VIP aircraft.
The announcements come under the auspices of the US company’s BIRDS – Boeing India Repair Development and Sustainment – initiative, which aims to increase MRO capabilities in India.
On 11 May, the company announced that Horizon Aerospace will conduct wheel and brake MRO work on Indian air force C-17s and VIP 737s, as well as Indian navy P-8Is.
“[The Horzion contract] will help us in our goal to generate value for our defence customers locally through faster turnaround, exceptional operational capability and readiness on Boeing aircraft,” says Ashwani Bhargava, director of supply chaing management for Boeing India.
The Horizon Aerospace announcement came six days after Boeing stated that local MRO firm Air Works is conducting simultaneous heavy checks on three P-8Is at its Hosur facility.
Boeing said that this effort “dramatically increases the scope and scale of maintenance, repair, and overhaul undertaken in the country”.
Boeing and another Indian company, AI Engineering Services, are also looking at how the two companies can work together on MRO work related to the P-8I and India’s VIP-roled 777-300ER.
Boeing describes BIRDS thus: “BIRDS hub is an in-country network and alliance of suppliers led by Boeing in India that envisions a competitive MRO ecosystem for engineering, maintenance, skilling, repair and sustainment services of defence and commercial aircraft. This network aims to drive high industry benchmarks in India for maintenance and repair, platform availability, customer satisfaction, quicker turnaround time.”
