Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Lockheed Martin is talking to Boeing about a partnership under which it would support the latter's commercial aircraft at its maintenance centres around the world.
Aeronautics sector president Micky Blackwell says that Lockheed Martin wants to expand on soon-to-be-acquired Northrop Grumman's role as a Boeing supplier, "-and we know how to do support and maintenance". Lockheed Martin is also discussing supplying manpower to help Boeing overcome production difficulties.
The company has maintenance ventures in Argentina, China and Hungary, as well as the USA, and, Blackwell adds that it is "looking at" Canada's CAEAviation, a specialist in Lockheed Martin C-130 maintenance. CAE Aviation has been put up for sale by parent company CAE. Lockheed Martin wants to increase its maintenance activities to build on Northrop Grumman's $2 billion in commercial business.
Losing the competition to perform depot maintenance of US Air Force Lockheed C-5s has set back the company's strategy, Blackwell admits, but Lockheed Martin has approached the winner, the USAF's Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, with an offer to team on the programme. "We developed several computer aids in anticipation of winning the contract that they could use," he says.
Blackwell is "disappointed", but says that opportunities are coming up, including contracts to support USAF C-130s and US Navy Lockheed P-3s, USAF Boeing KC-135s and McDonnell Douglas KC-10s and aircraft produced by Northrop Grumman. "We want to support our aircraft-The C-5 has not been properly supplied with spares over the years, and so has not been able to live up to its promise," he says.
Losing the contract does not end the company's hopes of upgrading the C-5 Galaxy, and this will be an issue in teaming discussions with Warner Robins. "It would be nice to do the upgrade at the same time as programmed depot maintenance," Blackwell says.
A partnership with Boeing would increase the company's commercial-aircraft maintenance business. Additionally, Blackwell says, Lockheed Martin is offering to locate and supply assembly-line personnel to help Boeing overcome its production-manpower shortage. Lockheed Martin's logistics arm already supplies contract personnel to military maintenance-depots, he points out.
Boeing may use Kelly AFB, Texas, the present C-5 depot, as a maintenance and modification centre, after its closure in 2001. The study results from work conducted in support of Boeing's losing bid for the C-5 maintenance.
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Source: Flight International
