Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV
In recent years, Bedek Aviation, the maintenance and overhaul division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), has become one of the "money makers" for its parent group. The business has become so successful, in fact, that it is asking potential customers to postpone the transfer of their aircraft to the group's plant at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv because the tarmac in front of the hangars and the hangars themselves are becoming overcrowded. What began 43 years ago as a small maintenance operation has grown into a major company with overseas branches in the CIS, Miami and Paris.
David Arzi, IAI corporate vice-president and general manager of Bedek, says that a total revision of marketing and working practices is the basis for the "revolution" which saw 1995 sales of the group finish at $279 million, with a forecast of $360 million for 1996. Arzi says that changes in work procedures have turned some major contracts from loss to profit. "The line between loss and profit is often very thin, but by very tight control we have managed to turn some big turnovers into big profits," he says.
Continental Airlines' McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-10s and Boeing 747s, are flown to Israel for maintenance: Airborne Express is a major client, with MDC DC-8 conversions to full cargo configuration and the installation of "glass cockpits" and pylon modifications; and Polar Air and General Electric Capital Aviation Services are having 747 Civil Reserve Air Fleet aircraft converted to full cargo. More recent clients include UPS, with the conversion of two 747-200s from passenger to cargo configuration, and KLM with the same modification on two 747-300s.
"We have become a world centre for these conversions," says Arzi.
Some of the work is performed outside Israel. When the company won a contract to reply on some of Lufthansa's 747s, the work was carried out at the German airline's Hamburg base under Bedek supervision. The unions in Germany would not allow the work to be done abroad. Equally, with a contract to convert some of Air France's 747s, the kits were sent to France and the work done there.
Bedek's Miami-based, fully owned subsidiary Commodore Aviation, and the Le Bourget-based Euralair, in which Bedek has a 35 % stake, allow the Israeli company great flexibility. The maintenance of Iberia's DC-8s was performed in Miami, and an Angolan Boeing 737 D-check was performed at Euralair.
The technical capability of Bedek is comprehensive. The aircraft type list includes the full Boeing and MDC range, in addition to the Russian-made Tupelov Tu-134 and Tu-154. Bedek has been certificated to perform maintenance on Airbus Industrie A300s and A310s, and the first contracts are being negotiated now.
With El Al, the Israeli national airline, operating an all-Boeing fleet, and with no Airbus aircraft in the fleets of the Israeli charter airlines, this certification seemed almost impossible. An offer made by Bedek to long-term customer Air France has brought a change in the European manufacturer's attitude, however.
The engines division of Bedek overhauls, repairs and maintains Pratt &Whitney, GE, Allison, Textron Lycoming and CFM International engines as part of airframe contracts or as a separate line of business. The components division has an in-house capability to repair and modify the full range of aircraft systems. The fact that Bedek is part of IAI gives the group a unique capability to solve specific problems. Answers to such problems, are often given by experts, from the Elta electronics plant or from IAI's central engineering site.
The flight-operations department, which is part of the Bedek group, tests each converted aircraft before it is delivered to the client. The vast operational experience of the test pilots in the department helped the Bedek group to acquire licensing for the conversion designs and kits it offers to wide-body aircraft.
While Bedek is mainly a civil third-party maintenance and conversion centre, it also performs military conversions. When IAI had to convert a Boeing 707 to carry its Phalcon AEW system, Bedek performed the work. The group has also converted 707s to aerial refuellers.
Source: Flight International
