EXCLUSIVE. Turkish Technic s HABOM. Airbus A330/340. Engine nacelles. Aircraft hangars. Project round up. Stretching the intervals.

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1 SEPTEMBER 2013 VOLUME 15 ISSUE 3 EXCLUSIVE Turkish Technic s HABOM Airbus A330/340 Stretching the intervals Engine nacelles Power dressing Aircraft hangars Project round up

2 New directions Ahead of the formal opening, MRO Management had an exclusive glimpse of Turkish Technic s new HABOM maintenance facility. Ian Harbison reports from Istanbul In December 2004, Turkish Technic launched the Havacilik Bakim Onarim ve Modifikasyon Merkezi (HABOM), or Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Center. This new facility, at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, is some 70km away from the company s main base at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, on the other (Asian) side of the Bosporus. The facility was intended to be up and running by 2007 as a production line for nose-to-tail servicing of aircraft, taking advantage of Turkey s position at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and The narrowbody hangar at HABOM will start initial operations in the very near future with one or two bays central Asia. Overhaul of engines and components were also part of the original plan. Inevitably, there have been a number of changes since then, some negative, some positive. Economic downturns, a failed joint venture with ST Aerospace and some construction difficulties all caused delays to the building process that eventually started in March On the other hand, parent company Turkish Airlines has experienced phenomenal growth in aircraft, traffic and destinations in recent years. Of course, says Dr İsmail Demir, Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Turkish Technic, this means the demands of the parent company have reduced opportunities for third-party work. Despite this, Turkish Technic remain in the top 10 of world MROs. The situation was eased in May this year with the acquisition of the MNG Technic hangar on the opposite side of the runway at Ataturk. The hangar has four bays, covering 25,000m², and can simultaneously handle eight narrowbody and four widebody aircraft, or 16 narrowbody aircraft. The hangar also houses a 5,000m² two-bay paint facility which can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing A further 35,000m² is given over to workshops, offices and storage. Outside there is 30,500m² of apron space, including an engine run up area. Despite only opening in early 2011, MNG Technic was unable to fill the hangar successfully, presenting Turkish 36 MRO Management

3 Technic with an opportunity to acquire a new facility at a competitive price. New hangars The first building to be completed at HABOM is the narrowbody hangar, it will soon begin operations with one or two bays. With this in place the company can now turn its attention back to the market, with Europe, Russia/CIS, the Middle East and North Africa as key areas. The hangar can take six Airbus A320 Family or Boeing 737 aircraft tail-in on heavier checks, with a further five positioned nose-in between them on shorter visits. A mezzanine floor is used for easy seat removal and installation, as well as providing access to the workshops. There are four mobile tail docking stations, produced by NIJL in the Netherlands, convertible between Airbus and Boeing, as are two sets of wing docking. There is also one type-specific set of wing docking for each aircraft family. Internally, and on the apron, there are pop-up pits supplied by Cavotec providing power, hydraulics, water, starter and pre-conditioned air. Back shops here include structures, composites and non-destructive testing. The entire project relies heavily on Lean processes and layouts, with the advantage of starting with a clean sheet of paper in terms of layout. The planning department is next to the hangar and there is a management office for every bay, with direct access to the aircraft. All removed components go through a single maintenance control point, both for collection and for return to the aircraft. As the level of the apron is higher than the surrounding land, there are three levels of offices and workshops underneath the hangar itself, so lifts ranging from 100kg to 10 tonnes have been installed. New technology is also being introduced. Consumables will be dispensed from machines, with each mechanic having an electronic card that allows costs to be allocated to the correct job, while also monitoring consumption. Tool control has been a problem at Ataturk, so radio frequency identification tags will be used, with wifi points throughout the facility for tracking purposes. Finally, because the three sites are so dispersed, video conferencing will be used for meetings Istanbul s famous traffic can mean a car journey between Ataturk and Sabiha Gökçen can take some time, especially if there are problems with either of the two bridges that must be crossed. As well as the narrowbody hangar, phase one of the project also includes a community centre with restaurants, staff changing rooms, a chemical depot and waste repository. A series of walkways will provide shortcuts between the hangars, changing rooms and the training centre to speed up personnel moving between these areas. Phase two includes the widebody hangar, which has two maintenance bays and a paint shop that is scheduled to open in March It will feature two full docking systems that are HABOM is a candidate for Gold certification by the US Green Building Council s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for its environmental practices, as such, great attention has been paid to the extraction system in the paint bay, even to the extent of carrying out computational fluid dynamics analysis of the airflow adjustable for Airbus A330/340 and Boeing 777. These are being supplied by CTI Systems. The same company is also responsible for the overhead crane system and teleplatforms in both hangars. The paint shop, separated by a wall from the rest of the facility, can take one widebody or two narrowbody aircraft a curtain system separates the two, giving the option of carrying out maintenance in the other bay if necessary. HABOM is a candidate for Gold certification by the US Green Building Council s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for its environmental practices. As such, great attention has been paid to the extraction system in the paint bay, even to the extent of carrying out computational fluid dynamics analysis of the airflow. Other measures include: collecting rainwater from roofs and storing it for landscaping purposes; grey water recycling for use in reservoirs; ground source heat pumps to help in the heating and cooling of the hangars; and a trigeneration system for combined cooling, heat and power. There is a financial incentive here as well, as there are discounts available under the Green Airport Project run by the Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Alongside the hangar, phase two will also see completion of the workshop and administrative buildings. Acquistion of the MNG Technic hangar earlier this year has provided some much needed extra capacity at Ataturk Airport New businesses The MNG Technic purchase has also allowed for some realignment of the aims for HABOM. A new company is being formed, called 38 MRO Management

4 Dr Ismail Demir, CEO and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Turkish Technics Turkish HABOM, which combines Sabiha Gökçen and the MNG Technic hangar under a single corporate entity. This will have the advantage of a lower cost base than the main Ataturk facility and will be allocated labour intensive heavy maintenance checks. This means the Ataturk facilities will concentrate on higher value engineering-led projects and services. There are also some differences in terms and conditions and procedures with MNG Technic, so this was also a consideration in the new set up. There was a question mark over the future of Ataturk Airport, especially after a Turkish consortium won a bid in May 2013 to build a new airport with six runways and an eventual capacity of 150 million passengers per year. When this starts operations in 2017/2018, new maintenance hangars on site should allow Turkish Technic to immediately move in to support Turkish Airlines operations. However, Demir suggests that the final closure of Ataturk may not be for a further 10 years, and there is talk of it becoming a business aircraft centre. One of the higher value projects Turkish Technic intend to be involved with is VIP interiors, so this would be very convenient. Last year, the company unsuccessfully tried to purchase Gore Design Completions in San Antonio, Texas but Demir does not rule out another acquisition in the future. Turkish Technic has already carried out a refurbishment of a Turkish Government Gulfstream IV aircraft and has had other VIP aircraft in for maintenance. He says mechanics have been given additional training that places great emphasis on quality and attention to detail. They are learning that what appears to be cosmetic damage and not part of their job is actually very important, especially as these contracts often come about through word of mouth recommendations rather than by a formal request for proposals. As a first step, a new subsidiary has been created, Turkish Cabin Interior Systems Industries (or TCI Cabin Interior), a joint venture company between Turkish Airlines (30%), Turkish Technic (21%) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (49%). This is being established at HABOM and is in the process of producing prototype galley units. The aim is also to produce, for Turkish Airlines and other customers, items such as crew rests, cabin dividers, wind screens, miscellaneous stowage, coatrooms, video control compartments and most other cabin interior parts except for aircraft seats. However, in 2011 another joint venture agreement was signed with Assan Hanil Automotive Industry (50%) to design and manufacture aircraft seats, as well as providing logistic support and modification. The focus will be on the A320 Family and 737, as they are the most numerous types in service. The remaining shares in Aircraft Seat Manufacturing Industry & Trade (or TSI Aviation Seats) are held by Turkish Airlines and Turkish Technic (50%). Other new ventures include a research and development centre that opened late last year to develop cabin designs and also a project on the design and testing of specialist tooling. Demir explains that these investments have to be looked at carefully from a financial standpoint. With HABOM costing some $500 million, there has to be a realisation that the return on investment will be long-term, to avoid the project being hit with high overheads from the beginning. However, it is equally sensible to ensure that the start up projects are aiming to control costs and make a profit as soon as possible. In this context, it is ironic that the first few aircraft at HABOM are from Turkish Airlines, which is not offering any compromise on turnaround times and is expecting normal service standards immediately (in fairness, Demir says the airline plays an important role in logistics, especially as the network has expanded). The solution, he says, will have to be to use more people from the outset. The narrowbody hangar will have six tail-in bays and five nose-in bays for Airbus A320 Family and Boeing 737 aircraft (photo: Ian Harbison) 40 MRO Management

