SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

Survey Rules and

Methodology
As with AIN Publications’ previous annual Product Support Sur-
veys, the objective this year was to obtain from the users of busi-
ness jets, pressurized turboprop airplanes, and turbine-powered
helicopters statistically valid information about the product sup-
port provided by business aircraft manufacturers over the last
year and to report this information to our readers. The goal is to
encourage continuous improvement in aircraft product support
throughout the industry.
This survey was conducted via a dedicated website, created by
AIN from the ground up to provide improved ease of use and to
encourage greater reader participation. AIN emailed qualified
readers a link to the survey website and also sent a postcard invi-

AIN Product
tation with login credentials to the survey website.
The survey website was open from May 1 to June 7. Respon-
dents were asked to rate individual aircraft and provide the tail

Support Survey
number, age (less than 10 years old or more than 10), primary
region of service and whether they used factory-owned or autho-
rized service centers, or both. Respondents were also asked to
rate, on a scale from 1 to 10, the quality of service they received
during the previous 12 months in the following categories:
Dassault Falcon takes the top spot for » Factory-owned Service Centers–cost estimates versus
actual, on-time performance, scheduling ease, service
jets, while Mitsubishi maintains that experience.
» Authorized Service Centers–same as above.
position among turboprops » Parts Availability–in stock versus back order, shipping time.
» Cost of Parts–value for price paid.
In a tight race for the top spot in the 2019 second place with an 8.3 overall average. » AOG Response–speed, accuracy, cost.
AIN Product Support Survey, Dassault Embraer and Gulfstream’s large-cabin jets » Warranty Fulfillment–ease of paperwork, extent of coverage.
jumped ahead by a slim margin of 0.1 share third place with an 8.2, leaving a » Technical Manuals–ease of use, formats available, timeliness
to score this year’s highest Combined tight margin between the top-place fin- of updating.
Overall Average of Newer and Older ishers this year. » Technical Reps–response time, knowledge, effectiveness.
Aircraft of 8.4, based on results of AIN’s For this year’s survey, there were 720 » Overall Product Reliability–how the product’s reliability and
survey of business jet operators, pilots, respondents who rated 2,220 aircraft, quality stack up against the competition.
and maintainers. broken down into 151 models. The min- Respondents were also asked to recognize individuals who have
The 8.4 Overall Average rating for Das- imum number of respondents required provided them with exceptional product support and service.
sault vaults the company to first place in to include an aircraft in the results is 20. The 2019 AIN Product Support Survey results for aircraft are
2019, up from last year’s second place, (For more details, see Survey Rules and published in this issue, avionics will be featured next month,
moving Gulfstream’s mid-cabin jets to Methodology, at right.) and engines will follow in October.  n

DASSAULT Dassault also scored well in the Parts Availability 9.0. The latter two are sig-
Newer Business Jets segment, sharing nificant because parts issues are among the
The Results first place with Gulfstream’s mid-cabin most vexing for both aircraft operators and
Dassault and its Falcon jet series have jets with an 8.7 Overall Average. For manufacturers, and strong scores in these
made a steady climb in the AIN Prod- Dassault, this was a 0.2 rise from last are a positive indication.
uct Support Survey in recent years, year, when it also secured first place For Older Business Jets, Dassault saw
achieving first place this year with an 8.4 in this category, tied then with Gulfst- an improvement of 0.1, which put it in
Combined Overall Average of Newer and ream’s large-cabin jets at 8.5. second place, up two levels from last
Older Aircraft; last year the company was In this segment, Dassault’s strongest rat- year’s fourth-place finish in this segment.
in second place with an 8.3 and the year ings were Overall Aircraft Reliability at 9.1, None of the category ratings in this seg-
prior it held third place at 8.1. AOG Response 9.0, Cost of Parts 7.4, and ment were highest for Dassault, but they
© 2019 AIN Publications. All rights reserved. For reprints go to www.ainonline.com/order-reprints
 SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

