Originally Posted by
Timmy Tomkins
Was price the reason for getting the work done in Philippines or were there no alternative slots available in Australia?
Timmy,
What Australian "slots" ??
There is very little capability left, with almost no wide-body MRO and little narrow body done in Australia, any longer.
Sadly, it is not just alleged "cheap labor", a very simplistic cry, but hardly a comprehensive description of reasons for the demise of heavy maintenance in Australia.
Have a think about the "why" of the huge Qantas investment on MRO facilities in the USA. Qantas have not built the A-380++ sized hangar in KLAX just to park aircraft out of the SoCal sunshine.
The major cause of "expensive labor" in Australia is a legislative framework, largely but not only CASA aviation regulation, that causes very low labor productivity. It is not just simply differences in hourly rates, it goes far deeper than that.
A major analysis of Australia V. NZ heavy maintenance costs, based on a "Check 4" on a B737-800, some years ago, and recently updated, now puts the difference in total cost still at over 40%, not including a faster turnaround time in NZ, of which raw labor rate difference accounted for less than 5%. Regulatory impediments cause the major cost difference.
Tootle pip!!