Flight Daily News

StandardAero (booth 2699) is continuing to invest millions of dollars in expanding its business despite the economic turmoil affecting Dubai, where its owner Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is based.

"DAE is extremely supportive of our daily operations and allowing us to reinvest in our business," Rob Mionis, chief executive of StandardAero and head of DAE's manufacturing and engineering division, said at the show today.

"Over the past two years we have invested $30 million on getting [General Electric] CF34 capability in Winnipeg, for instance."

He said that despite the fact that "Dubai has its challenges", StandardAero is "somewhat buffeted as a standalone entity". He added: "We are extremely profitable, with extremely good cash flows."

StandardAero - purchased by DAE in 2007 as part of a strategy to create a global aftermarket business - has annual revenues of $1.4 billion and its capabilities include engine and airframe overhaul and business jet completion, as well as military aircraft support. It has 26 facilities in the USA, Canada, Europe, Singapore and Australia.

StandardAero has appointed Honeywell veteran Scott Taylor as senior vice-president for its business aviation sector. He said customers would begin to see "positive changes" in the company's four primary shops in the USA - Augusta in Georgia; Springfield, Illinois; Houston and Los Angeles.

The company will also focus in 2010 on "customer experience", said Taylor by looking at the way StandardAero communicates with and looks after its clients while their equipment is in its workshops.

"It's not just an operations issue of how efficiently you can get an engine or airframe in and our the door," he said. "It's what you do with the entire time you are working with them."

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