DASSAULT continued
Dassault announced an agreement to buy develop a footprint in Asia-Pacific,” said
averaged high enough to earn the sec- TAG Aviation’s European maintenance Jean Kayanakis, Dassault Aviation senior
ond-place ranking. operations in Geneva and Sion, Switzer- v-p of worldwide customer service and ser-
land, and Farnborough and Paris Le Bour- vice center network. He added that the TAG
The Improvements get, as well as Lisbon. One month earlier, purchase was “to secure capacity in Europe.
Dassault has grown its factory-owned Luxaviation revealed that it would sell its “Dassault wants to be more involved in the
service center network dramatically ExecuJet MRO network to Dassault, which customer experience in MRO,” he explained.
during the past year by purchasing inde- includes 15 MRO centers across Africa, “Not only because of profitability but more
pendent MRO providers. The most recent Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin because of customer experience and being
was Ruag’s MRO and FBO activities in America, and the Middle East. responsible for the future of our customers.”
Geneva and Lugano. In late February, “The ExecuJet acquisition is mainly to continues on next page

Rating Factory
Overall Overall Authorized Overall
Change Owned
Category & Overall Average Ratings Average Average from 2018 Service Service Parts Cost of AOG Warranty Technical Technical Aircraft
by Newer and Older Aircraft 2019 2018 to 2019 Centers Centers Availability Parts Response Fulfillment Manuals Reps Reliability
Newer Business Jets
Dassault (Falcon) 8.7 8.5 0.2 7.9 8.4 9.0 7.4 9.0 9.1 8.7 9.2 9.1
Gulfstream (G150 -G280) 8.7 8.2 0.5 8.3 8.8 8.4 7.4 8.9 9.4 8.7 9.4 8.8
Gulfstream (G300-G650) 8.4 8.5 -0.1 8.2 8.1 8.7 6.5 8.9 8.9 8.1 8.9 8.9
