June 7 was the Phase 1 deadline for all asset lots except component maintenance. Bidders selected from Phase 1 moved on to Phase 2, which concluded June 14. Now, Aveos is in the process of selecting bidders. The component business will follow the same pattern, starting with a Phase 1 deadline of July 13 and a Phase 2 deadline of July 17.
Meanwhile, former Aveos customers and suppliers are working to find new providers and reclaim their property.
Shortly after Aveos filed for CCAA protection, it reported having 64,000 component numbers in 71,000 bins spread over 19 locations. It also had three airframes—one Airbus A330, one A320 and one Boeing 767, all belonging to Air Canada—and 54 engines.
Air Canada says it shipped “several” aircraft to other providers within a month of the bankruptcy and began working with 40 Canadian suppliers on component, engine and related support services. The carrier also confirms it is “still in the process of finding a heavy maintenance provider.”
Aveos was Air Canada's primary MRO provider, conducting 123 of the airline's 135 heavy checks and 52 of 56 engine checks since the start of 2011.
Among others impacted by Aveos's closing is AJ Walter Aviation (AJW), which supplied parts and services to Aveos as part of support agreements with several airlines, including Volaris, Interjet and Air Transat. An AJW court motion dated May 22 states that, Aveos had 835 AJW parts under its control when it filed for bankruptcy. The support agreements called for AJW to retain ownership of all parts it supplied, making them eligible for repossession.
However, six weeks into the CCAA process, AJW had recovered just 86 parts and was authorized to repossess 400 more, leaving 350 units in limbo and hitting AJW's bottom line hard. Among the company's expenses, according to the court filing, is $2.7 million in new inventory to help replace the Aveos-held parts and “satisfy customer orders and existing contractual requirements.” AJW also reported it has lost $2.1 million in lease revenue on the parts in Aveos's possession.
Another bankruptcy court took action with a different North American MRO, Pemco World Air Services in Florida. Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. subsidiary Vision Technologies Aerospace has purchased Pemco World Air Services' Tampa aerospace maintenance facility, Boeing 737 freighter conversion supplemental type certificates and other assets in a bankruptcy auction. The winning bid was for $49.7 million and includes $6.2 million in liabilities.
ST Aerospace tells Aviation Week it plans “to fill about 85% of the [Pemco] hangars 12 months after commencement.”
The facility will be ST Engineering's third in the U.S., joining facilities in Mobile, Ala., and San Antonio.