Giving Thanks for 2022
November 3, 2021
Business can be feast or famine. You either have too much on your plate, or too little. Right now, maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) providers such as King Aerospace face a cornucopia of projects – especially those that support business aviation and government contractor logistics support (CLS). You might say we are making room at the table now, preparing to efficiently manage this work.
2022 forecasting for our primary market niche for VVIP aircraft – Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) – includes multiple interior refurbishments. This steady stream stems from new and repeat domestic and international BBJs that are coming up for their 12-year checks as well as A-, B- and C-checks.
Dedicated to the Mission
We do not take this work for granted. It is an honor and a privilege to support each customer. BBJs stand apart as the pinnacle of private jet travel. Their 6,200-nautical-mile range means they can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Tokyo or New York to Helsinki. Accommodations range from separate cabins with 7-foot ceilings to lavatories with standing showers.
We’re working with clients to provide scalable, adaptable spaces that invite collaboration and interaction while also offering private, quiet spaces for teleconferences and confidential conversations. The entire cabin must feel safe and secure, comfortable and inviting. Home-away-from-home features help passengers travel across multiple time zones and yet arrive rested and ready for what lies ahead – business or pleasure. Our dedicated shops for cabinetry, upholstery, structures/parts manufacturing and finishes facilitate customized, precision construction. We install new interiors as well as remove and reinstall existing interior components. Basically, whatever the customer needs, we do our best to deliver.
Setting the Standards for Quality
While 90% of our maintenance work at Ardmore is for Boeing 737s, we respond to and welcome customer requests for other aircraft in their fleets – Challengers, Citations, Learjets and more. Many of these requests come through our proven paint services, widely known to be excellent and at the highest industry quality standard. We’re a Boeing Preferred Vendor, a Textron/Cessna preferred paint contractor and a US Coast Guard prime contractor. Those designations mean something.
We create highly complex custom designs with computer-generated renderings, so customers know exactly what to expect with the final product. The work is executed in dedicated paint hangars. Once a customer has experienced our paint services, they then learn of our equally stellar maintenance capabilities and, almost always, choose to rely on us for that as well.
As a GE OnPoint Service Center, we offer maintenance and repair for BBJ CFM56-7B engines. This includes a range of on-wing maintenance: line maintenance inspections, routine installed engine maintenance, removal and replacement of engines and engine components. Our support works to help operators avoid flight delays, schedule interruptions and unscheduled overhaul shop visits – and to get them back in the air quickly.
Planning to Maximize Utilization
High utilization makes it difficult for operators to take on discretionary upgrades that ground a plane, but through planning and efficiencies, we can minimize that time. A number of customers are interested in connectivity upgrades. To date, we have installed Honeywell Ka-band Jet Wave systems and GDR routers, Gogo L5 and L3 Avance systems, SatCom Direct routers, SatCom Direct Gateway and Iridium systems. We expect to see more inquiries from operators looking for connectivity upgrades that support flight operation and maintenance-related applications – tapping into real-time, analytics-driven operational data.
In the Heart of It All
Our MRO campus in Ardmore, OK, sits 100 miles north of Dallas and 100 miles south of Oklahoma City. It offers 200,000+ square feet of shop and hangar space that can accommodate multiple VVIP and corporate aircraft. A 9,000+ foot, paved runway equipped with an instrument landing system makes it easy to get in and out.
Customers turn to us because we know our stuff – as evidenced by inclusion in the Boeing Business Jet manufacturer’s prestigious annual directory, AS9110C and ISO9001:2015 quality designations, and our consistent there-for-you attitude. They appreciate that we take care of them. No excuses.
Moving Forward Safely and Sustainably
The global pandemic continues to present long-term unknowns, but we practice protocols that lessen its spread. We have instituted aircraft sanitization systems and air purification ionization units that inactivate 99% of germs and viruses. The interest in sustainability will only grow, and we’re ready to support those efforts through green materials and processes.
2022 fast approaches. We’ll be ready for it.