Embraer (Phenom, Legacy, Lineage) 8.1 8.4 -0.3 7.0 8.0 7.8 7.1 7.9 8.3 8.8 9.1 8.8
Bombardier (Challenger) 8.0 8.1 -0.1 7.3 8.1 8.0 6.3 8.0 8.5 8.2 8.9 8.7
Bombardier (Global) 8.0 8.0 0.0 7.9 7.7 7.9 6.7 8.1 8.2 8.5 8.5 8.7
Textron Aviation (Citation) 7.8 8.0 -0.2 7.3 7.2 7.7 6.4 8.0 8.7 8.1 8.2 8.5
Bombardier (Learjet) 7.7 7.6 0.1 7.2 8.4 5.1 5.4 8.2 8.6 8.6 8.8 8.6
Older Business Jets
Embraer (Phenom, Legacy, Lineage) 8.5 8.1 0.4 7.7 7.4 8.5 7.7 8.6 9.0 8.9 9.3 9.2
Dassault (Falcon) 7.9 7.8 0.1 6.6 7.9 8.3 6.9 8.5 7.3 8.0 8.7 8.7
Gulfstream (GII-GV) 7.8 8.2 -0.4 7.3 8.0 7.9 5.3 8.4 8.0 8.0 8.8 8.6
Gulfstream (G100 - G280) 7.7 NA NA 7.3 8.2 7.6 6.1 8.1 7.9 8.0 8.4 8.2
Textron Aviation (Citation) 7.7 7.3 0.4 7.0 7.3 8.0 6.7 7.6 8.1 8.0 8.0 8.7
Bombardier (Global) 7.5 8.0 -0.5 7.1 7.8 7.6 5.9 7.4 7.4 8.0 8.0 8.6
Bombardier (Learjet) 7.3 7.8 -0.5 6.7 7.9 6.3 5.6 7.4 7.9 8.1 8.4 8.2
Bombardier (Challenger) 7.2 7.7 -0.5 6.4 7.1 7.5 6.4 7.6 6.6 7.5 7.8 7.9
Textron Aviation (Premier, Beechjet
6.9 6.6 0.3 5.8 8.9 7.9 5.2 7.3 5.1 6.9 6.3 8.9
400/400A, Hawker 400XP)
Textron Aviation (Hawker) 6.6 6.4 0.2 6.4 8.0 6.0 4.2 6.9 6.6 7.4 6.1 7.8
Newer Turboprops
Pilatus (PC-12) 8.0 8.2 -0.2 8.3 8.1 8.1 6.4 7.3 8.7 9.2 7.7 9.1
Textron Aviation (King Air) 7.4 8.0 -0.6 6.2 6.7 8.3 6.6 7.1 7.7 7.7 7.8 8.6
Older Turboprops
Mitsubishi (MU-2, Solitaire, Marquise) 9.1 9.1 0.0 9.1 9.3 8.8 7.4 8.8 9.8 9.7 9.9 9.8
Textron Aviation (King Air) 7.1 7.2 -0.1 5.7 6.6 7.6 5.6 7.4 6.1 7.8 7.7 8.7
Rotorcraft (all age Rotorcraft)
Bell 7.3 7.1 0.2 9.0 7.2 6.7 6.4 6.5 7.5 7.9 7.8 7.6
Leonardo 6.8 6.9 -0.1 6.4 7.4 6.4 5.2 6.4 7.7 6.9 7.4 7.8
Airbus Helicopters 6.7 7.0 -0.3 6.4 6.6 6.1 5.3 5.9 7.0 7.2 7.4 7.6
Sikorsky 6.6 6.8 -0.2 6.3 7.1 5.4 5.4 6.1 6.6 7.4 7.5 7.2

