In June of 2017, AMT Chief Editor Ronald Donner and AMT International Correspondent Marino Boric visited the Textron Aviation Düsseldorf facility in Germany. What, prior the trip, seemed to be "just another MRO facility visit,” turned out to be an unexpected surprise. The Düsseldorf Textron Aviation facility proves a unique OEM experience, with maintenance, parts, and field service, adding a proprietary personnel education component.
The European Network
In 2012, Textron Aviation, then Cessna Aircraft Company, acquired Jet Aviation’s Düsseldorf, Germany, and Zurich, Switzerland, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations. In just five years since that acquisition, Textron Aviation has transformed the factory-direct service experience for Citation, King Air, and Hawker customers operating throughout Europe.
Today Textron Aviation provides a host of complete maintenance and support solutions to a European fleet of more than 1,600 Citation, King Air, and Hawker aircraft. The European team counts more than 400 employees – over 140 of them are in Düsseldorf – comprised of engineers, service technicians, field service representatives, and sales representatives, so the customers in the region now have local access to factory-direct expertise in a number of ways.
“Over the last five years, we have established a robust factory-direct service offering for Citation, King Air, and Hawker operating throughout Europe,” says Kriya Shortt, senior vice president, Customer Service, Textron Aviation. “Driven by customer feedback, we have strategically invested in our company-owned footprint to bring an unrivaled service experience to our customers operating throughout the region.”
In addition, each of Textron Aviation’s company-owned service centers in Europe have been integrated to serve customers across the Citation, King Air, and Hawker platforms. The company operates six service centers throughout the European region in Doncaster, United Kingdom; Düsseldorf, Germany; Paris, France; Prague, Czech Republic; Valencia, Spain; and Zürich, Switzerland. Additionally, the company has established line maintenance facilities and mobile support vehicles to offer additional flexibility to its customers operating throughout the region.
What Makes Textron Aviation Düsseldorf Stand Out?
From the very beginning of our Düsseldorf visit we knew this visit would be "different." We were greeted by the kind and friendly Stephanie Kietzmann, the facility’s general manager in Düsseldorf. Kietzmann described the organization in this statement: “We are the only facility in Germany delivering a unique OEM experience; offering sales, maintenance, parts, and field service in one location.”
The Düsseldorf facility is Textron Aviation’s largest European facility which is seeing notable growth, and is serving customers primarily from Europe and some from the Middle East.
The Facility Tour
Our tour was guided by Maintenance Manager Dirk Oberlender, who started in aviation on the parts side of the business in 2003. He worked in avionics, customer service, maintenance control center, as center/production manager.
Early during our tour we noticed how much Oberlender loves his work. This is easily understandable seeing the beautiful wooden structures of the hangars which are originating from the 1970s and are developed among the CASH program – Clean And Structured Hangar – the facility is exceptionally clean and luminous.
Oberlender states, “One hangar is primarily dedicated to larger aircraft, such as the Citation X, Sovereign, and XLS, while the other hangar houses Hawkers and smaller Citations. We also work on King Airs, and are pursuing approval for the Caravan.”
Beside the routine maintenance, Oberlender describes how their location does larger sheet-metal repair, larger interior refurbishment, avionics modifications, and different upgrades. They utilize a mobile paint-booth where tail-sections, fuselages, and wing sections can be painted. By the end of this year Düsseldorf also plans to establish a wheel and brake shop.
Five customer service representatives work in the Düsseldorf planning center. Each CSR supports customers before, during, and after their maintenance visits, ensuring each customer receives an outstanding service experience.
Düsseldorf is Textron Aviation's Parts Warehouse
As part of its continued investment within Europe, Textron Aviation recently established a centralized parts distribution center in Düsseldorf with increased inventory levels to serve the European customer base. The warehouse we visited is located just few driving minutes from the Düsseldorf international airport, and houses more than 225,000 parts for all aircraft models. The inventory is cleared through customs into the European Union, resulting in faster delivery and fewer fees for customers.
Additional support for European operators
“Textron Aviation in Dusseldorf is able to assist European Citation, King Air, and Hawker operators with operational challenges related to European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations, ” says Oberlender. The company offers a cost-competitive solution to guide operators through the compliance process related to the Part-NCC EASA rule change. Part-NCC requires any non-commercial operator registered within the 32 EASA member states or operating in an EASA state to adapt a safety framework similar to commercial operators.
Textron Aviation also can serve as an operator’s continued airworthiness management organization (CAMO), allowing the company to issue and extend Airworthiness Review Certificates to EASA aircraft.
The Training Academy
A key initiative for Textron Düsseldorf and a personal project for Kietzmann is the Apprentice Training Center. According to Kietzmann she sees talent development as a challenge for the industry as a whole saying: "There are so many opportunities in the business aviation industry, particularly in Europe, and yet there is a real lack of information for young people regarding opportunities within the industry. The perception is that a career in aviation is all about working for the major airlines, with little awareness of business aviation. We are currently working on becoming more visible in order to let the next generation know about how rewarding a career in business aviation can be."
Bruno Tolksdorf, manager of the Apprentice Training Center, toured the facility with us where 21 students, in a first year of training, were learning basic aviation and technician skills like sheet-metal work and electronics maintenance.
The complete training lasts just over three years and is based on the singular German dual educational system. This dual vocational education and training systems is well established in Germany, has evolved over time, and was considerably influenced by the economic framework conditions and the German historical development process. In this case, as in other state-owned schools, the students go through a combination of theoretical, in-class training sessions, and later, practical training in industrial environment. Young students come from public schools after the 10th grade, at age of 16 to 19, and in the first year are trained in basic skills, at the Textron Aviation training center and in a state school in Mönchengladbach, and over time learn and work in increasing amounts of time at Textron facility at the Dusseldorf airport. After passing the final exam (performed by the local Chamber of Commerce), the student is becoming a qualified aircraft technician and if the final exam note is above 75 percent, Textron offers them a job. 24 Textron employees in Dusseldorf have this background.
Kietzmann says, “This program has proven to be an excellent system giving the employer the chance to meet the future employee very early in their career, we see them growing, and the students learn the ropes on his or her future work site.
Final Comment
We could literally breathe the "aviation spirit" and commitment of the personnel in Düsseldorf. Touring the Textron Aviation facility we soon noticed something all employers dream of: The passion and the total dedication of the personnel toward perfection of their work. As Dirk Oberlender said several times to us: "I'm married to my work."
In Stephanie Kietzmann’s words, “I am most proud of the team. I am fortunate to have a very collaborative team all working toward a common goal of delivering exceptional service and support to each customer. And that collaborative, customer-centric spirit extends across the entire network and between facilities to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers."
