SR Technics shut down Stansted facility
Cunning Artificer
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Cut out the emotion. Why would a customer pay 30%-40% more for a despatch reliability increase from 97.5% to 98%? The bare fact is that UK labour costs for skilled hangar work are too high.
The money now lies in the knowledge side - the CAMO etc. and Line Maintenance that has to be performed on site and cannot be exported. Hangar people are in competition with foreign EASA Part 145 Approved units that operate on costs of US$25/hour and below that charge their customers US$30 -35 per hour. Its no use criticising their capabilities or quality, they meet the EASA and FAA Repair Station requirements and they keep their customers' aircraft operating to the desired reliability levels.
The money now lies in the knowledge side - the CAMO etc. and Line Maintenance that has to be performed on site and cannot be exported. Hangar people are in competition with foreign EASA Part 145 Approved units that operate on costs of US$25/hour and below that charge their customers US$30 -35 per hour. Its no use criticising their capabilities or quality, they meet the EASA and FAA Repair Station requirements and they keep their customers' aircraft operating to the desired reliability levels.
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Blacksheep what you say is absolutely right, though no doubt many of us will have seen the results of practices at some low cost repair stations that we would not want to see with our own name at the bottom. Many of us may also have been struck by the irony of receiving harsh audit findings in a basically good operation knowing what others seem to get away with. A 0.5% improvement in dispatch reliability may equate to an aircraft that is considerably more likely to land where the pilots wants it - not that anyone cares unless something does go wrong, and by then it's a bit late.
I understand that's the way of the world and in today's cattle class environment a CRS is a CRS and all that matters in choosing where to get it is the cost. FLS's demise may be no more than a symptom of the changing face of the industry (a lesson to management and staff alike) but it's still scary how the beancounters now hold such sway over (and contempt for) the engineering function.
I understand that's the way of the world and in today's cattle class environment a CRS is a CRS and all that matters in choosing where to get it is the cost. FLS's demise may be no more than a symptom of the changing face of the industry (a lesson to management and staff alike) but it's still scary how the beancounters now hold such sway over (and contempt for) the engineering function.
Cunning Artificer
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Aye, in the West, beancounters hold sway over and are in contempt of ALL the other functions. That's why I'm trying to ensure that all my grandchildren learn to speak Mandarin. In twenty years time English will no longer be the dominant language of international business. The Chinese are more interested in creating wealth than in counting it.
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justDoIt
I worked for ATEL, Qualitair, FFV and then finally FLS. I got out in 97 and haven't looked back. I'm not sure when the worst times were, FFV or FLS but it always amazed me why the place was not more successful, a great bunch of Engineers and most of the time more work than you could shake a stick at, maybe Ryan Air should have bought the place, they could have shared some of the losses that they probably caused.
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SR falls, Easyjet pull out and Ryanair is left to bully the remaining ground eng's. Looks like Stansted BAA have priced themselves out of the market again. Now they've been left with dirt-cheap budget airlines and no reputeable operators. Prices will rise again, and even the cargo outfits will leave.
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Problem is if your charging western european labour rates no matter how good your people or the product is your never going to compete with the middle east and eastern europe sadly , just look for eg what lufties pay there engineers in hungary, great shame because were good at it in the uk
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SR Technics is part of the Swiss international air lines group which in turn Lufthansa owns Swiss. So it could either be Swiss closing them down or Lufty as the Manchester one I think was the first to close
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Yep, SRT used to the the technical arm of Swissair (SR) and nothing to do with Swiss International (LX). When SR went bust SRT was spun out as a separate company and as you say is now owned by Mubadala.
Yet another lesson what happens when British companies are bought by foreign money. When the cost cutting comes, guess where the cuts happen first.
Yet another lesson what happens when British companies are bought by foreign money. When the cost cutting comes, guess where the cuts happen first.
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True Cost Of Maint
Its a myth that wage costs alone are factored in lowering the cost of maint. Productivity in these E.Eu countries are a 3rd that of U.K./Ireland, which ends up eroding all wage differential gains.
Besides the quality also has a implication. Know from personal experience having worked in a couple of these E.Eu outfits, that customers are not impressed with the safety record. This where the call goes from engg to operations and the bean counters find they don't have a say when it comes to flight ops.
