Lufthansa Technik Hits 4bn Euro Turnover
By Ndubuisi Francis
Foremost aircraft maintenance organisation and the technical arm of Lufthansa German Airlines, Lufthansa Technik AG has hit an annual turnover of 4 billion euro.
The world's leading provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services with over 60 maintenance stations across the world as well as 27 subsidiaries and maintains the official aircraft of the German Chancellor, among others has over 370 clienele worldwide.
A Senior of the airline who spoke in Frankfurt, Germany recently while receiving a visting team of Nigerian and Ghanaian journalists said Lufthansa Technik had enjoyed over 45 years of technical support from the two leading aircraft makers, Airbus and Boeing.
He noted that lufthansa has a big engine shop in Hamburg with between 400-500 engines overhauled there annually.
According to him, aircraft checks such as the D and C checks are done in Hamburg and Frankfurt respectively, adding that governments and other customers across the world send their aircraft to Lufthansa Technik for servicing.
Lufthansa Technik, he added, also has a design agency which configures the interior of an aircraft, particularly the seats.
Lufthansa Technik's maintenance center is in Frankfurt and there are other important bases in Munich and Berlin.
Lufthansa Technik runs around 60 stations at all the larger German airports and all over the world at the important turnaround points of the parent company Lufthansa.
All in all, Lufthansa Technik maintenance looks after almost 400 aircraft from 90 airlines (of which around 250 machines are from Lufthansa).
The scope of work has been laid down in the maintenance plan for every check carried out on an aircraft. It starts with the Preflight Check
Before every start, the captain or copilot checks the plane. If necessary the technicians will change the tires as part of the daily checks, which require reconditioning at latest after 200 landings. They replace the brakes when the carbon disks have been overheated in a particularly hard braking manouvre.
Moreover, they check the aircraft for cracks, corrosion or leakages and check that important systems work perfectly. The oil level in the engines, hydraulic fluid, water and air pressure in the tyres are checked every day, the cabin is thoroughly cleaned over night and the regular aircraft wash serves not only to make it look good but also helps the environment. An unclean and therefore rough surface leads to more air resistance, that in turn leads to considerably more kerosene consumption.
All the technical data for all the planes being looked after is collated in the computer system ROD (Reliability On Demand).
Apart from the computers and sensors Lufthansa Technik has introduced a unique world-wide service that it is only able to offer due to the high qualification of its mechanics and engineers: small teams of specialists repair engine damage within hours anywhere in the world. These Airline Support Teams AST~ are rapid task forces for emergencies, for example when a client's plane has to be grounded due to a defective engine. For the affected airline quick helpmeans money. Because an aircraft can only bring in earnings for its operator when it is in the air.
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