PPRuNe Forums - FLS Press Release to Irish media

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/fin.../1122/fin1.htm (Irish Times)

FLS Aerospace, the Danish group which owns the former TEAM Aer Lingus aircraft maintenance plant at Dublin Airport, expects to move back into profit in the fourth quarter of the current year.

FLS has also said there were no further plans for rationalisation at Dublin Airport, after completion of a minor early retirement/
redeployment programme involving 60 people.

FLS employs 1,800 people in the Dublin plant which is involved in the heavy maintenance of jet aircraft.

In a statement, FLS said new business procedures under the title of
"Formula One" had reduced the turnaround time for major overhauls.

Once the new processes were fully supported by information technology infrastructure, FLS could make better use of hangar capacity and increase profitability.

Airlines would better able to fit in major service overhauls during the busy summer months.

Despite the re-organisation, FLS was able to attract new business and now has the contract for the heavy maintenance of Virgin Atlantic's fleet of Boeing 747 aircraft until 2003.

Boeing and FLS have agreed on a modernisation project for SAA's five 747s, the first time that FLS has signed such a contract with an aircraft producer. As part of the restructuring, FLS is to end heavy
maintenance at Gatwick.

The improvement at FLS comes after nine months when the subsidiary
of FLS Industries recorded losses of euro 75.6 million (£60 million) on
turnover of euro 320 million. FLS Aerospace, the Danish group which owns the former TEAM Aer Lingus aircraft maintenance plant at Dublin Airport, expects to move
back into profit in the fourth quarter of the current year.

FLS has also said there were no further plans for rationalisation at Dublin Airport, after completion of a minor early retirement/
redeployment programme involving 60 people.

FLS employs 1,800 people in the Dublin plant which is involved in the heavy maintenance of jet aircraft.

In a statement, FLS said new business procedures under the title of "Formula One" had reduced the turnaround time for major overhauls.

Once the new processes were fully supported by information technology infrastructure, FLS could make better use of hangar capacity and increase profitability.

Airlines would better able to fit in major service overhauls during the busy summer months.

Despite the re-organisation, FLS was able to attract new business and now has the contract for the heavy maintenance of Virgin Atlantic's fleet of Boeing 747 aircraft until 2003.

Boeing and FLS have agreed on a modernisation project for SAA's five 747s, the first time that FLS has signed such a contract with an aircraft producer. As part of the restructuring, FLS is to end heavy maintenance at Gatwick.

The improvement at FLS comes after nine months when the subsidiary of FLS Industries recorded losses of euro 75.6 million (£60 million) on turnover of euro 320 million.