Lufthansa Technik Strengthens its Market Position in North America

April 2, 2012
Lufthansa Technik is in the process to concentrate and build up its component repair activities in Tulsa, OK.

Lufthansa Technik is expanding and restructuring its local presence in the North American market to boost its competitiveness in the biggest MRO market worldwide.

In the field of Component Services Lufthansa Technik is in the process to concentrate and build up its component repair activities in Tulsa, OK. The non-landing gear portfolio of Hawker Pacific Aerospace in Sun Valley, CA, which has been type-specific hydraulics plus other hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical and helicopter components work, has just recently been transferred to Lufthansa Technik Component Services (LTCS) in Tulsa. Additionally, also the customer service and sales organization of LTCS moved to Tulsa, coming from the LTCS headquarters in Sun Valley.

"Lufthansa Technik today presents its component production capability in North America as a single entity, attaining the best possible alignment with changing customer needs and coming closer to this North American Market", says Robert Gaag, Head of Sales USA and Canada at Lufthansa Technik. "Whether an airline operates a small fleet requiring a lot of support or a large fleet with perhaps just a few part numbers, customers are in good hands with us."

Lufthansa Technik can offer complete material support locally and at every conceivable level - from Single Component Maintenance (SCM) to the integrated Total Component Support TCS®, comprising comprehensive in-house repair capabilities, regional pool and home base support.

The component services portfolio is offered for all current Boeing and Airbus models as well as the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8.

Another big step on the product side towards the US MRO market was the complete take-over of AirLiance Materials by Lufthansa Technik, just a few weeks ago. Lufthansa Technik took over the shares from its joint venture partners United Airlines and Air Canada, and is now the sole owner of the company. Headquartered near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, AirLiance supplies airlines and MROs with high-end, traceable aircraft parts for heavy maintenance checks, overhauls, and repairs of aircraft engines and airframes.

In the US, another growth market for Lufthansa Technik is the engine wash business for airlines. Its patented Cyclean® Engine Wash system is winning more and more American customers. More than 3,000 washes have been carried out in the US since first introduced in 2008.

Having continuously expanded its network throughout the country, Cyclean® is currently available at seven airports in the Western and Eastern United States, with two more stations, Dallas and Atlanta, scheduled to open in the second quarter 2012. Cyclean® is available for a large portfolio of regional, narrow-body and wide-body aircraft engines. The engine wash takes only one hour per engine and can be carried out with the aircraft parked at the gate.

In addition to the extension of its product and services portfolio, Lufthansa Technik has also been reorganizing its sales structure in North America in the past months.

"The driver for this decentralized sales organization is clearly to be closer to our customers in North America, be in a better position to respond to any customer request with minimum response time and best understanding of customer needs", says Robert Gaag.

The new, decentralized structure comprises a series of sales contacts around the US. Headquartered in Miami, the regional offices are located in the North-East (New York), Central South (Dallas), Central North (Minneapolis) and West (San Francisco), with a dedicated office for regional airlines in Tulsa, Ok. A new regional sales office will be established at the beginning of April in Montreal, Canada.

Lufthansa Technik:

The Lufthansa Technik Group, with more than 30 subsidiaries and about 26,000 employees worldwide, is one of the leading manufacturer-independent providers of services for the aviation industry. Lufthansa Technik is licensed internationally as a repair, production and development enterprise. The Group's portfolio encompasses the entire spectrum of services in the areas of maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification and conversion, engines and components.