Listed in order of 2019 overall average. Ties are listed alphabetically. Bolder indicates highest number in each category.
 SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

Overall Overall Rating Change DASSAULT continued

Combined Overall Average Ratings
Average Average from 2018 to
of Newer and Older Aircraft
2019 2018 2019
While the facilities that Dassault purchased are Fal-
Jets con MRO centers, some also service other manufactur-
Dassault (Falcon) 8.4 8.3 0.1 ers’ aircraft. Kayanakis confirmed that these facilities
Gulfstream (G100 - G280) 8.3 8.2 0.1 will continue working on all of the aircraft for which
Embraer (Phenom, Legacy, Lineage) 8.2 8.3 -0.1 they hold approvals. “But we want to be significantly
Gulfstream (GII-GV, G300-G650) 8.2 8.4 -0.2 bigger to better control through our own network the
Bombardier (Global) 7.9 8.0 -0.1
customer experience,” he said. “Ultimately this is [all
about] customer experience.”
Bombardier (Challenger) 7.8 8.0 -0.2
In January, Dassault opened a new parts ware-
Textron Aviation (Citation) 7.8 7.7 0.1
house near Charles de Gaulle Airport, replacing the
Bombardier (Learjet) 7.5 7.7 -0.2
facility near Le Bourget and speeding up shipments
Textron Aviation (Premier, Beechjet 400/400A, Hawker 400XP) 7.0 6.7 0.3 worldwide. While making parts more available helps,
Textron Aviation (Hawker) 6.4 6.7 -0.3 Dassault is also trying to lower costs for Falcon oper-
Turboprops ators. This includes reducing parts costs but also
Mitsubishi (MU-2, Solitaire, Marquise) 9.1 9.1 0.0 improving availability of the aircraft by deploying
Pilatus (PC-12) 8.3 8.2 0.1 technical personnel closer to where the operator is
Textron Aviation (King Air) 7.3 7.4 -0.1
based and backing them up with Falcon Airborne
Support Falcon 900s.
Rotorcraft
Dassault has a new MRO footprint in Kuala Lum-
Bell 7.3 7.1 0.2
pur, which will help support a new operator in Viet-
Leonardo 6.8 6.9 -0.1
nam. In Brazil, Dassault is keeping its MRO facility
Airbus Helicopters 6.7 7.0 -0.3 in Sorocaba open despite a challenging operating
Sikorsky 6.6 6.8 -0.2
environment with high costs for importing parts and
* Listed in order of the 2019 overall average. Ties are listed alphabetically. Bold indicates highest number
in each catergory. maintaining regulatory compliance. “It’s worth being
there,” Kayanakis said. “We have a strong customer
base.” Dassault also employs three support personnel
in Moscow to support Russia-based customers and
visiting Falcons. “Our strategy is to have a worldwide
network,” he said.
Another key element for Dassault is training, and
its Dassault Training Academy in Marignac, France,
has already graduated 100 technicians in Europe, and
training has started in Dallas.
For the next Falcon aircraft model program, the 6X,
Dassault has tapped the expertise of its product sup-
port teams from early in the design process. The 6X
will use the Falcon Broadcast data-sharing system to
an even greater extent, adding artificial intelligence to
analysts’ efforts to put the extensive data gathered to
work to anticipate the 6X’s maintenance needs. “We’re
thinking ahead with artificial intelligence,” Kayanakis
said, “and how we could mix a different set of data to
highlight critical situations.”
Ultimately, support personnel at the three Dassault
command centers (one in France and two in North
America) wouldn’t have to wait for a customer to call
about a problem or download some data. “That is going
to change,” he said. “With the 6X, maybe we’ll be able
to tell the customer, ‘don’t touch your system anymore.’
One reason for Dassault’s improved customer-service We can go into the system and do on a remote basis
performance is the OEM’s investment in ensuring worldwide
parts availability. some analysis. This is the expectation.”
 SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

