It looks good for the components business. But hope is dimming that firms might acquire the engine-repair assets of Montreal aircraft-repair and maintenance firm Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in March.
The MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) firm was spun off by Air Canada in 2007 and filed for bankruptcy protection in March, throwing 2,800 people out of work, 1,800 of them in Montreal. Air Canada accounted for more than 90 per cent of its workload.
Jonathan Solursh, of FTI Consulting Canada Inc., the monitor in the case, said in his latest report this week that “no offers or concrete expressions of interest in the acquisition of the EMC (engine maintenance centre) as a going concern has been received.”
“Given this unfortunate fact and the requests by interested parties for additional time, a deadline extension was granted … (to see what) could be done to change this outcome.”
Former Aveos union officials’ hopes were raised after Vancouver’s MTU Canada expressed interest in Aveos’s former engine-repair division and England’s AJ Walter Aviation had kicked the tires of the components business.
Solursh disclosed that he had held a meeting earlier this month with union officials, Quebec government representatives and “a potential purchaser who had indicated an interest in job creation.”
The news is more upbeat on the components business.
Solursh said that “on July 13, Aveos received (six) bids (for the components maintenance centre).”
Discussions are continuing “and while an agreement has not been concluded ...(Solursh said he was) optimistic that an agreement will be reached in the very near future for a transaction that can be recommended for approval.”
Various other offers have been made for specific items, like landing gear and the gas and battery shops, although nothing has come of them yet.
But it appears that no one has expressed even passing interest in the heavy maintenance business, the complete aircraft and systems overhaul business that was the largest part of Aveos.
Air Canada officially urged that preference be given to Canadian MROs to take over former Aveos assets.
But the airline disclosed this week that the bulk of maintenance for its fleet of 205 aircraft has been awarded to foreign firms.
In addition to Premier Aviation Overhaul Centre Inc. of Trois Rivières, which came out of nowhere in 2010 to become a major player suddenly in Canada’s MRO business, Air Canada has signed up Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services Inc., in Nashville, Tenn; AAR Corp., of Wood Dale, Ill.; Israel Aerospace Industries’ Bedek Aviation Group; and Singapore’s ST Aviation Services Co. Pte. Ltd.
Source: http://www.canada.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment