Nov 7 2007
GKN Aerospace has gained a 3 year repair and overhaul contract from Prime Air LLC to support Delta Air Lines radomes on a range of aircraft. The contract value will be in the region of $1.5m over the three years.
Frank Bamford, Senior Vice President for Business Development and Strategy at GKN Aerospace comments: “This is a strategically important contract win for us as it takes our radome business further into the commercial aviation market and grows our relationship with key organisations such as Prime Air LLC and the Heico Repair Group. Historically we have been strong in radome repair for the regional and business aviation markets. Our target is to extend into commercial aviation as we work towards our Company goal to develop and grow our entire MRO activity significantly in the next 5 years.”
GKN Aerospace operators mount a radome on the transmissivity testing range. This custom-built range tests radome transmissivity as part of the final inspection to ensure each functions correctly when installed on the aircraft.
The Prime Air LLC contract covers repair of composite radomes for a range of aircraft, including the Boeing 777, 767, 757, 737 and the MD-80. Work undertaken will cover the full spectrum from light repair and re-test through to major repair and overhaul. All repaired parts will be comprehensively tested in GKN Aerospace’s dedicated in-house transmissivity range which ensures critical radar performance is maintained through the repaired part.
Highly skilled radome repair technicians based in Fort Worth TX, many with over 20 years experience, will be employed in completing these repairs. This workforce is already able to fulfil an extensive list of standard repair services - a list which the Company is regularly extending, adding additional aircraft and capabilities. The team are also able to build individual repair schemes to meet specific customer needs and requirements. These schemes are outside the Structural Repair Manuals and are fully qualified by the FAA. And to ensure the quality of every repair, the Company’s transmissivity range monitors the performance of every type of aircraft radome from corporate through regional to large commercial and military aircraft.