Expansion Continues In Europe, Asia, While Luton Facility Earns
New Certifications
Gulfstream says its product support grew substantially
over the last year, most notably by increasing its international
parts and materials inventory, adding key personnel in Europe and
Asia, and opening the second phase of its Gulfstream Savannah
Service Center.
"We've expanded to meet the demands of the Gulfstream fleet as
it grows around the world," said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream
Product Support, a 3,200-employee organization. "We have a
very strong support network in North America and we're working to
enhance our depth internationally. The people and parts we've
added in Europe and Asia reflect our commitment to our
customers."
Gulfstream GII
On the inventory front, Gulfstream has $1.2 billion worth of
spare parts and materials at 15 facilities around the world.
Nearly $60 million of that inventory is housed at two facilities:
CORJET Europe at Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain, and Metrojet at
Hong Kong International Airport in China. Those distribution
centers had a combined inventory of less than $20 million in
2009. The Madrid facility's capabilities include courier
service through Iberia Airlines.
"We've increased the parts and materials inventory at Madrid and
Hong Kong because of the increase we've had in international
sales," Burns said. "Those two locations are ideally located
- we can get parts to a lot of Gulfstream operators and deliver
them faster than ever."
To further support growth in international sales, Gulfstream
appointed six field service representatives in the last year.
Positions were added in Madrid; Mexico City; Beijing; Chennai,
India; Amman, Jordan; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. In Sao Paulo,
Gulfstream also provides maintenance support and dedicated
maintenance technicians from Jet Aviation. In the past year,
Gulfstream also added two authorized warranty line-service
facilities to its product support network, Aerovics, S.A. in
Toluca, Mexico, and Jet Aviation Brazil in Sorocaba.
Gulfstream G450
As part of its growing commitment to the rapidly growing Asian
business-aviation market, Gulfstream recently established a
Beijing-based maintenance support team, a Hong Kong-based regional
program director, an international distribution manager for parts
and materials, and two Hong Kong-based interior technicians. "These
new positions underscore our commitment to business aviation in
Asia," Burns said. "The growth is tremendous, and we plan to
be right there assisting Gulfstream operators with the same
exemplary product support we have established in many other parts
of the world."
Additional highlights for Gulfstream Product Support in the past
year included the October 2009 opening of the second phase of the
Gulfstream Savannah Service Center, which is part of a seven-year,
$400 million long-range expansion plan the company announced in
March 2006. At 679,199 square feet, the overall service
center is the largest maintenance facility in the world built
specifically for business jets. The completed service center, which
has a maximum capacity of 74 aircraft, puts all Savannah Gulfstream
Product Support personnel under one roof for the first time.
Since hangars are connected to back shops, aircraft components can
be moved back and forth internally without major transportation
issues while an airframe or power plant is being serviced.
In the UK, Gulfstream's Service Center at the London-Luton
Airport continues to receive approval from civil aviation governing
bodies worldwide to perform maintenance and repairs on business
aircraft, most recently in 2009 from Canada and Aruba.
The 7-year-old Gulfstream facility, the only Gulfstream service
center outside the United States, is a certified Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
Part 145 repair station, which means Luton employees can work on
Gulfstream aircraft registered in the U.S. and European Union
countries.
Gulfstream G550
Gulfstream Luton has EASA Part 21 Design Organization Approval,
which means its employees can install and repair avionic equipment
and cabin interiors for Gulfstream aircraft registered in EU
countries. In addition, Gulfstream Luton has approvals from the
civil aviation authorities in Bermuda, Bahrain, Cayman Islands,
Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Kuwait, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates and the United Kingdom.
"Luton is an attractive place for Gulfstream to be," said Mark
Burns, president, Gulfstream Product Support. "Our business
there continues to expand as the number of Gulfstream operators
increases in Europe and the Middle East. We added six
technicians to the staff in the last year and foresee the need for
more people in the coming months. We're very excited about
Luton's present capabilities and future potential."
In 2009, Luton's 56,000-square-foot service center and its 123
employees serviced nearly 1,100 Gulfstream aircraft. To
support the growing fleet of Gulfstream aircraft in Europe and the
Middle East, Gulfstream Luton has a spare parts and materials
inventory valued at approximately $20 million.
Gulfstream operators in Europe can also get their aircraft
serviced at six Gulfstream-authorized facilities: Jet Aviation in
Basel and Geneva, Switzerland, Hannover, Germany, and Moscow;
Altenrhein Aviation Ltd. in Altenrhein, Switzerland; and CORJET
Maintenance in Madrid.