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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1505.PDF
BUSINESS AEROSTRUCTURES JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON Kaman looks for fivefold growth Restructuring aims to achieve revenue goal within 10 years US manufacturer Kaman Aerospace aims to quintuple its aerostructures work within a decade as it disposes of the last of its inventory of K-Max utility helicopters. Kaman Aerospace, part of the Kaman helicopter, musical instru ment and industrial technology conglomerate, recently completed a restructuring process that saw the creation of separate divisions for aerostructures, helicopter manufac turing and fuzing. The restructured company has created three North American and two European prime-contractor liaison offices in a bid to raise aero space subcontract and manufactur ing services annual revenues to $250 million from today's $50 mil lion within 10 years, says Bill Brown, Kaman Aerospace vice-pres ident for business development, aerostructures division. "We have identified where we wanted to be and made the changes we needed to make in order to get there," he says. Kaman Aerospace recently com pleted moving its facilities from Bloomfield, Connecticut, to Jack sonville, Florida, six months behind its original schedule. Brown says the slippage was due to a "steeper than anticipated learning curve". The company recorded a loss of $400,000 for the first six months of this year and remains in dispute with MD Helicopters (MDHI), for which it produced fuselages for MD500 and 600 series helicopters and composite rotor blades for the MD Explorer under a 15-year con tract. Kaman says it has invested over $16 million for the contract and is also owed about $4.2 million from MDHI. It says "progress has been made" since it stopped pro duction of MDHI parts in the sec ond quarter of last year. The company says that European subcontracts have been identified as a crucial part of its growth strategy, with a defined goal of about $20 million worth of deals within three years. Kaman admits its experience of the European aerospace industry is limited, with Boeing 757 panels constructed for Alenia Aeronautica Kaman has disposed of its final K-Max, but will retain the production line its largest value contract to date. "We are not a brand name in Europe, except for our helicopters," says Russ Jones, senior vice-presi dent of Kaman. The move comes as the com pany disposes of the last of its inventory of four remaining K-Max external-lift helicopters, following last month's delivery of two addi tional helicopters to largest K-Max operator Superior Helicopter of Grants Pass, Oregon, and one air craft each to Delano, California- based San Joaquin Helicopters and Prineville, Oregon-based Grizzly Mountain Aviation. Jones says the company will retain the K-Max production line and could restart manufacture if there are sufficient orders. Kaman Aerospace says it will also "seek additional opportunities" for its SH- 2G Super Seasprite naval helicopter. ACQUISITION JULIAN MOXON / LONDON Airbus cabler rescued Speculation about the future of Airbus cabling supplier Gespac Maroc Novatech has ended with the approval of the purchase of the French-Moroccan company by Latecoere subsidiary LATelec. Gespac Maroc Novatech's prob lems were so serious that the sup ply of main wiring harnesses for Airbus single-aisle aircraft was endangered, threatening disrup tion of A318, A319, A320 and A321 production. An industry source confirms that Airbus took over pay ment of the company's salaries to ensure continuity of supply. Gespac Maroc Novatech also sup plies components for the A380. The deal was approved by the Montpellier, France tribunal of commerce, which chose the Latecoere bid ahead of that from another French company, Labinal. LATelec will absorb Gespac Maroc Novatech's activities into its own cabling operation, based at Toulouse, where one of Gespac's operations was also based. The company says the acquisition will benefit both its strategic and finan cial interests, enabling it to rein force its position in the aircraft cabling business. Latecoere's cabling and onboard systems division accounts for 28% of the company's overall turnover, which stood at €196 million ($236 million) in 2003. PRICING British Airways fare battle with Italian authorities escalates Italian civil aviation authority Enac may force serious delays to British Airways flights from Rome to London as part of its battle with the UK airline over fares. Cancellations could result from Enac's stated intention to "interview" pas sengers thought to have bought tickets it deems to be priced lower than those sold by Alitalia on the same route. BA says it will "stand firm" over any such measures. Enac told BA on 29 July that it had three days to comply before it took action. So far nothing has happened, mainly because Italian officials concerned with the case are on holiday. BA complained to Brussels in July that the Italian government was unfairly propping up its national carrier. The move followed an Italian request that BA increase its fares on the Rome-New York route via London, where its price undercuts that charged by Alitalia on direct routing between the cities. The UK airline says indirect routings such as this are an essential part of the European Commission's competition policy because they temper anti-competitive activity. The EC has already criticised Enac for telling European airlines to raise their fares to the level charged by Alitalia. The flag carrier is working on a res cue plan that includes a planned Italian government emergency loan of €400 million ($480 million), prompting complaints from non-state-controlled airlines. 22 17-23 AUGUST 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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