V Australia Picks SIA for 777 Maintenance

[1746]

From Flight International tonight:
V Australia contracts SIA Engineering for 777-300ER maintenance
By Nicholas Ionides

Australia’s Virgin Blue has contracted Singapore Airlines subsidiary SIA Engineering for maintenance on the Boeing 777-300ERs that its new long-haul subsidiary will be operating.

Virgin Blue says in a statement that it has signed a five-year fleet management programme agreement under which SIA Engineering will maintain the initial seven 777-300ERs new long-haul subsidiary V Australia will be operating.

It says SIA Engineering will provide services including transit and light maintenance checks, defect rectification, cabin maintenance, spares support, component repair and overhaul, and logistics management, in Brisbane, Sydney and Los Angeles.

:rolleyes::=:ugh:

[Mr Invisible]

May I suggest prudently that Virgin first check with CASA as to the regulatory adherement by SIAEC.

OGQ, QFs latest O/S fixer upper was sat on the ground by flight crew concerns, at the number of defects it had coming OUT of SIAEC. Engineers also raised these concerns but were told to fornicate off, also do they approve of staples being used on wiring ?

[mainwheel]

Wow! How unexpected.

"bringing jobs to queensland" ??.

Hope Sir Dick has the same financial sense as QF, and buy into his future MRO.

[satos]

Why does virgin keep sending their aircraft overseas (b737 and now the B777)
for heavy maintenance where they could help keep jobs here in Oz.The only reason virgin tech in Melbourne is operating is that it is a line/overnight maintenance facility and they have no choice other than keep the work in house.Otherwise that too would of been sent overseas.

[Syd eng]

Think it is AMSA doing the line stuff, they have ties to SIA.

[Clipped]

Australia’s Virgin Blue has contracted Singapore Airlines subsidiary SIA Engineering for maintenance on the Boeing 777-300ERs that its new long-haul subsidiary will be operating.

SIA Engineering now have a line maintenance operation in OZ, ex AMSA, and are already looking after SIA.

I think the line maintenance contract is only for their Oz operations. Heavy maintenance would be too far down the track.

[Going Boeing]

I hope that V Oz is planning to send a large number of engineering supervisers with each aircraft otherwise the work will be signed off but not actually completed (eg fuel quantity indication calibration etc).

Oh that's right, they don't have sufficient experienced LAMEs able to carry out that task!

[MELKBQF]

I think the line maintenance contract is only for their Oz operations. Heavy maintenance would be too far down the track.

Nope, heavy maintenance has been contracted to SIAEC.

[another superlame]

I doubt V Australia will have any LAMEs o type this is all being done cheap.
I bet they will eventually have JHAS doing some heavy work as well. The 2 companies seem to get on quite well together.
Plus with VA only flying the Pacific it will cost a bit to fly any empty 777 to SIA for a short check. I don't see it as a long term alternative.

[gameboy1971]

where will they be doing the a checks and stuff? lax, syd, bne? not many spare big hangars in australia.

[HotDog]

Plus with VA only flying the Pacific it will cost a bit to fly any empty 777 to SIA for a short check. I don't see it as a long term alternative.

They could easily wet lease a VA 777 to Virgin Atlantic on a SYD-SIN sector for maintenance and turn around the LHR-SYD A340 in SIN. Same on the south bound after maintenance. As for suggesting SIAE is not capable of maintaining aircraft, wake up and smell the coffee. SIA is one of the most successful airlines in the world and you don't hear of any of their aircraft falling out of the sky.

[The masked goatrider]

"SilkAir (Singapore) Private Limited is an airline based in Singapore. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

On 19 December 1997, SilkAir Flight 185, operated by a Boeing 737-300 and piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, killing all 104 people on board. As of 2007, officials have been unable to obtain a conclusive cause."

[The masked goatrider]

"Singapore Airlines Flight 006 was a scheduled flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Los Angeles International Airport via Chiang Kai-Shek Airport (now Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) in Taiwan. On October 31, 2000, at 15:17 UTC, 23:17 Taipei local time, a Boeing 747 on the route took off from the wrong runway in Taipei during a typhoon, destroying the aircraft and killing 83 of the 179 occupants."

