A group of Russian aviation firms has proposed to the Yakovlev Design Bureau that it should take over the Yak-42 programme and its staff.
The group, dubbed the AT Alliance, includes BASCO - the Yakovlev Yak-42 and Ilyushin Il-76 overhaul centre - and the largest Yak-42 operator, Tsentr Avia, which has a 17-strong fleet. BASCO recently completed the first two 20,000-hour overhauls on two high-time Yak-42s in co-operation with Yakovlev.
The design bureau has reduced its staff considerably as a result of the Russian financial crisis, and the recent departure of its chief executive, Alexander Dondukov, to become Russia's next minis-ter of Science and Technology, is likely to delay Yakovlev's response. Currently, Dondukov's first deputy, Arkadi Gurtovoi, is acting chief executive, and he would prefer to wait until a successor is in place before making a decision.
Current Russian and CIS procedures require any changes to an aircraft to be approved by the design team, even for changes in cabin layout. BASCO, in effect, is seeking to take on the design team and become the first CIS overhaul facility to gain supplemental type certification authority.
The 120-seater tri-jet has been in production since the mid-1970s, and around 180 aircraft have been produced. Output at the Saratov plant is running at a slow rate.
Source: Flight International
