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completion refurbishment &2006 special report Completions outlook good and getting better by Kirby J. Harrison t is hard not to get excited,” said General Avia- pletion and refurbishment work and describes the The Canadian company began delivering its Chal- tion Manufacturers Association (GAMA) presi- Love Field center’s backlog as “unprecedented.” lenger 300 in January last year, the Global 5000 en- “I dent and CEO Pete Bunce in April as he Midcoast Aviation, now a Jet Aviation property, ex- tered service in April and the Global Express XRS reflected on market activity in this year’s first quarter pects to deliver 25 green completions this year, and followed in November. and on new technologies and products still to come. president Kurt Sutterer conservatively estimates an an- The Montreal-based manufacturer also introduced The GAMA numbers were unprecedented, with the nual growth rate of about 10 percent. the Challenger 850, 870 and 890 last year, “to meet the highest first-quarter billings in history, and at $4 billion, “We’re as busy as we can be,” said Jim Harrison, Interiors specialist Kvand has recently been handling 39.7 percent higher than in the first quarter of last year. head of completion and refurbishment at Jet Aviation conversions of the Yak-42 to an executive configuration. In addition, numbers compiled by AIN showed 236 tur- in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I’d bine business aircraft were delivered in the first quarter say we’re probably doing 100 of this year, 62 more than in the first quarter of last year. percent better than last year.” As for pre-owned aircraft, demand for high-serial- Launching a start-up carries number/low-hour aircraft has remained high. Last year, with it an inherent risk, but Dale the industry recorded 1,439 sales, and the moving Dunn, president and founder of average of monthly sales continues to rise. DunnAir Business Jet Completion All of this new and used aircraft activity spells busi- Center, feels encouraged. The ness for the completion and refurbishment industry as Tucson-based center opened last OEMs and independent shops scramble to keep up. winter and has delivered seven And while the excitement might be just a little less airplanes since receiving its palpable this year, those in the completion and refur- Part 145 repair station certifica- bishment business are looking at good times. tion last July. Savannah Air Center CEO Jeff Zacharius said busi- ast year, the forecast was ness was good last year and is better this year, and he that growing demand for expects the Savannah, Ga. completion and refurbish- L new and derivative aircraft ment center to see a 30-percent increase in revenue would be a driving force in all this year over last year. this completion and refurbish- Jeff Bosque, president of Landmark Aviation’s Asso- ment activity, and that seems to ciated Air Center, sees a “very strong” market for com- be the case. It is at Bombardier. 20aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com Spectrum 33 floor plan evolving needs of both existing shuttle operators and a new generation of potential users.” It is an axiom in the industry that you never tell the customer “no.” Rather than say no, Bombardier has ac- quired some partners in the completion process to make saying “yes” easier. The strategy has allowed the company to focus on doing standard interiors at its Montreal plant and to send aircraft that require more highly customized cabins to select independent centers. These include Innotech Aviation in Montreal; Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany; Midcoast Aviation in Cahokia, Ill.; and Savannah Air Center in Savannah, Ga. Very Light Jets: Very Nice Cabins Midcoast has long been doing green Challenger 604s, and although production of the 604 ceased this The very light jets (VLJs) are coming. Smaller than A belted lavatory seat provides for a seventh passen- year, the company will hardly lack for work. Bom- what have thus far been regarded as entry-level business ger, and a small refreshment bar can replace several of bardier has chosen it as a “preferred” completion cen- jets, most VLJs offer a passenger capacity of about six, a the cabin seats, using the same attachment points. ter for the Challenger 605, Global 5000 and Global range of a little more than 1,000 nm, cruise speed of The Jimmy Durante nose contains 25 cu ft of bag- XRS, as well as the Challenger 850 business jet deriva- about 350 knots, and price tags ranging from about $1.3 gage space, enough, said Adam Aircraft president Joe tive of the CRJ200. million to a shade more than $2.25 million. Walker, for four complete sets of golf clubs and bags. Bombardier picked Savannah Air Center to handle The VLJs were initially hailed as everyman’s