Rio de Janeiro, November 9, 2009. Soon after having been certified by Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA), by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), to perform maintenance on Airbus models A330 and A340, TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil received the first A330 for a C Check (heavy maintenance), and the aircraft was delivered on October 30, to the Canadian Air Transat, fulfilling the agreed TAT (Turn Around Time).
The aircraft CG-PTS arrived at TAP M&E Brazil’s hangar, in Rio de Janeiro, last October 7, and it is part of an airplanes batch, which contract was signed on October 20, at Air Transat’s headquarters, in Montreal, Canada. The services performed on this plane included structural repairs, inspection of the entire steering system of the landing gear, replacement of the bogie beam of the landing gear, modification of electronic and mechanical systems, revitalization of the aircraft’s interior with the company’s new visual identity, substitution of injector nozzles of the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine, besides several preventive maintenance services.
The turn-around time was very challenging for a check of this type – 23 days – but the TAP M&E Brazil team, with the support of the TAP M&E Lisbon team, worked nonstop in this project and met the deadline. The coordination of each stage of the service, for both the aircraft and the components which went to the workshops, as well as the production and logistics planning were precise. Air Transat’s engineers and technicians thoroughly accompanied every step.
TAP Maintenance and Engineering has enjoyed a long relationship with Air Transat, both in Lisbon as in Rio de Janeiro. Since September 2008, the maintenance services for Air Transat aircraft have been performed in Brazil, thanks to the synergy and complementary work between the Company’s maintenance bases (Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre). The first service performed for Air Transat was in an A310 aircraft, which arrived at TAP M&E Brazil facilities, in Rio de Janeiro, on September 24, 2008. Today, there are 13 checks done on the company’s A310 aircraft, besides this A330.
The President of TAP M&E Brazil, Eng. Nestor Mauro Koch, comments on the importance of this customer to the Company: “since we have already performed more than 10 C checks on A310 aircraft for Air Transat, we are very happy that the first A330 to arrive at TAP M&E Brazil is also from Air Transat, as this shows the interest and confidence that Air Transat has in our services. The fact that we have four slots for simultaneous widebody services was the determining factor for Air Transat’s choice, because with the company’s operations concentrated in the Canadian summer and winter, it needs to do all of the heavy maintenance checks during Canada’s spring and fall seasons. We have an excellent relationship with Air Transat and we consider them a strategic customer for TAP M&E Brazil’s businesses. We will continue working to ensure that Air Transat receives the same technical quality, service level, and on-time delivery from TAP M&E Brazil that it always received in Lisbon.”
“For Transat, the quality of the work performed by TAP’s teams and the fact they worked diligently to meet the deadline confirmed the maintenance company as a great partner for us”, commented John Dacoulis, Air Transat’s Technical Director, expressing his satisfaction with the services performed by TAP M&E Brazil. “This first C check has met Transat’s expectations and the carrier is looking forward to continue this successful relationship with TAP M&E.”