Above & Beyond By the Numbers 2019

Dallas applies all his experience and knowledge to Respondents who rated aircraft 720
OEMs every issue he faces and gets all resources to find a Respondents who completed the survey in
solution. 631
its entirety
Mike Zina (Bombardier)
Great FSR; one of the best in the business Juan Noles (Hawker) Aircraft rated 2220

Mike Zina is a tremendous resource for us, possesses great Juan is a customer-support oriented person. Knowl- Aircraft models receiving ratings 151
knowledge of the product that he represents, is outstanding edgeable, experienced in his field and always willing
to help the customer find options/solutions. Minimum ratings required to be included
in response & follow-up, and is generally just a very profes- 20
in the data
sional and pleasant guy to work with. Superior-caliber FSR
for Bombardier. A+ support all around from Mike. Raymond Steyn (Pilatus)
Great product knowlege and excellent
Randy Adams (Textron Aviation) customer relations.
Our field rep Randy Adams has gone above and GULFSTREAM
beyond to support the Citation X+. We have had many Jim Agnew (Bell Helicopter)
issues with this aircraft and Randy has always come Every time we need info on a specific inquiry, he’ll The Results
through with support. On several occasions he has reply at once. If he cannot answer it, he will connect Gulfstream’s mid-cabin jets earned
driven parts to us from Milwaukee to get us back in us to the correct person. He visits our hangar every a close second-place finish this year
the air the next morning. month like clockwork.
with an 8.3 Combined Overall Aver-
Nathan Jones (Dassault) Carl Violette (Sikorsky) age of Newer and Older Aircraft rat-
ing (up 0.1 from last year), followed
Nathan has a wide range of technical knowledge of Always going above and beyond to ensure
the Falcon aircraft, but really stands out from the customer support. by its large-cabin jets in third place
crowd for his aggressive response to customer needs. at 8.2 (shared with Embraer), down
Nathan approaches every call or email with a sense Service Centers 0.2 from last year’s first-place finish.
of urgency and attention to detail that leaves me In the Newer Business Jets seg-
with a feeling of confidence that my problem will be Christian Szupper (Aero Dienst) ment, Gulfstream took both first
resolved once I contact him. Very knowledgeable, experienced and (shared with Dassault) and second
reliable technician. place, with an 8.7 rating for mid-cabin
Renato Beltrao (Embraer)
jets and 8.4 for large-cabin jets. The
Renato is very knowledgeable and usually has a solu- Rick Branch (Eagle Creek Aviation Services)
mid-cabin first-place rating made a
tion at hand when contacted, otherwise he will go out Rick supports the customer from first introduction
of his way to find an answer to any question(s) that I through purchase, delivery, and anything required
significant jump from last year’s 8.2,
might have. Renato is also extremely reliable and will for the life of the aircraft. He always works to ensure and the categories where Gulfstream
always return a call within a very short time should Eagle Creek exceeds the customer’s expectations. was rated at its best include a num-
I not be able to get hold of him directly. The aircraft’s ber of high scores, for Factory Owned
reliability since delivery has been due to solid engi- John Arnett (Flightstar) Service Centers (8.3), Authorized
neering and Renato’s excellent support.
John is DOM at Flightstar. He and his team always Service Centers (8.8), Cost of Parts
Always available 24-7 to answer any queries and prob- go above and beyond to get any job out on time and, (7.4), Warranty Fulfillment (9.4), and
lems, 100 percent committed to the Embraer product, a most of all, on budget. Technical Reps (9.4). The large-cabin
valued asset for Embraer.
jets scored higher than the mid-cabin
The Best FSR I have had dealing with. Mr SUN, Ming Jun for Overall Average, at 8.9.
Since Renato has been dealing with our aircraft, (Execujet Haite Aviation Services China Co. Ltd) Gulfstream’s large-cabin jets
although we only have three, he has always gone out of Full-spectrum technical knowledge and experience came in third place with a 7.8 in the
his way to support us no matter how small the issue is. of Global 5000/6000. Active and timely support of Older Business Jets segment (not
He makes a point to phone me to find out how our fleet customer requests. Service straight from the heart.
Deliver outcome to meet customer expectations. enough ratings were received for
is doing and if we have any issues. As mentioned, we are
only a drop in the bucket, but he still treats us the same Aircraft back to service ON TIME the mid-cabin jets in this segment),
as an operator that has 10 or more aircraft. Renato is and this was down 0.4 from last year.
always available and makes it his business to support us Mark James (Intercontinental Jet Services)
24/7. Thank you for that. The Improvements
Mark always goes the extra mile to ensure quality and
on-time work on our MU-2’s. Gulfstream has also made large
Dallas Gumm (Gulfstream) He oversees a group of very experienced and dedi- investments in MRO facilities world-
Outstanding support from Dallas Gumm, especially cated people at IJSC. wide, with some openings scheduled
his technical knowledge of the Gulfstream large-cabin His can-do attitude and relationship with Mitsubishi will continues on next page
product line. keep the MU-2 fleet flying for many years to come.
 SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