I am sure diamond will be back in business by end of next year.
Besides the quality also has a implication. Know from personal experience having worked in a couple of these E.Eu outfits, that customers are not impressed with the safety record. This where the call goes from engg to operations and the bean counters find they don't have a say when it comes to flight ops.
I am sure diamond will be back in business by end of next year.
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Jethrotull, your info on relative productivity comes from.....?
And your experience of beancounters being overridden for the "quality" of a CRS is not what I've seen. In most cases airlines desperate to save money consider a cert is a cert (notwithstanding what many of us might say). This normally never gets looked at unless some very serious quality failings come to light, and even then the attractions of low price are such that the customer will give the vendor the opportunity to rectify said failings. I fact a number of EU operators have placed work in low cost facilities and I know are very happy with what they have received - cost, adherence to standards and on-time delivery.
There's nothing worse for your laurels than resting on them.
As for the diamond, I'd like to think you're right, it's certainly a prime chunk of real estate. But it's also one that carries huge overheads, a lot of office and workshop space that's unlikely to get fully used (but still carries costs) and the need to recruit suitably skilled staff to work it now that most of the FLS bods have been let go.
And your experience of beancounters being overridden for the "quality" of a CRS is not what I've seen. In most cases airlines desperate to save money consider a cert is a cert (notwithstanding what many of us might say). This normally never gets looked at unless some very serious quality failings come to light, and even then the attractions of low price are such that the customer will give the vendor the opportunity to rectify said failings. I fact a number of EU operators have placed work in low cost facilities and I know are very happy with what they have received - cost, adherence to standards and on-time delivery.
There's nothing worse for your laurels than resting on them.
As for the diamond, I'd like to think you're right, it's certainly a prime chunk of real estate. But it's also one that carries huge overheads, a lot of office and workshop space that's unlikely to get fully used (but still carries costs) and the need to recruit suitably skilled staff to work it now that most of the FLS bods have been let go.
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Dodo,
Whence the crew start moaning about faults on relative new aircrafts coming out of these E.Eu MROs, thats when the bean counters start to slide under the table.
Most ops directors have the last say, even over the CEO. Been long in this game and have seen maint coming back to the more costly and eastablished maint cos.
Whence the crew start moaning about faults on relative new aircrafts coming out of these E.Eu MROs, thats when the bean counters start to slide under the table.
Most ops directors have the last say, even over the CEO. Been long in this game and have seen maint coming back to the more costly and eastablished maint cos.
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OPS directors or CFOs
I hope you are right but at the moment you are not...
I have seen too many contracts being rejected by airline CFOs purely on cost... But I'm with you that Diamond Hangar will not stay empty for long time.
I have seen too many contracts being rejected by airline CFOs purely on cost... But I'm with you that Diamond Hangar will not stay empty for long time.
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Believe me
Matey,
Today asked one of the bullish bully boy local shettie(most shetties are wimpish bullies) in a E.Eu MRO to install a split pin in a castellated nut.
He accepted defeat and had to be helped by a irish connie. There you go message from the COALFACE, suss it out for yourself.
In the last E.Eu MRO i bumped into a ex-collegue who is a senior exec with a brit Airline, his statement ''Jethro now that i've seen you here, i am convinced on sending my a/c here''. One thing mama taught me was to never be dishonest to the hand that feeds me, I kept my mouth mum, let him ( the northern monkey) learn the hard way, i trust him to learn soon.
Today asked one of the bullish bully boy local shettie(most shetties are wimpish bullies) in a E.Eu MRO to install a split pin in a castellated nut.
He accepted defeat and had to be helped by a irish connie. There you go message from the COALFACE, suss it out for yourself.
In the last E.Eu MRO i bumped into a ex-collegue who is a senior exec with a brit Airline, his statement ''Jethro now that i've seen you here, i am convinced on sending my a/c here''. One thing mama taught me was to never be dishonest to the hand that feeds me, I kept my mouth mum, let him ( the northern monkey) learn the hard way, i trust him to learn soon.
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I don't think re-siting any operations in ZRH will save any money except in huge tax incentives for the Glattbrug/Kloten area offered by the local authorities. Swiss wages are very high.
hugel
hugel
