Maintenance

Brazilian operator TAM is planning to construct a new hangar to support Boeing 777s and Airbus A350s joining its fleet with a target completion date of 2010.

Currently the hangar space at the carrier's Sao Carlos facility accommodates seven narrowbody aircraft or a single widebody and five narrowbody planes.

As development of the new hangar gets underway in the short term TAM is approaching a previously-set December deadline to make a decision regarding the spin-off of its maintenance division.

The company in August said it was evaluating opportunities for both its MRO and frequent flyer segments.

Currently TAM performs maintenance largely on its own fleet of Airbus A320s and A330s. The carrier is still approved for Fokker 100 maintenance, but no longer operates that aircraft type.

During an investor presentation earlier this week TAM management said the carrier hopes to win approval for 767 airframe maintenance next year, along with FAA certification for its maintenance capabilities. The carrier is adding four 767s to its fleet, and plans to operate all the aircraft during the fourth quarter.

TAM's review of possibly structuring the MRO as a stand-alone business unit has cut downtime per aircraft by 30%, and allowed for the optimised use of spares through the reduction of turnaround time for components.