GULFSTREAM continued but also by expanding its Field and Airborne other Gulfstream models.
for later this year and more in 2020. Support Teams (FAST) in the region and Gulfstream has added new managing
In the U.S., the airframer will open new working with an authorized service provider director positions to work with custom-
MRO facilities in Savannah, Georgia; Apple- in Brazil, in addition to its two field service ers in various regions and to coordinate
ton, Wisconsin; and Van Nuys, California, in representatives in Brazil and authorized support between Gulfstream, its sister
this year’s third quarter. A 115,000-sq-ft service facilities in Venezuela and Mexico. company Jet Aviation, and Jet Aviation
MRO facility will replace a smaller opera- For Asia-Pacific operators, Gulfstream has subsidiary Hawker Pacific, which it pur-
tion elsewhere at Palm Beach International added Shanghai Hawker Pacific as a Gulfst- chased in May 2018.
Airport in Florida, and this is scheduled to ream-authorized warranty facility and added Gulfstream opened a new resource at
open if the first quarter of 2020. Gulfstream services and operating hours at the facto- its Savannah service center called the
began providing MRO services at TAG Farn- ry-owned Gulfstream Beijing service center. Maintenance Center in February, which
borough Airport in the UK in May, but is also In Europe, Gulfstream expanded MRO “offers internal and external customers
building a dedicated facility. At 220,060 sq hangar space at Le Bourget Airport. And a single point of contact for schedul-
ft, the Farnborough location will open in the the company’s MRO facility in St. Louis, ing maintenance within the worldwide
third quarter of 2020, complementing Gulf- Missouri, has transitioned into a dedicated Gulfstream service center network,”
stream’s MRO operation at London Luton Gulfstream MRO facility. according to Gulfstream. A team of
Airport to the northeast. The company’s MRO operations have experts from scheduling, planning, mate-
Gulfstream expects the new Palm added a net 120 direct full-time employ- rials, and service center operations helps
Beach service center to serve the more ees. For technician training, the Gulfstream manage drop-in customers and with coor-
than 400 Gulfstreams based in Florida and On-The-Job Training Laboratory in the dinating maintenance. “This team makes
Latin America. Earlier this year, Gulfstream company’s Technical Training Center in data-driven decisions based on service
announced that it is closing its Sorocaba, Savannah, Georgia, now has a G600 fuse- center capacity, resource availability, and
Brazil service center, but it is offsetting that lage and wing and a G650 fuselage, wing, site capability” all with the goal of reduc-
closure not only with the Palm Beach facility and interior, in addition to components from ing downtime, according to Gulfstream.

EMBRAER
The Results
Embraer tied for third place (with
Gulfstream mid-cabins) this year with
an 8.2 Combined Overall Average of
Newer and Older Aircraft, down 0.1
from last year’s second-place rating.
In the Newer Business Jets segment,
Embraer’s 8.1 Overall Average dropped
from 8.4 last year, putting it in third
place. Its highest category score was
an 8.8 for technical manuals.
In the Older Business Jets segment,
Embraer topped the list with a first-
place Overall Average of 8.5, up 0.4
from last year. The company scored
high marks in almost every category:
ROTORCRAFT Factory Owned Service Centers (7.7),
Parts Availability (8.5), Cost of Parts
The Results (7.7), AOG Response (8.6), Warranty
Bell climbed 0.2 this year in the Combined Overall Average to 7.3, retaining its Fulfillment (9.0), Technical Manuals
first-place finish in the rotorcraft segment. This year, Leonardo, while dropping (8.9), Technical Reps (9.3), and Overall
0.1, climbed to a second-place ranking, up from third last year. Airbus Helicop- Aircraft Reliability (9.2).
ters scored 6.7, down from 7.0 last year and putting it in third place, followed by
continues on next page
Sikorsky with a 6.6, down 0.2 from last year’s 6.8.  n
 SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

