EADS and Northrop Grumman Team On New Louisiana
Maintenance Base
With the goal of providing a base for independent Airbus airframe
maintenance services in the Western Hemisphere, EADS Sogerma and
Northrop Grumman held a grand opening of their EADS Aeroframe
Services joint venture in Lake Charles, Louisiana on May 16.
FAA approval has been granted to conduct heavy maintenance on
the Airbus A320 narrowbody family, and will soon be forthcoming
on the A300/A310, making EADS Aeroframe Services the only authorized
Airbus repair station in the Western Hemisphere not operated by
an airline.
EADS Sogerma, a wholly owned subsidiary of the European Aeronautic,
Defense and Space Company, owns 81% of EADS Aeroframe, with Northrop
Grumman owning the rest. The operation is housed on a massive,
3-million-square-foot facility at the former Chennault Air Force
Base, on which Northrop Grumman conducts JSTARS heavy maintenance
for the U.S. Air Force. With that contract drawing to a close,
Northrop Grumman went searching for another business to fill the
hangars and employ the technicians that had been engaged in the
JSTARS program.
"This venture allows EADS to provide full support networks
to its customers in the Americas, and to its family of aircraft,
starting with the Airbus line," says Phillippe Camus, EADS
CEO. "The American market is extremely important to us and
Aeroframe services is part of our commitment" to it.
Thus far, EADS Aeroframe employs some 100 technicians, the vast
majority of whom are Northrop Grumman veterans. The partners are
investing some $14 million into the business, which currently offers
two permanent tail docks with mezzanines for easy tool access and
storage. The facility has already completed six C checks on A320s
and currently is conducting its first C4 check for International
Lease Finance Co. Other clients have included Brazilian airline
TAM Linhas Aereas and Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise.
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