Lufthansa Lands Two Contracts: More Jobs Are Likely at the Tulsa Aerospace Facility.
By D.R. Stewart, Tulsa World, Okla.
Sep. 25–Lufthansa Technik Tulsa, the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul unit of Hamburg, Germany-based Lufthansa Group, has been awarded two major maintenance contracts by US Airways and United Airlines, company executives said Monday.
The US Airways contract could mean more jobs at the Tulsa operation.
Lufthansa Technik has agreed to a multimillion-dollar, five-year contract with US Airways to overhaul engine thrust reversers on the airline’s Airbus narrow-body aircraft.
US Airways operates a fleet of 102 Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft that are powered by General Electric CFM56-5B engines. Each jet has four thrust reversers.
“This agreement with US Airways is a very important milestone for Lufthansa Technik Tulsa,” Bernd Riggers, Lufthansa Technik president and CEO, said in a pre pared statement. “We are extremely proud of the fact that US Airways puts its trust in us. We are looking forward to a successful partnership with our new customer.”
Lufthansa Technik Tulsa, 9932 E. 58th St., employs 110 engineers and technicians at its 9,300-square-foot
overhaul facilities. The US Airways contract likely will require an expansion of the work force, said company spokesman Cub Smith.
“We’re growing,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “The US Airways contract could mean we’re looking at hiring more mechanics.”
With overhaul facilities in Tulsa, Hamburg, and Shenzhen, China, Lufthansa Technik’s capabilities include maintenance, repair and overhaul of thrust reversers, inlet and fan cowls, radomes and flight control surfaces.
In addition to GE components, the company also overhauls thrust reversers for Pratt & Whitney PW2000 and International Aero Engines V2500 engines.
US Airways is the fifth largest U.S. airline, operating 356 aircraft and 3,700 flights a day to 230 cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. It has 36,000 employees.
In a related development, Lufthansa Technik Tulsa has successfully installed the first set of aluminum fan cowling doors on an United Airlines Airbus A321. The 4-foot-by-6-foot doors replace composite graphite structures that delaminated due to the effects of weather, heat and oil, company executives said.
After Lufthansa German Airlines tested the aluminum fan cowling doors in a year of flying, United Airlines accepted the substitution for its com posite doors, said Lufthansa Technik spokesman Brett Hunt.
“This was the next step in a successful partnership between United Airlines and Lufthansa Technik Tulsa,” Hunt said. “We’re proud that such a major carrier has chosen to be a partner. . . . We look forward to being a solutions provider for United for many years.”
Under the agreement with United, the airline will fly the aluminum fan cowling doors for six months. If the airline decides to replace their composite doors with Lufthansa Technik’s aluminum product, the Tulsa firm could receive orders for 604 doors on 151 aircraft, officials said.
United operates 356 aircraft on 3,600 flights a day to 200 cities around the world.
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D.R. Stewart 581-8451 don.stewart@tulsaworld.com
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