business Walker said Adam Aircraft is not inclined to offer in- green completion work on select Global 5000 and jet, and many in the industry agree there is a large pent- stalled entertainment systems that might quickly become Global XRSes. According to Savannah CEO Zacharius, up market for such an airplane, primarily in owner-opera- obsolete, but he added, “We might provide electrical out- the company has two Global 5000s and a Global XRS tor service or for an air-taxi operation. lets at every seat for personal entertainment devices or in the works. “We’re trying to space out the green com- One thing seems evident: for both markets, the cab- laptop computers.” pletions so we don’t get swamped. We need to keep ins are going to be much closer in style and quality to the An air-taxi interior allows for eight forward-facing seats, our refurb business going,” he explained. interior of luxury automobiles than to the cabins of larger, including a belted lavatory seat as a $10,000 option. Last fall, Innotech Aviation began doing work for more luxurious business jets. Travelers won’t find seat- Walker emphasized that in the air-taxi version, the seat Bombardier on its Global line. “We’re getting progres- back video monitors with on-demand video or a moving pitch is a leg-saving 42 inches, about 10 inches more than sively more involved in the interior work and will the seat pitch in economy class on a typical airliner. In its executive guise, the Spectrum 33 (below) will offer a eventually be doing entire cabins here,” said Marc double-club seating configuration with work/dining tables. Adam plans to roll the finished A700s off the assem- Galin, director of sales and marketing. “We’re going to bly line and perform an initial test be very much a high-end, boutique interiors shop for flight before installation of the cabin the more personalized aircraft.” interior, “which will take two people Lufthansa Technik was selected by Bombardier to about four hours.” do executive/VIP interiors for the Challenger 850 and The list of cabin options for the has a contract for 17 of them over the next three A700 is short, “only about an inch years. Five are already in the completion pipeline in long,” said Walker, adding that focus- Hamburg, and the first was scheduled for delivery to a group studies indicated that, “This European customer this month. was what customers prefer–comfort, Dassault Falcon Jet has traditionally used the com- durability and reliability.” pletion facilities at Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland, to assist with green Falcon interior finish. With demand Give Them What They Want growing, it plans to continue to send some of its Fal- and Options Are Unnecessary con 2000EXs and Falcon 900EXs there. Cessna made a departure from its The French company does most of its aircraft interi- typical approach to the cabin interior ors at its Little Rock completion center in Arkansas. But with its Mustang VLJ. The company even with the new hangars there built specifically for has in the past gone to outside ven- the Falcon 7X, said Roy Elsasser, director of aircraft dors for cabinetry for its Citation line. spec and design, “We just can’t put any more airplanes For the Mustang, virtually all the through the Little Rock facility.” cabin components are outsourced, hile some OEMs are outsourcing entire with DeCrane Aircraft of Columbus, green aircraft, Gulfstream Aerospace contin- map display. There will be no electrically operated, fully Ohio, the interior integrator. “We look at DeCrane as a W ues to provide quotes only on finished air- reclining swivel seats, and no galleys with microwave partner in the Mustang program,” said Cindy Halsey, craft, which are all done in-house. It was 10 years ago ovens, espresso makers and refrigerators. Cessna v-p of interior design, engineering and develop- that the Savannah, Ga. aircraft manufacturer decided ment, “which says a lot about them as a supplier.” The to get into the cabin completion business. Today, A Spacious Cabin interiors are shipped by DeCrane as a basic kit for installa- about 99 percent of Gulfstream business jets sold have Sells the Adam A700 tion by Cessna at its Independence, Kan., plant. cabin interiors done by Gulfstream. Adam Aircraft at Centennial Airport in Denver has two Cessna’s customer survey efforts regarding cabin en- This has allowed Gulfstream to “roll back” some A700 VLJs in its certification test program and a third is tertainment received much the same response as those 300 elements of cabin completion work–lavatories, due in late summer. The company is expecting FAA ap- of Adam Aircraft. “They said anything we installed would lighting, wiring–into the aircraft assembly process, proval before year-end. be outdated,” said Halsey.

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