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One of the advantages of defence maintenance, repair and overhaul work is that contracts tend to be long-term. Even better, once a com-

pany wins a multi-year deal, they build significant incumbent advantages that help

them in renewal competitions. The downside is that aircraft maintenance, repair and over-haul players like StandardAero, that want to broaden their industry presence, often have to wait until new projects come up for bid, to have an equal chance of getting their feet in the door.

According to Harinder Grewal, the com-pany’s senior vice-president (Government and Military sector), the current period provides such a window. That is because The Depart-ment of National Defence is in the midst of a vast procurement effort which, when com-pleted, will completely upgrade the country’s air fleet. And those aircraft will need to be kept in running order.

New Ottawa OfficeStandardAero, which recently opened an Ot-tawa office to help boost its defence sector presence, is perfectly positioned to help, says Grewal. The company, with approximately $1.5B sales and roughly 4,000 employees world-wide, has access to a global network of 12 primary facilities, situated in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Singapore and Australia, as well

as 14 regionally located service and support facilities. StandardAero’s Canadian operation, which employs 1,400 people and bills close to $650M, has the infrastructure and human capital to take on new defence-related work.

Opening the Ottawa office, which will be staffed by Jim Miller, vice-president market-ing and business development (Government and Military sector) and Jason DiTommaso, who focuses on Canadian strategy, was a key to the company’s growth strategy. The move gets StandardAero, which last year celebrated its 100th anniversary, a visible presence in a key decision center during a period when considerable work is expected to be handed out to aerospace contractors, related to pro-grams such as Fixed-Wing SAR, the CH-147 Chinook and the holy grail of all defence pro-grams, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project.

ReNewed defeNce iNitiative“We have generated explosive growth in the commercial aerospace markets. One such example would be acquiring the license to support the GE CFM56-7B engines that are used on WestJet’s entire fleet of 737s,” says

This global provider of aircraft MRO services has boosted its defence sector presence in Canada

B y P e t e r D i e k m e y e r

StandardAero

I N D U S T R Y P R O F I L E

StandardAero’s Miller, based at the new Ottawa office, says that DND support has been a key factor in the defence unit’s success

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Grewal. “As a result, we are now the larg-est aircraft engine maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in the country and one of the largest in the world.” Despite the phe-nomenal growth on the commercial side, the company is very focused on expanding their business within the Canadian aerospace and defence sectors.

Grewal, who took up responsibility for StandardAero’s defence sector performance objectives, customer satisfaction and business

development activities in 2007, has been with the company for two decades. During that time, he has held a host of leadership posi-tions, which have given him unique insight into sector developments on both a corporate and global scale.

“Our main competitive advantage in our push into the defence sector stems from our impressive infrastructure footprint and the considerable expertise and talent that we ac-quired working on civilian aircraft engines, whether it be our Business Aviation, Airlines and Fleets, Helicopter Programs or Energy sectors,” says Grewal. “However we also have a long-term relationship with DND that we are keen to build on.”

expeRtise ON cc-130 aNd cp-140 auRORa

StandardAero’s core business on the defence side stems from MRO work that it does on the Rolls-Royce T56/501D family of engines, which power the RCAF’s CC-130 Hercules and CP-140 Aurora. StandardAero is also very proud to support the USAF, USN, USCG, USCBP and many other international govern-ment’s C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orion fleets.

In 1993, the company bought the licence to do work on the AE2100 engine, which powers the C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft that DND recently acquired. Canada

takes delivery of the last of 17 C-130Js later this year (the AE2100 also powers the C-27J, another candidate for Canada’s Fixed-Wing SAR program).

According to Miller, who heads Standard-Aero’s international marketing and business development efforts, the DND’s support has been a key factor in the defence unit’s success. “We started work on this class of engines due to industrial and regional ben-efits offset contracts that we got in the 1960s and have built our competencies from there,” says Miller. “So kudos to The Gov-ernment of Canada and DND for that, as a result, we are now the world’s largest T-56 MRO provider, accounting for 60% of the global market.”

According to Miller, a considerable part of StandardAero’s global success relates to work that the company has done to sup-port engines on Australia’s fleet of C-130Js, which it has been doing as the prime contrac-tor and support services integrator. “Much of this is pure export,” says Miller. “Although we have a unit on the ground there, when major work is required on an engine, we just bring it to Winnipeg (Manitoba) and take care of it there. This is a win-win situation because it creates jobs here at home. For their part, the Australians tell us that their fleet has the high-est availability rate in recent memory.”

GE’s Testing, Research & Development Centre (engine icing test facility) in Winnipeg

StandardAero’s Grewal says his company is perfectly poised to assist the RCAF with the servicing of its new fleets

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pROvidiNg NOse tO tail seRviciNg

Despite StandardAero’s considerable focus on aircraft engine maintenance repair and over-haul work, StandardAero’s Miller refuses to be slotted as a one trick pony. “We provide nose-to-tail services that include avionics, en-gineering, airframe, interior refurbishments, paint facilities and technical services for busi-ness and general aviation, VIP air transport and military aircraft.” says Miller. “Our focus is on the client. We work with them to deter-mine what their needs are and then structure our operations to provide it to them.”

Miller concedes that the company’s engine MRO efforts get the most attention. One way to get an idea of the scale of Standard Aero’s presence in the industry, is to look at the wide range of possibilities around Canada’s bid to upgrade its Fixed Wing SAR capabilities that could bring the company new business. That’s because several of the leading bidders includ-ing Airbus Military (C-295), Alenia (C-27J), Boeing (V-22) and Lockheed Martin (C-130J) are expected to propose aircraft for the pro-gram. All of these aircraft have engines that StandardAero already has experience in servic-ing in Winnipeg. This should give the company a decided advantage in any upcoming main-tenance, repair and overhaul contracts – and this is key because a deal to purchase any one of the aforementioned aircraft would include requisite IRB (Industrial Regional Benefits) re-quirements which StandardAero would be in a position to satisfy.

