MARK PILLING
CFM International is hitting out against independent spare parts makers who are looking to produce increasingly complex parts for its CFM-56 turbofan engines.
Adding to a theme taken up by out-going CFM president Gerard Laviec in March, Pierre Brys, vice-president marketing and sales, said: "We question whether they are capable of making a part 100% equivalent to ours." Although companies have produced engine parts under so-called Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) for years, there is a trend towards the independents making more critical components.
"We don't have anything per se against PMAs in themselves, but we do not agree with the fact that these manufacturers are not required to validate or substantiate the design and procedures which they use," said Brys. This not only enables them to undercut CFM's own prices; the move of PMA producers into the area of blades and vanes is worrying on safety grounds, says CFM. However, PMA manufacturers will not be distracted by what they feel are original equipment manufacturer efforts to discredit the industry. Joshua Abelson, senior vice-president, sales and marketing for Heico Aerospace, a fast - growing Florida-based manufacturer, says: "The OEMs do not grant approval [for making these parts], the Federal Aviation Administration does. "They require us to follow the same rules and regulations as the OEMs do."
Spares
Heico - which offers 90% of the dollar value of the CFM-56 expendable spares programme - believes engine makers are flagging up the PMA issue because they are worried about an erosion of their lucrative spares business. "Why did CFMI lower prices last year by 35% if they didn't consider us a threat?" says Abelson.
"All we are requesting is that if someone else is allowed to make a part they should go through the same validation procedure [as us]. Then, all of a sudden their prices wouldn't be so cheap. "We want to be treated equally. If so, there would be fair competition. "According to Heico's Abelson, it is the demand from airlines for lower maintenance costs that is driving the growth of the highly competitive PMA business. "Typically we can drive out from 30-50% of cost on [engine] spare parts," he says. "We are working very closely with airlines on what they want, and they are supporting our efforts." AMR, the parent of American Airlines, set up a joint venture with Heico in May in engine and airframe parts development, while Lufthansa Technik owns 20% of Heico subisidary Heico Flight Support.
Source: Flight Daily News
