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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0258.PDF
AIRLINER MAINTENANCE successful core businesses. Nevertheless, says Meyer, KSSU "...remains one of the cornerstones of our maintenance projec tions. If it was dissolved, we'd have prob lems." As for the future, "We're playing a waiting game," says Meier. "On the techni cal side, we're a natural fit. We work very well together, and the partners are very reliable." ATLAS came into existence in 1970 as a result of the workings of the Montparnasse Committee, which also led to the forma tion of KSSU. Although the group has kept its acro- nymic name, UTA — which had provided the T in ATLAS — pulled out of the consortium before it got off the ground, later joining KSSU. ATLAS, launched as a four-member group, grew to five when Iberia joined in 1972. Despite initially lofty aims, the group's develop ment has been tempered in creasingly by pragmatism and the political tensions caused by the need to strike a balance between the needs, influence and inter ests of the big pair, Air France and Lufthansa, and those of the group's three smaller members. For the "big two", fleet sizes will grow to the point where independent mainte nance makes economic sense. For the smaller part ners this is far less likely. As Sabena points out: "For small fleets the [ATLAS] formula provides the sup port of a big organisation at acceptable prices and, in principle, without the loss of workload and skill." Roycroft says that, in 1970, "...with fewer than ten Boeing 747s there was a strong argu ment for having common airframe and engine overhaul sites". Despite the "com mon effort", he says, "...the ATLAS struc ture preserved the separate identity of the partners". Apart from collaborative work on the 747, which is in service with all the member airlines, the group also covers the MDC DC-10, in service with Lufthansa, Sabena and Iberia, and the Airbus A300, A300-600 and A310 models, which are in service with all members. DC-10 airframe work is carried out by Alitalia, at the site established in 1973. The first Airbus A300 shop was set up at Lufthansa in 1977, the second at Air France in 1984 and a third will be established this year at Alitalia. An A310 line was set up in 1990 at Sabena. While Lufthansa maintains the JT9D and also the General Electric CF6-50, Air France also carries out maintenance work on the later CF6s. Air France and Iberia also have a bilateral agreement for the P&W JT8D, the work being carried out by Iberia. Alitalia and Sabena provide auxiliary power unit maintenance. KLM maintains KSSU's 747s and (below) carries out third-party work When ATLAS was set up 20 years ago, a complex model of work-sharing was devel oped to try to ensure an equitable spread among the partners. As a result of emerging changes in fleet structures, however, and also of the maintenance philosophy under pinning ATLAS, areas of this plan are now being re-examined. Roycroft points out: "In the mid-1980s, partners started to think about shifting operators' workloads back to their own facilities...with the partners gradually shift ing workload back to their own products." This has meant inevitably that the amount of partner work carried out within the group has decreased. To begin with, the expected level of co-operation between ATLAS partners was much greater than has actually transpired, at least in certain areas. "The original idea saw co-operation in cases of aircraft not being available, with one partner providing its aircraft to another if necessary. This never materialised," Roycroft says. ATLAS' change over the next few years may be described as graceful degradation. Roycroft says: "At its peak, ATLAS ac counted for 15% of the total volume of Lufthansa's technical divi sion; it's now heading for 5%. It's becoming less im portant." This is also reflected in Lufthansa's decision to maintain its own Airbus A340 long-range aircraft in dependently of ATLAS, de spite the A340 being designated an ATLAS air craft by the consortium. Roycroft says that this deci sion was taken because of the numbers involved, and because of its basic com monality within the Airbus family. Sabena, Iberia and Air France will, however, share their A340 mainte nance as part of ATLAS. Roycroft insists, neverthe less: "We're convinced we still shouldn't give up com mon maintenance opera tions." He sees ATLAS continuing through to at least the end of the decade. Shifts in emphasis and in structure will, argues Roycroft, demand greater flexibility within ATLAS. He recognises that this may not be welcomed wholeheart edly by all the partners. "Iberia and Sabena want to keep ATLAS the way it was 20 years ago. What we need are concepts that give the big partners more freedom, but don't leave the small partners in the cold." Sabena, however, while "...not rejecting, of course, the aim of flexibility, would like more stability in the ATLAS procedures". Resolving this may be asking a great deal, but it will need to be hammered out within the group if the consortium is to make it intact through the next decade. Roycroft insists: "We need to let ATLAS change gradually. We shouldn't keep an activity within ATLAS unless there is a good reason." Beyond the end of the decade the future of ATLAS remains unclear, although Roycroft suggests that, should a "mega- widebody" like the proposed Airbus A350 or a 650-seat-plus Boeing aircraft emerge, then ATLAS would once again have a powerful argument for existence. D FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5-11 February, 1992
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