Andrew Chuter/LONDON
New FLS Aerospace boss Stephen Henderson has moved swiftly to axe overheads in the first phase of a 20-month plan to restore Europe's largest third-party only maintenance company to profitability.
Henderson, who joined FLS as president and chief executive on 1 May from Seattle-based BFGoodrich Aerospace's Component Services division, has also acted to improve productivity at maintenance bases in Dublin, London Stansted and Manchester, with a project to slash turnaround times.
Around 20% of non-revenue earning staff will be made redundant as FLS centralises operations in the wake of the buy-out of the TEAM Aer Lingus maintenance operation. The process has begun in Scandinavia, with Stockholm and Copenhagen bases losing 60 employees.
Scandinavia was largely responsible for FLS Aerospace's $25 million losses last year, a performance which resulted in the demise of company boss Steffen Harpoth. Henderson says the company will return to profit in the fourth quarter, although the turnaround is unlikely to prevent a full-year loss. Turnover for 2000 will reach $430 million.
With Danish parent FLS Industries also in difficulty, plans for a maintenance operation in the USA are on the backburner, but remain key to long-term growth. "At the moment we are not in the business of nice-to-haves, we are very focused over the next 20 months on taking what we have and leveraging it," Henderson says.
In tandem with the reduction in overheads, Henderson has moved to virtually halve turnaround times for heavy maintenance, aided by consultants KPMG, who undertook a similar programme for him at Aviall Caledonian Engine Services. Henderson says improvements will come through "preplanning, agreeing with the customer what needs to be done and making sure the materials needed are ready on time".
FLS is to initiate the scheme with an Airtours McDonnell Douglas DC-10 due for a C-check at Manchester. The process, including two modification programmes, will take nine days instead of the usual 15-21.
Henderson says FLS aims to add aircraft types to its capability. He also wants to explore the cargo conversion market, where forthcoming Boeing 737 work may offer opportunities, and plans to develop FLS' component repair business, bringing in-house high margin work now done by third parties.
Source: Flight International
