Approval Includes 777 Windscreens

PPG Aerospace - Transparencies, the aircraft windshield and window business, has started selling direct to fleet replacement cockpit windows for all Boeing airplanes. Because of a licensing agreement with the airplane manufacturer, sales are direct.

Airlines previously bought their PPG-made replacement cockpit windows from Boeing for all Boeing and McDonnell Douglas airplanes, except for the main windshields for Boeing 747 jets. PPG has a separate Boeing license to sell airlines rebuilt glass windshields for Boeing 707, 727, 737, 757, 767 and 777 airplanes, and will continue to offer them.

The change comes at an interesting time. There have been three recent incidents where the heating element is suspected of causing in-flight cracks on 777 windscreens. Now, we're not suggesting any fault with the windscreen. But with direct sales to customers, a solution, if warranted, might arrive a bit faster.

Under the new agreement, PPG is able to sell to airlines replacement cockpit windows for all Boeing aircraft. This includes cockpit windshields and windows for Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft. PPG Aerospace also is now licensed for direct sale of replacement cockpit windows for these aircraft no longer in production: the Boeing 707 and 727, and legacy McDonnell Douglas aircraft DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, MD-90 and MD-11.

"This agreement is a win for the airlines, Boeing and PPG Aerospace," said Dave Morris, head of PPG Aerospace and a vice president of PPG Industries. "It affords each of us the opportunity to focus on what we do best, while maintaining the three-way relationship that allows us to continuously improve product service life.

For more than a decade, PPG has been the sole producer of original-equipment cockpit windows for Boeing 777, 767, 757 and Next-Generation 737 airplanes.

According to global sales director David R. France, PPG is the only transparency manufacturer capable of providing airlines with the latest design enhancements for windshields and windows on these Boeing aircraft.

"Boeing operators are now able to buy transparencies directly from the manufacturer - PPG - streamlining ordering, shipping and warranty administration," France said. "We already produce these parts for both original-equipment and replacement applications, and our long-term supply relationship with Boeing means that PPG is the only manufacturer able to produce windshields and windows that incorporate the latest design enhancements."

PPG already supplies replacement cockpit windows for operators of Airbus, BAE Systems, Embraer, Bombardier Aerospace, Saab, ATR and Fokker airplanes, France noted. It stocks replacement products for operators of other aircraft at its global depots, and Boeing parts are now being added to the inventories.

"With parts in stock at our depots, we can dispatch transparencies to meet AOG requirements from strategic locations worldwide," Stone said.

Mixed-fleet operators can benefit from having PPG Aerospace as a single source of replacement transparencies, he added.

"Since we already supply airlines with replacement parts for other aircraft, they will be able to reduce acquisition costs by consolidating their supplier base with PPG Aerospace."

FMI: www.corporate.ppg.com/PPG/SBU/Aerospace