Singapore Airlines subsidiary SIA Engineering has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to help Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) restructure its engineering and maintenance division.
CAL says SIA Engineering "will assist CAL in its maintenance operations and work jointly with CAL to improve the overall systems, policies and processes of its engineering maintenance division".
In June last year, just over a month after a CAL Boeing 747-200 broke up during a flight between Taipei and Hong Kong killing 225 people, the airline signed a similar MoU with Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering (HAECO) covering maintenance co-operation.
CAL said at the time that the signing of the MoU was not linked to the 747 crash. Under investigation as a possible factor is a potentially faulty repair to the aircraft, carried out in 1980 and which may have resulted in fatigue cracks going undetected.
CAL later said it was considering spinning off its maintenance division into a standalone company and revealed that HAECO could acquire a stake. The carrier has since terminated the agreement with HAECO.
SIA Engineering says it is open to acquiring a stake in CAL's maintenance division and will consider it, although it insists it is not the reason why it will be helping to restructure it. As part of the three-year agreement, which should be finalised in the coming months, SIA Engineering will second eight senior management personnel to CAL.
Source: Flight International
