Flight International – 6 August 2019

AIR TRANSPORT

ightglobal.com 6-12 August 2019 | Flight International | 11

Cobham eyes sale

of Australian assets

Air Transport P

Zurich-headquartered firm is halting base maintenance work on site

SR Technics

T

roubled Chinese conglomer-

ate HNA Group has launched

a bidding process to divest its

majority stake in Swiss mainte-

nance provider SR Technics.

Sources familiar with the mat-

ter say that offers have been sub-

mitted by Airbus, Air France-

KLM, Delta Air Lines and US

investment firm Carlyle Group.

A number of other investment

firms have also indicated an

interest in acquiring the business,

but it appears that the three aero-

space companies and Carlyle –

which bought US maintenance

provider StandardAero in April

• are considered the most
  credible candidates.
  Their bids were submitted be-
  fore a 15 July deadline, with an
  objective to complete the sale “as
  soon as possible”, one source says.
  In 2016, HNA acquired an
  80% shareholding in SR Tech-
  nics from Abu Dhabi investment
  fund Mubadala, the MRO pro-
  vider’s then sole owner.
  Mubadala has exercised a put
  option to transfer its 20% stake to
  HNA, says a source. The Chinese
  group initially considered in-
  volvement of a third party to ac-

quire the 20% stake, but then

opted to divest its entire share-

holding in SR Technics.

HNA has made efforts to sell a

number of subsidiaries in a bid to

reduce its heavy debt load, built

up in the course of an acquisition

spree over recent years.

SR Technics had hoped the

ownership change in 2016 would

provide it with work from the air-

line fleets within HNA. But there

is no evidence that HNA directed

maintenance requirements to the

Zurich-based MRO provider.

Meanwhile, SR Technics has

restructured its operations in an

effort to increase competitive-

ness, despite the company’s high-

cost location.

In 2014, SR Technics decided

to concentrate its Zurich base

maintenance operations on be-

spoke interior refurbishments as it

had deemed the site uncompeti-

tive for regular aircraft checks.

But after a number of cabin

upgrade projects for airlines in-

cluding SAS and Virgin Atlantic,

SR Technics last year disclosed a

decision to discontinue all base

maintenance in Zurich and to

focus operations on engine and

component repairs and line

maintenance.

Airframe maintenance has been

shifted to the company’s facility in

Malta, where it specialises in base

checks for Airbus A320-family

jets and Boeing 737s.

SR Technics is in the process

of constructing a new, four-bay

hangar in Malta, having previ-

ously operated out of a smaller

legacy facility.

Additionally, SR Technics has

an engine aerofoil repair shop in

the Irish city of Cork and a com-

ponent repair shop in Malaysia.

The company’s line-mainte-

nance network includes stations

in Malta, Spain, Switzerland and

the UK.

One source suggests that SR

Technics would be open to indi-

vidual operations being sold to

separate investors – rather than

as a whole – if such a solution is

required and a “sensible

concept” can be found.

SR Technics, HNA, Mubadala

and Delta have not responded to

requests for comment. Airbus,

Air France-KLM and Carlyle

likewise declined to comment. ■

restructure MichAel gubisch london

hNA targets quick sale of sR Technics

Three aerospace companies join private equity bidder for Swiss MRo provider as Chinese parent battles debt load

F

rench investigators are seek-

ing better understanding of

vibration phenomena on ATR

turboprops after an incident in-

volving a Caribbean Airlines ATR

72-600 during descent to Piarco.

The vibrations emerged as the

crew retarded the throttle levers to

between idle and cruise, and the

aircraft (9Y-TTC) descended while

its speed increased to 246kt

(455km/h) – close to the maximum

operating speed of 250kt.

Pilots of the aircraft received an

alarm over the electronic propel-

ler controller for the right-hand

engine. Inspection of the engine

found a damaged generator shaft,

which was replaced, but a crew

taxiing the same aircraft the fol-

lowing day also reported loud vi-

bration as they increased throttle.

Further ground tests found

damage to components in a

propeller blade. Investigation au-

thority BEA says besides the 4

May 2014 event, another six

similar occurrences had been re-

corded on ATRs in Brazil, Swe-

den, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

In almost all cases, one blade

suffered crankpin damage, but

the precise sequence of vibration

and damage to the propeller-con-

trol system could not be deter-

mined. The inquiry says “several

elements” could have contributed.

BEA says flight tests in 2014-

2015 examined behaviour of the

propeller at 230-250kt and showed

evidence of a vibratory phenome-

non linked to cyclic forces.

The inquiry advises ATR and

propeller supplier Collins

Aerospace to continue analysing

these phenomena at speeds

slightly faster than the maximum

operating speed to confirm that

the ATR 72-600’s flight envelope

provides “sufficient margins” to

prevent damage to the propeller

pitch-control system.

BEA says that research should

bid to understand the sequence

of propeller damage and that –

pending the outcome – ATR

should review descent proce-

dures regarding speeds between

240-250kt during idle flight.

It is also seeking improve-

ments to detection of propeller

vibration, stating that regulations

do not require installation of

excessive-vibration warning sys-

tems on turboprops, although

ATR offers an option to fit accel-

erometers on both engines for

maintenance purposes. ■

sAFetY dAvid kAMiNski-MoRRow london

BEA still agitated by ATR engine vibration issue

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