Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

VIP outfitters expect the return of the Boeing 737 Max, recently approved to resume flying, to spark an uptick in completion activity. “It’s our feeling that the grounding of the Max had a bigger impact than Covid-19 on narrowbody completions,” AMAC Aerospace COO Bernd Schramm told AIN.
Some potential buyers may avoid the model because of its accident history, but given the scrutiny and retesting during the Max’s 20-month grounding others believe “it will be the safest aircraft in the world,” Schramm said. “We’ve experienced both scenarios.” One contracted completion client canceled its order; the second customer’s BBJ Max-9 is expected to arrive at AMAC’s Basel facility in March, and the buyer (identified only as not from the Middle East or China) was more committed to the Max in the grounding’s aftermath.
Schramm noted the narrowbody completions market was slack before the coronavirus as BBJ deliveries stopped, and he expects its reapproval to bring “a few additional customers” to completion facilities annually going forward. The widebody green completions market, however—ACJ350, BBJ787 and BBJ747—remains in a two-year doldrum. “Boeing and Airbus are not selling in that area,” he said.
Meanwhile, following an initial halt to institute pandemic safety protocols, completion and refurbishment facilities report little COVID-19 impact. “It doesn’t hinder our operations,” said the Swiss company’s director of business development and marketing Waleed Muhiddin, sentiments expressed by others in the industry, as well. AMAC keeps in close contact with vendors to ensure schedules are met, and customers don’t demand quick turns on these bespoke projects, anyway. “We tend to see time being a friend,” Muhiddin added.
AMAC itself delivered a reconfigured and refurbished BBJ747-8 for a Middle East customer in November, with the VIP interior created in collaboration with the buyer’s design team. The reconfiguration included installation of small VIP suites, in addition to the forward master quarters. A head-of-state completion of an ACJ320neo for an undisclosed government client, designed in house, is currently in progress at AMAC’s Basel facility, and a Far East customer’s green ACJ319neo, the interior co-designed with the owner’s team, is slated to arrive in the first quarter.
Health mandates and commercial airline service reductions have complicated on-site visits and oversight by clients and their teams, but AMAC continues welcoming and hosting them in house.
“Our HR department is checking and advising” all parties on restrictions, medical certification requirements, and other travel issues, Schramm said. “Every two weeks the situation is different. We have our own tests, and we can test customer representatives and pilots in house.”
Completion facilities already had robust electronic communication links in place before the pandemic, which have been getting a workout in the lockdown era for Zoom-style web meetings and communications, “especially with Far East” clients, said Schramm. “We have IT systems that can download huge packages of data.” 
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<figcaption style="font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1.2;font-style:italic;">Work that AMAC has specialized in for business jets such as this Gulfstream include installation of JetWave high-speed Ka-band satellite communications systems. </figcaption>
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Meanwhile, demand for interior refurbishments and system upgrades has been strong, particularly in the connectivity department. AMAC recently inked its 30th JetWave Ka-band high-speed connectivity installation, with 27 completed—two BBJs and a Bombardier Global the most recent—and three pending, becoming “a center for Ka-band installation” in the process, according to Schramm.
A Honeywell JetWave channel partner, “no other company has as many Ka-band STCs” as AMAC, Schramm said, with approvals covering most models of long-range and larger business jets. Now demand for newly introduced Ku-band system installations is growing, and AMAC recently put a Gogo 2Ku-band solution aboard a Middle East-based BBJ767.
“We did a comparison of [Ka-band and Ku-band] systems” that found “very similar performance,” Schramm said. In some cases typical passenger loads or other factors could favor one over the other, but as for what drives the system choice, “Some buy BMW, some buy Mercedes,” Schramm said in explanation. He noted the JetWave Ka system has more brand—and band—recognition, given its first-to-market status.
Meanwhile, once the domain of executive airliners only, &nbsp;newer, more compact connectivity systems have raised demand for installations on large and even midsize business jets. AMAC has seen growing demand for upgrades, refurbishments, and maintenance work in these aircraft categories since becoming a Bombardier-authorized service facility in 2018. Hangar 5, dedicated exclusively to Bombardier’s midsize jets and now itself undergoing completion work in Basel, is slated for an early 2021 opening. Just shy of 400 feet, it will be AMAC’s widest—though not tallest—hangar.
But health and safety issues beyond the pandemic concern AMAC and its clients. The company has developed STCs for installations of laser-based antimissile systems&nbsp;and is enhancing its expertise in onboard defensive systems. AMAC has completed antimissile installations on five aircraft, including a Gulfstream G650, Airbus A340, and Boeing 747, with a second Boeing jumbo on que for next year.
AMAC is also exclusive Middle East sales representative for Pilatus Aircraft and “despite the difficult time due to Covid-19 and the unrest in the Gulf area,” it sold two PC-12NGX turboprop singles in 2020, company sales executive Mohamad Badran reported, though some prospects have “put their projects on hold until further notice.”
To showcase the PC-24 twinjet to regional customers, AMAC offers virtual video tours with 3D mapping, highlighting the twinjet’s special features.
AMAC also operates in Bodhran, Turkey, a maintenance facility for regionally based commercial aircraft. Winter is typically a busy time for maintenance after the long travel season, but 2020’s plunge in commercial flying has reduced maintenance demand.
Likewise, its France-based JCB Aerostructures business, primarily serving the commercial market with its state-of-the-art honeycomb carbon interior components, has seen demand drop, but has ongoing contracts with some commercial customers, and work for AMAC’s custom completions is strong.
Looking beyond the Max return and Covid’s retreat, AMAC has expansion room at EuroAirport Basel—also home to Jet Aviation’s completion center—and the airport is planning further development of its own. With a 12,975-foot primary runway and light commercial operations (Geneva and Zurich handle the bulk of Switzerland’s air travelers), Basel “remains a good choice” for the company’s base, Muhiddin said.

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