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No Breaks Here, Says HAECO, We'll Only Take
on Maintenance Work That's Profitable
The global slowdown in air travel that began in the summer of
2001 and continued after the September 11 terrorist attacks in
America and the subsequent war in Afghanistan has been particularly
difficult for independent maintenance companies like Hong Kong's
HAECO.
But, unlike other third-party maintenance providers, HAECO refuses
to engage in some of the practices of its competitors-particularly
taking on work below cost.
HAECO has laid-off about 1,000 employees in the last 18 months, and employs
about 3,700 now. More layoffs could be in store because the company
won't take on new work unless it's profitable.
"Our competition will take aircraft into the hangar at cost
to keep people employed," said HAECO director of engineering
Keith Law. "We won't bring them in at cost."
For that reason, HAECO must "think out the box," said
Ashok Sathianathan, HAECO's general manager of commercial maintenance.
Its number one strategy is furthering relationships with original
equipment manufacturers. It already has a variety of joint ventures
with companies like Rolls-Royce, TRW Aeronautical Systems, Honeywell
Aerospace, Goodrich and Boeing. Now it's setting its sights on
Airbus.
"We are working hand-in-hand with OEM partners, particularly
for Airbus capability," said Sathianathan.
The company presently has a co-operative agreement with EADS subsidiary
Sogerma "that could lead to a joint venture for heavy maintenance
and component overhaul," said Law. "We could even set
up a dedicated Airbus center in the region. A330s and A340s are
so new here (in Asia) that they're just getting into their heavy
maintenance threshold. Presently there is no dedicated (maintenance)
group here, and whoever gets into that quickly will have a head
start. Airbus needs a presence in China for after-sales warranty
type work."
And even as it looks outward toward OEMs, HAECO still knows its
primary responsibility is to provide cost-effective maintenance
to aircraft operated by its main shareholders: Cathay Pacific,
which holds 25% of HAECO; and Swire Pacific, which holds 28% and
is the parent company of Cathay Pacific. The remaining 48% is
in public hands. As the regional carrier of Cathay Pacific, Dragonair
also falls into the primary customer list.
"We recently sat in the same room with our main customers
and asked how we could save each other money and avoid duplication,"
Law told Show News. "We then began to understand the customers'
needs and the customer began to understand the problems we have
here.
"The airlines obviously wanted a better turnaround time for
the airplane, and to have jobs done in half the time. We said,
'you're part of the problem because you own the components and
work documents are not done on time.'"
Law believes there has been a meeting of the minds, and HAECO
will be able to turnaround aircraft quicker.
By Barry Rosenberg |