[Taildragger67]

Hot Dog,

Virgin Atlantic's London-Sydney run goes through Hong Kong, not Singapore. Your scenario could work if HAECO was doing the maint.

I suggest that SIA will want to make sure it works as I would not be surprised if they end up code-sharing on the trans-pacs, to get a toe-hold for future own-name expansion. And don't they indirectly own a slice of V Aus (through their 49% of Virgin Atlantic)? So they might be just as diligent on these 777s as on their own.

Masked Goatrider,

The SIA 747 crash in Taipei was not an instance of an aircraft falling out of the sky; nothing was said which impugned the airframe. It was pilot error. That may point to deficiencies in pilot training, but does not speak to maintenance standards or capabilities one bit.

[The masked goatrider]

You don't need to get airborne to get killed. I think the common link here is not the maintenance but the Nationality of the people who hold your life in their hands whether they be drivers, fixers, people responsible for training, implementation of procedures, management or staple gun issuing.

[ACMS]

Do you guys know how many EMPTY jets fly around the world to get fixed?

A HEAP.

QF flew their A330's to Zurich empty, their 743 to HKG empty etc etc

Delta and Continental fly their 767's to HKG HAECO EMPTY

etc etc

It's becoming the norm.

tut tut.


ALSO, who do you think ownes a big bit of Virgin Atlantic? That's right SINGAPORE. ( p.s. that's why they can't use the Virgin name on the side, SQ wont allow it )

2+2 = what?

Who else do you think was ever going to service the tripplers.

[alangirvan]

First Heavy check - C - would be about 18 months after entry into service? Period between major checks are much longer on modern types.

Has Qantas said that A380 major checks will certainly be performed in Australia? Now that Melbourne will be reduced to Assembly and Testing of CFMs and CF6s that will be repaired in Hamburg - this is a bigger loss to Australia of work that was already being done here. The skills will be lost for ever.

If Qantas could not achieve economies of scale with its large installed fleet of CFMs and CF6s, what hope is there for ANZES with its smaller fleet of engines to maintain? How long before Qantas exports RB211 work as well?

[oicur12]

"I think the common link here is not the maintenance but the Nationality of the people who hold your life in their hands. . . "

SQ/MI have a good safety record by world standards.

There are airlines in the western world, flown and fixed by whitie, that have WORSE safety records my friend.

[Balthazar_777]

hey, goatrider, what a load of crap!

And i think that the stapling issue may have been initiated by an antipodean expat who used to work for an airline that is now bust.

[thosecotos]

Why does virgin keep sending their aircraft overseas (b737 and now the B777)
for heavy maintenance where they could help keep jobs here in Oz.The only reason virgin tech in Melbourne is operating is that it is a line/overnight maintenance facility and they have no choice other than keep the work in house.Otherwise that too would of been sent overseas.

This is a misinformed statement. Virgin would love to keep heavy maintenance in Australia, but up until JHAS boought AAES they considered there was no viable option. Even going back to early days of VB they tried Singapore before settling on ANZES - unfortunately even back then QF was considered a risky option due to perception that work done came with too much baggage and commercial risk.

Now JHAS are getting lots more H checks; engine rotation and LDG replacements, along with being offered E-Jet heavy maintenance for 5 years.

[satos]

This is a misinformed statement. Virgin would love to keep heavy maintenance in Australia, but up until JHAS boought AAES they considered there was no viable option. Even going back to early days of VB they tried Singapore before settling on ANZES - unfortunately even back then QF was considered a risky option due to perception that work done came with too much baggage and commercial risk.Yeah right!Who are you kidding here! After the Queensland government helped set them up in Brisbane,they then ****e in their faces and took their aircraft overseas to New Zealand for their heavy maintenance checks.There should be a provision to any foreign airline that wants to fly domestic here to have their heavy maintenance done in Australia.
You scratch my back I'll scratch yours.

[thosecotos]

After the Queensland government helped set them up in Brisbane,they then ****e in their faces and took their aircraft overseas to New Zealand for their heavy maintenance checks

Turning Jetcare's hangar from tiny to very small was hardly 'helpful' for any heavy maintenance considerations. Get a grip mate