5 Training The temptation is that the most experienced personnel would be transferred to HABOM to give it a flying start, but this is not what the company is planning. Turkish HABOM is there to provide a feed of younger people to the main facility in the future, so only a few senior staff will move across to provide experienced management and mentoring. A training programme has been running for several years and a pool of some 1,200 trainees has been assembled in anticipation of the opening, although some will now go to MNG Technic. Turkish Technic has also been able to take advantage of a government scheme that offered financial incentives to employers who provided aviation apprenticeships. There are a number of specialist aviation technical schools in Turkey, however the quality is not fully up to standard. Instead, Turkish Technic has been providing successful graduates who pass their English exam with six months pre-training, either at the company or back at their technical school, as well as extra English lessons. After another language exam, they have six months on-the-job training, followed by 18 months of supervision. One workshop that will be moving to HABOM specialises in landing gear. The company has made significant investments, including plating tanks capable of taking an Airbus A340 main gear, and a 1.5 million grinding machine. The aim is to become a challenger to other leading European MROs in this particular sector. The other aspect of components is pooling services, which are used by most Turkish airlines. The company is an active trader in the market and has close links to A J Walter (AJW), having signed a power-by-the-hour contract to support the Turkish Airlines ER fleet, while Turkish Technic is providing repair support to AJW s global spares pool network. Of course, airframe maintenance is still a very good vehicle for generating extra work, with the notion that HABOM will become an aerospace campus, with other assets available. One of the most important of these is the Turkish Engine Center, but as Pratt & Whitney has a 51% majority share, the decisions are taken jointly. It is located very close to HABOM and offers CFM56 and V2500 overhaul, with a capacity for more than 200 aircraft engines a year. Further away at Gebze is the Goodrich Turkish Airlines Technical Service Center, specialising in the maintenance and repair of nacelles, thrust reversers, related parts and rotable support. Established in 2010, it is another joint venture, this time between Turkish Technic (40%) and TSA-Rina Holdings (60%), the latter a subsidiary of the Goodrich Corporation. All this comes together in the intention to provide long-term, total support packages to airlines, combing maintenance and power-bythe-hour arrangements. Components For obvious reasons, the HABOM hangars are the star of the show. However, Demir says airframe maintenance is not the most important part of the business, accounting for only one million direct manhours out of the total workload. One of the limitations that has been found is helping customers understand that the lowest cost offered for a check is not necessarily the perfect solution. He explains that Turkish Technic bases its response on the age of the aircraft and uses its considerable experience to provide a reasonable estimate of the unscheduled arisings that might occur. To the customer this service is sometimes interpreted as extra costs and rejected. Instead, component repair and component pool services are the real money makers. HABOM includes a building dedicated to workshops, but the final selection is still under consideration. It may be that some resources are retained at Ataturk, as they provide useful back up to line maintenance or support for the hangars. Again, MNG Technic has slightly different approaches to repair, so it might make more sense to keep their capabilities. The Turkish Airlines fleet has experienced rapid growth in recent years, adding to the maintenance load for Turkish Technic and reducing its ability to go after third-party work OEM intrusion Like many other MROs, Turkish Technic is finding the power of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be encroaching on its business. Even with Turkish Airlines, it is necessary to prove that the company can provide a better long-term service because of its experience of airline operations, especially when support packages are being offered early in any new aircraft purchase deal. Demir says it is fortunate that the company is of such a size that it can stand up to them, but good working relationships are still vital to both sides. He also points out if the OEMs focus too much on repair and overhaul they can miss out on the research and development necessary to produce newer and improved products. Without suggesting that is actually the case, he cites a lack of progress in the case of APUs. 42 MRO Management