The good news is that the FWSAR initiative, which has been an on-again-off- again pro-gram, now seems to be picking up steam says Miller. The Canadian government approved a memorandum to cabinet in December, 2011 on the project and a Request for Proposal is expected to be issued later in 2012.

StandardAero has also been bidding to win sub-contract work on the CH-147 Chi-nook helicopters, which the Government of Canada has acquired from the Boeing Com-pany and who will be responsible for sourcing repair and overhaul suppliers for the aircraft. According to Miller, at press time Boeing was putting out several work streams for bid, with StandardAero highly optimistic that it would be able to land support, test equipment and engineering services work as well as other possibilities.

f-35 OppORtuNitiesOf course, the elephant in the room remains DND’s intentions with regard to the F-35, which will be DND’s largest single procure-

ment ever. According to the Government of Canada, which in 2010 announced plans to buy 65 of the aircraft at a cost of $9 billion, so far 85 Canadian companies, research labo-ratories and universities have received more than $400 million in contracts related to the deal and far more are expected.

“It’s a big opportunity that we fully expect to take advantage of,” says Miller. “Our infra-structure positions us to do a lot of the engine MRO assignments, as well as airframe and component work that will be required, either through Lockheed Martin itself, or through subcontract work with one of its suppliers. And, we are also well positioned to work with Pratt & Whitney regarding the full range of propulsion related MRO.”

New wiNNipeg eNgiNe test facility

Another feather in StandardAero’s cap is the recent opening of the new GE Engine Testing, Research and Development Centre (TRDC) facility in Winnipeg. The new Centre will perform icing certification testing on GE’s jet engines, as well as develop advanced testing methodologies and equipment for GE Avia-tion’s commercial and military aircraft engines.

StandardAero will maintain and operate the certification test center which was de-signed to test gas turbine engines up to 150

inches in diameter and up to 150,000 lbs of thrust, as well as capabilities to accommodate high performance military engines.

MObile seRvice teaMsThat said, probably StandardAero’s biggest immediate challenge will be changing per-

C-130 Propeller Assembly

company:StandardAero

parent companyDubai Aerospace Enterprise

senior executives for canadaKim Olsen, SVP Helicopters, Energy & Engineering, Mike Scott, Chief Financial officer

web-sitewww.standardaero.com

locationsCanada, USA, Asia, South Pacific, Europe

Market sectorsGovernment & Military, Airlines & Fleets, Business Aviation, VVIP Completions (Associated Air Center); Components; Helicopters, Energy & Engineering

Number of employees4,000 worldwide, including 1,400 in Winnipeg

annual sales$1.5 billion (2011)

corporate snapshot

72 www.canadiandefencereview.com | APRIL 2012

ceptions of defence industry players, which became somewhat entrenched as the com-pany was focused on adding successes on the civilian side of the business. “Some still think of us primarily as a big engine shop in the prairies,” says Miller with a laugh. “But of course we are much more.”

One way to demonstrate the company’s renewed commitment to the defence sector, adds Grewal, is by innovating further and fo-cusing on customer service. Initiatives such as

StandardAero’s seven Mobile Service Teams, which are strategically located throughout North America, and provide customers, who are unable to get their craft to an MRO facility, with scheduled maintenance and emergency repair, provide a good example.

“The fact that we are located within 250 miles of over 2,500 business avia-tion customers means that we can provide rapid response, with qualified experts that have the same technical capabilities,

authorizations and quality systems, used in our repair centers,” says Grewal. “This gives customers greater flexibility, while keeping costs down.”

paRtNeRiNg with cf tO eNsuRe OpeRatiONal

ReadiNess“These days almost all of our clients are fo-cused on costs, more particularly on getting better value for every dollar they spend,” said Grewal. “As a result, we are constantly working to come up with more efficient and effective sustainment solutions that take into account not only the maintenance re-quirements set out in aircraft industry user manuals, but which also reflect their usage of the product, which may or may not differ from standard configurations,”

That said, Grewal continues to look to the future. “We have worked successfully with the Department of National Defence for de-cades,” said Grewal. “StandardAero has been a great partner with the CF and continues to help Canadian men and women in uniform by ensuring their mission critical equipment is always in a state of operational readiness. We want to continue to do that in any way that we can.”

Peter Diekmeyer is CDR’s Quebec Bureau Chief

MaJor capaBILItIes

StandardAero has extensive experience servicing the C-130J

engine maintenance, repair and overhaulServices Rolls-Royce, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, Vericor and other engines. Flexible facilities to accommodate new projects

airframeProvides a wide variety of services ranging from standard inspections to major alterations. Clients include Airbus Industries, Boeing Business Jet, Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Learjet

component repair and overhaulBroad range of services including the repair and overhaul of numerous original equipment manufacturers ranging from Rolls-Royce, to General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell

avionicsAuthorizations include the FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), Delegated Engineering Representatives (DER), Class 1,2, & 3 Radio and Class 2&3 instrument ratings

engineering servicesProvides a broad array of services including reengineering, redesign for product workflow and efficiency management, an E-Pubs (electronic publications) group, inventory management, testing, training and other solutions

Other servicesVIP Aircraft completions and MRO (As-sociated Air Center, Dallas, TX); full service business aviation MRO including airframe, paint, interiors, avionics, certifications and AOG support (via the company’s Mobile Service Team)