QF Engine plant closing

[woollcott]

Looks like the LTQ consortium is no more.........


http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/qantas-engine-plant-to-close-more-jobs-sent-offshore-20120726-22t71.htm

Not so long ago, QF did their engines in-house, and the product was magnificent, with the time on wing of such an impressive length, that the Engine manufacturer came to visit, to inspect the procedures and techniques used to get such an outstanding product................

Of course that all changed - the bean counters outsourced the engine shop, and on-wing time went from 5+ years to just on a year for the LTQ product.
All that QF expertise was lost, and the move actually ended up costing money instead of saving it.

And now, God knows where the engines will be done, and what sort of product will be foisted upon the long suffering Pilots and Engineers.................

Thats another one for your list Steve!

[600ft-lb]

The company, a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik and Qantas Airways Limited since 2008, blamed a decline in engine overhaul demand for the closureVirgin - 67 B737-7/800s
Qantas - 51 B737-800s
Qantas - 18 A330s
Qantas - 6 747-400ERs
Jetstar - 11 (of Qantas's) A330s

236 CFM56s
78 CF6-80C2's/E's

All current fleet not due to be retired.

And there's not enough work to keep the place going.

OK...

[Jethro Gibbs]

So the ? is whats Next this has knocked the little alaea book release into a cocked hat

[Mr.Buzzy]

Whew, I sure am glad we have a labor government, "getting on with the job of looking after working families":D

Bbbbbbbbbbzzzzzzzzzzxxxz

[SOPS]

When all our skills base has be shut down and moved to China, some pollie will stick his/her head up and say "Bloody hell, what happened":ugh::ugh:

[terminus mos]

. The company cited a "strong decline in engine overhaul demand", "reduced regional demand", "tough international competition" and the more reliable new engines used in airline fleets for the closure

More reliable? Overhauls are done on hours, repairs are done unscheduled. I am not sure that engine reliability has anything to do with this. I see plenty of demand for a quality Australian based engine overhaul shop.

Seems there may be other motives for this?

[neville_nobody]

Easy way to raise your KPI's.

[tgbgtgb]

What other engine overhaul centres are there in Australia? Theres no doubt that newer technologies and processes(quite possibly those very processes devised by the qantas engine overhaul shops that earned all those awards)are enabling engines to be more durable and go longer between major overhauls. However I dont think that operators of (for example) 737 fleets the size of Virgin and Qantas would be sending their CFMs too far from home for the big work.

Is there a local overhaul shop in the country somewhere that is rubbing its hands together with glee at this decision?

[ex-QF_and_happy]

This is my first post, so forgive me for jumping in here. I will be finishing up along with many of the LTQ staff in a month and am trying not to feel overly emotional about this. I have to respond to you regarding the volume of engines you have pointed to.

Virgin never did a deal with JTS, LHT were not successful in getting the Virgin work either, so this volume goes offshore.
Qantas is currently finalising the 'refresh' program for the CFM56-7 fleet, which will result in a deal with GE to replace engines coming up for a full refurbishment. Not the whole fleet but over 30 engines from what I understand, so significant engine shop volume disappears.
The B5F engines on the 747 has nearly finished their first refurb so won't come back for a while.
The E1 fleet has had a huge number of shop visits in the last 12 or so months, with the hump nearly through. There will be visits but not at the same frequency, and certainly not enough to support running an engine overhaul operation.

All in all it has been a very disappointing day, I do feel for many of the technicians who will now struggle to find employment in Melbourne. Quite a few of the Scots have decided to make a life here, and may now have to look at heading back to Scotland.

I still have many ex-colleagues in the Qantas facility in Tullamarine all going through the same scenario, a completely lamentable story with many families affected.

[LeadSled]

Folks,
The LTQ announcement said that the work would be going to that well known cheap labor country, Germany.

There are much deeper problems here than "labour cost", the costs created by regulation (CASA/Fair Work Australia/OHS generally) is a very major factor in Australia being uncompetitive.

Re. the big engines (744/767/A330) that went offshore years ago, as the current in flight shutdown rate so clearly shows.

Tootle pip!!

[LookinDown]

Lead,
You were of course being facetious when you referred to the cost of labour in Germany weren't you!

A couple of fascinating articles..
German Auto Manufacturers' High Profits and High Pay Show Why U.S. Labor Laws Need to Be Stronger | Alternet (http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/755692/german_auto_manufacturers%27_high_profits_and_high_pay_show_ why_u.s._labor_laws_need_to_be_stronger/)
How Germany Builds Twice as Many Cars as the U.S. While Paying Its Workers Twice as Much - Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/12/21/germany-builds-twice-as-many-cars-as-the-u-s-while-paying-its-auto-workers-twice-as-much/)
LD

[Mr.Buzzy]

Lufthansa are well practiced at utilizing Asia..........

Bbbbbbzbzbzbzbzbzzzzzzzzzz

[hiwaytohell]

ex QF_and_happy (or other)

Has there been any indication of what is going to happen to tooling & equipment? PM if you like.

[Kangaroo Court]

Is it possible for the employees to buy the shop and bid on work themselves?

[TIMA9X]

In case you missed it..

the background

d2XFH8acNsQ

For the record of this thread, sad..:sad:

Qantas engine plant to close, more jobs sent offshore | The Border Mail (http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/144722/qantas-engine-plant-to-close-more-jobs-sent-offshore/?cs=12)

[empire4]

another example of botched Labor government policies taking there toll on manufacturing/labouring industries in Australia. If you look at the fence from the other side you'd send it offshore also.

[Jethro Gibbs]

Is it possible for the employees to buy the shop and bid on work themselves?

FFS it makes no Money !:mad:

[moa999]

With the Aussie dollar at $0.85 against the Euro (it was $0.50 in mid-2009), Germany is a lot cheaper than it used to be...

The advantage when your a strong country in a currency block with a lot of basket cases.

[diddly squat]

Virgin never did a deal with JTS, LHT were not successful in getting the Virgin work either, so this volume goes offshore.

Where does DJ do there's?

[scrubba]

tgbgtgb previously asked the question:

What other engine overhaul centres are there in Australia?

Does the RAAF have its own shops?

Does anyone know the answer?

[rmm]

I relation to the RAAF,

I know Ansett toyed with a bid in the early 90's to do F111 engines but withdrew it due to the cost of water cooling their test cell exhaust duct due to the heat of the afterburner. I'm not sure where they ended up after this.

The F18 engines were originally done in Port Melbourne by GAF or CAC or whatever their name was at the time. Around the mid 90's they were offshored to NZ. Apparently it was some kind of quid pro quo for the Kiwi's buying Oz built frigates.

[ex-QF_and_happy]

I believe Virgin send their -7 engines to GE in the US.