Gulfstream Product Support Adds Resources Worldwide

Oct. 21, 2013
Gulfstream West Palm Beach recently earned Peru’s first AMO certification for a U.S.-based original equipment manufacturer and repair station. Gulfstream Dallas earned approval from the United Arab Emirates to perform repairs on Gulfstream G300 aircraft.

LAS VEGAS, October 21, 2013 — Gulfstream Product Support continues to expand its service commitment to operators by adding people, facilities and capabilities to its worldwide network. These additions have come during the busiest time in the organization’s history.

“There is an unprecedented level of activity in our organization,” said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream Product Support, who is in Las Vegas for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention and Exhibition. “We’re enhancing our Field and Airborne Support Teams; we’re working closely with the program teams to provide a smooth entry into service for the Gulfstream G650 and G280; and we’ve upgraded our airborne support aircraft. Plus, we’ve added resources for customers in the U.S., Europe, Asia and South America. All of this reinforces our commitment to provide even better service for our customers.”

That reinforced commitment in 2013 includes adding more than 150 employees across Product Support, the largest organization of its kind in business aviation with approximately 3,850 professionals.

An example of that growth includes the Gulfstream Long Beach Service Center in California, which has added 21 technicians. The Savannah-based Technical Operations call center, which supports customers in aircraft-on-ground situations and with in-flight issues, added nine specialists.

The Gulfstream facility in Appleton, Wis., recently added wheel and brake repair capabilities. Dedicated technicians are in place to perform such duties as brake and wheel overhauls. Gulfstream Brunswick has a new 5,000-square-foot (464.5-square-meter) parts and materials warehouse and recently renovated customer offices.

Earlier this year, the Gulfstream Luton Service Center near London was granted approved maintenance organization (AMO) designations from Turkey and Azerbaijan. The authorizations allow Gulfstream aircraft registered with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Turkey and the State Civil Aviation Authority in Azerbaijan to undergo maintenance, modifications and inspections at Luton. The Turkish approval is for the G550 and G450, while the Azerbaijan approval is for all Gulfstream aircraft.

Gulfstream West Palm Beach recently earned Peru’s first AMO certification for a U.S.-based original equipment manufacturer and repair station. The approval from the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation applies to work on G450, G200, G150 and G100 aircraft.

In addition, Gulfstream Dallas earned approval from the United Arab Emirates to perform repairs on Gulfstream G300 aircraft.

Gulfstream’s cost-per-hour maintenance program, PlaneParts, continues to grow. At the start of NBAA’s 2013 convention, Gulfstream had nearly 250 customers enrolled in the 3-year-old program. PlaneParts offers customers predictable maintenance costs for replacement parts due to scheduled and unscheduled events. Gulfstream has more than $1.4 billion in parts located throughout the world, including Bangalore, India, home to a distribution center that opened in May.

Also in 2013, Customer Communications began providing enhanced technical support during customer meetings with live question-and-answer sessions from its on-site broadcast center, Studio G. The group announced that its weekly technical and operational newsletter for customers, The Breakfast Minutes, is now called The Gulfstream Journal, aligning itself with Gulfstream’s weekly technical newscast. The broadcast version of The Gulfstream Journal provides aircraft technical information to support the Gulfstream fleet and safety tips for the workplace. It is distributed on The Gulfstream Network, which is accessible through the secure customer website, myGulfstream.com. In the coming weeks, Customer Communications will add “how to” demonstrations of aircraft service changes, service bulletins and customer
bulletins to its programing menu on The Gulfstream Network.

As part of an ongoing effort to improve communication with Gulfstream’s growing international customer base, the company added a Customer Service employee in West Palm Beach who speaks Portuguese, Spanish and French, and hired a Spanish-speaking service center
coordinator in Dallas.

Gulfstream has not wavered in its emphasis on technician training. So far in 2013, company technicians have earned more than 430 FlightSafety Master Technician designations, the most of any business jet manufacturer. FlightSafety statistics indicate that 1,437 of the more than 2,280 Master Technician designations worldwide are for Gulfstream jets.

The Master Technician program is considered the industry standard for advanced training for
technicians.