St. Louis, MO / January 17, 2013 – Jet Aviation St. Louis completed its 200th green aircraft in December. The Challenger 605 was delivered 11 days ahead of schedule. The 199th aircraft, a Global 6000, delivered the day prior and was 10 days ahead of schedule.
Continuous improvement initiatives have increased the efficiency of the completions process and resulted in improved delivery times. With the 18 most recent aircraft delivering ahead of schedule, Jet Aviation St. Louis has developed proven systems for building highly customized aircraft in an efficient way. The company has implemented 5S and lean technologies and established a Continuous Improvement department.
“With a goal of being better today than we were yesterday, Jet Aviation St. Louis began a process of business transformation,” said Chuck Krugh, senior vice president and general manager, Jet Aviation St. Louis. “The facility was organized using LEAN methodology and 5S principles. From there, the incorporation of systems to engage team members, solve problems and create standardization resulted in an enhanced team environment. Employees are informed, engaged and personally invested in the company’s success which translates into improved customer service and delivery performance.”
Jet Aviation St. Louis has performed 200 aircraft completions in its history, with 100 occurring since 2008. It began its completions business in earnest in 1997 with its first Challenger 601 completion. Since then, completions have been performed for Bombardier Challenger 601, 604, 605 and 850 and Global 5000, XRS and 6000 aircraft.
Jet Aviation St. Louis is a full-service aircraft maintenance, modifications and completions provider certified to AS9110C, ISO 140001:2004 and OHSAS 18001-2007 standards. The company employs close to 1,000 people at its St. Louis Downtown Airport location. Jet Aviation St. Louis has in-house design and engineering departments, along with on-site cabinetry, upholstery, composite, avionics, sheet metal and paint shops. Jet Aviation St. Louis is a Bombardier, Embraer and Gulfstream authorized service center and a Dassault Falcon and Hawker center of expertise. It also is an authorized service center for GE, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell engines. The location also offers FBO services. For more information, visit www.jetaviation.com/stlouis.
Jet Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was founded in Switzerland in 1967 and is one of the leading business aviation services companies in the world. More than 4,500 employees cater to client needs from 21 airport facilities throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America. The company provides maintenance, completions and refurbishment, engineering, FBO and fuel services, along with aircraft management, charter services, aircraft sales and personnel services. Jet Aviation's European and U.S. aircraft management and charter divisions jointly operate a fleet of more than 250 aircraft. Please visit www.jetaviation.com and follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/jetaviation.
More information about General Dynamics is available online at www.generaldynamics.com.