BOMBARDIER TEXTRON AVIATION

The Results In Singapore, the company’s Service The Results
Both Bombardier’s Globals and Chal- Centre is growing to 400,000 sq ft Textron Aviation’s Combined Overall
lengers took the next two slots in the from the current 100,000 sq ft. Since it Average for Newer and Older Aircraft
Combined Overall Average Ratings of was opened four years ago, the work- for its Citation line climbed 0.1 to 7.8 this
Newer and Older Aircraft, with a rat- force has quadrupled. year, putting it in fifth place along with
ing of 7.9 for the Globals (fourth place) Bombardier has opened eight Bombardier Challengers and the same
and 7.8 for the Challengers (fifth place, line-maintenance stations worldwide, placement as last year.
tied with Textron Aviation’s Citations). with the most recent in Paris and Tian- In the Newer Business Jets segment,
The company’s Learjet division was jin, China. Engine manufacturers Rolls- AIN readers rated Citations at 7.8, down
rated at 7.5, which put it in sixth place. Royce, GE, and Honeywell recently 0.2 from last year, and fifth place.
In the Newer Business Jets seg- granted authorized service center sta- In the Older Business Jets segment,
ment, Globals and Challengers share tus to the Tianjin facility. Jetex joined Citations were rated 7.7 and fourth
fourth place with an 8.0 rating, with the Bombardier authorized service place, a significant 0.4 jump from last
Learjet rated at 7.6 and sixth place. center network and launched a new year’s sixth place. The company’s Pre-
For the Older Business Jets, the Glo- line maintenance station in Dubai. At mier, Beechjet 400/400A, and Hawker
bals scored a 7.5 rating (fifth place), its Biggin Hill Service Centre, Bombar- 400XP models were rated 6.9, up by 0.3
Learjets 7.3 (sixth), and Challengers dier has opened an enhanced interior from last year. The Hawker line earned a
7.2 (seventh). repair and refurb shop and F/List and 6.6 Overall Average, up 0.2 from last year.
Bombardier are jointly opening a new On the turboprop side, Textron Aviation’s
The Improvements 3,000-sq-ft interior shop at that facility. King Air family came in third place in the
Bombardier’s worldwide service net- Five more trucks have joined Bom- Combined Overall Average with a 7.3, down
work is expanding and now includes bardier’s Mobile Response Team 0.1 from last year. King Airs received second
nine factory-owned facilities. A new (MRT), and the total has reached 30. place in both the Newer and Older Turbo-
Bombardier Service Center is under The flying MRT fleet consists of two props segments, at 7.4 and 7.1 respectively.
construction at Florida’s Miami-Opa jets, with a Challenger 300 based in Top ratings for the King Airs include Parts
Locka Executive Airport, to serve U.S. Frankfurt, Germany, joining the Learjet Availability (8.3), Cost of Parts (6.6), and
and Latin America-based customers. 45 based in North America. Technical Reps (7.8).

The Improvements
“Over the past year, the company has
EMBRAER continued
including its own facility in Sora- primarily focused on improving speed
The Improvements caba, Brazil, where earlier this year it to resolution, duration of work, cost
Some big changes are in store for refurbished a Legacy 600 with a new competitiveness, and access to quality
Embraer, which is selling its com- interior, systems upgrades, and new service around the world,” according to
mercial airliner business to Boeing; paint plus landing gear overhaul and Textron Aviation.
the deal is expected to close by installation of ADS-B Out. The com- Expansions to Textron Aviation’s Global
the end of this year. That leaves a pany has 24 warehouses globally that Service Network include the new Textron
smaller company that will include ensure fast delivery of parts. Aviation Canada, which was formed after
the defense, business jet, agricul- For quick access to information on it purchased assets of Calgary, Cana-
tural, and service operations, and the parts orders, engineering and tech- da-based Aspect Aircraft Maintenance.
Embraer-X research lab. Business jet nical documents, warranty, Embraer The company also placed a mobile service
completions will be done at Embraer’s Executive Care program coverage, unit (MSU) in Toronto, complementing one
Melbourne, Florida facility, while pro- service information, and a customer already located at the former Aspect facil-
duction of the Legacy 450/500 and forum, Embraer has developed the ity. The Textron Aviation global MSU fleet
Praetor 500/600 will move to Gavião FlyEmbraer web portal. now numbers 75.
Peixoto. Structural components will The Embraer TechCare Center oper- At Biggin Hill in the London area, Tex-
still be made in Brazil. ates 24/7 and provides direct contact tron Aviation opened a new line mainte-
Embraer’s support network with qualified Embraer Technicians for nance station for Citation, King Air, and
includes more than 80 authorized swift problem resolution, all aimed at Hawker customers. The factory-owned
and factory-owned service centers, keeping the customer’s aircraft flying. Singapore Service Center has added
continues on next page
 SPECIAL report Part 1: Aircraft

Textron Aviation continued

PILATUS
authorizations for select Citation, King Air, and
The Results completions facility in Broom- Caravan models in Indonesia, the Philippines,
Pilatus retains its second place field, Colorado, consolidating Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and the U.S. In
ranking in the Combined Overall its numerous separate hangars Australia, Premier Aviation Maintenance joined
Average of Newer and Older Air- and buildings at the airport into the Authorized Service Facility network, with
craft in the turboprops segment, one modern new building. At maintenance services offered for the full line of
climbing 0.1 this year to 8.3. In Broomfield, Pilatus launched a Textron Aviation models.
the Newer Turboprops segment, new Electrical/Avionics Main- Textron Aviation’s Able Aerospace subsidiary is
its rating dropped to 8.0 from 8.2 tenance Training course for its capable of more than rotorcraft component ser-
last year, but still holding its first service center technicians. vices and is providing additional “resourceful com-
place ranking. Both Pilatus’s Stans, Switzer- ponent repair, overhaul, and approved replacement
Pilatus’s top scores from AIN read- land headquarters and Broom- parts solutions,” for fixed-wing aircraft, according
ers were for Factory Owned Service field facility house new 24/7/365 to Textron Aviation.
Centers (8.3), Authorized Service Customer Command Centers. Customers can now access a new customer
Centers (8.1), AOG Response (7.3), The company has also added portal feature, the Aircraft Maintenance Data
Warranty Fulfillment (8.7), Technical personnel to its global customer Hub, which shows a summary of upcoming or
Manuals (9.2), and Overall Aircraft support team. The PC-12 fleet overdue maintenance for aircraft subscribed to
Reliability (9.1). has flown more than 7.5 million a Textron Aviation-Recommended maintenance
flying hours and deliveries have tracking provider.
The Improvements surpassed 1,650. At Textron Aviation’s Düsseldorf, Germany, Euro-
Last year, Pilatus’s U.S. operation pean Distribution Center, available part numbers
moved into a new 118,000-sq-ft have grown to nearly 35,000 for European custom-
ers, thanks to a doubling of the size of the center.
The company has added new resources to its
1Call support organization, including Go Teams at
MITSUBISHI factory-owned service centers for rapid dispatch
to handle customer issues quickly. The field ser-
The Results America (MHIA) has continued vice team has grown, with seven new representa-
The MU-2 marque continues its to provide full factory support for tives added globally.
domination of the turboprops in the MU-2. The company main- To help customers get back in the air faster, Tex-
the Combined Overall Average for tains its Aircraft Product Support tron Aviation formed a task force to evaluate the
Newer and Older Aircraft and in division in Addison, Texas. duration of scheduled work in an effort to lower the
the Older Turboprops segments, A major factor in keeping the standard downtime. Based on customer feedback,
with a 9.1 for both. MU-2 owners MU-2 community informed and the company has been evaluating parts prices
and operators are a passionate and flying safely is the company’s and lowered prices on 20 percent of commonly
dedicated group, and this has long Pilot’s Review of Proficiency ordered Textron Aviation proprietary parts. Flat
been reflected in the high-perfor- (PROP) program. The next PROP rate hours for CJ3 inspection documents have also
mance twin-turboprop’s Product is scheduled for fall 2020, and been lowered.
Support Survey Ratings, even attendance, as always, is free.
though the airplane has long been MHIA also holds community
out of production. events, such as the MU-2 Fly-In
AIN readers gave top ratings for in July hosted by Jet Air Group
the MU-2 models in every category, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
with the highest for Authorized Ser- MHIA is working on localizing
vice Centers (9.3), Warranty Fulfill- spare parts manufacturing in the AIN would like to thank MYGOFLIGHT for offering each
ment (9.8), Technical Manuals (9.7), U.S. and consolidating regula- survey respondent a 25% discount at MYGOFLIGHT.com.
Technical Reps (9.9), and Overall tory oversight to help sustain AIN also raffled off two flight bags donated
Aircraft Reliability (9.8). the MU-2 fleet. “These efforts by MYGOFLIGHT. The winners were:
should further the progress of
The Improvements both the parts supply chain and Name Title
Since production ended in 1986, FAA coordination into the future,” Tim Kitzmann Director of Maintenance
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries according to MHIA. James
Director of Maintenance
Grasmeyer