Global Reach with a Local Focus

Hawker Pacific Aerospace
Written by Jessica Ferlaino

Over more than half a century, Hawker Pacific Aerospace has established itself as a leading independent international maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider for Landing Gears. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG since 2002, Hawker Pacific has a multitude of advantages derived from the global footprint of Lufthansa Technik while providing exceptional local services from its California headquarters.
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Hawker Pacific is specialized in the maintenance of Landing Gears, associated hydraulic components and engine nacelles. Boasting 234,000 square feet across the nine buildings at its Sun Valley headquarters, Hawker Pacific has the resources, the technical abilities and the knowledge to accommodate a wide range of aircraft.

Hawker Pacific’s 370 employees maintain, repair and overhaul Landing Gears and Thrust Reversers. The majority of its facilities are shop-floor-based, with a small area dedicated to administration.

Hawker Pacific is located near California’s Burbank Airport, is Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified and complies with all industry standards to which it is subject. The company offers services to a number of commercial and regional jet aircraft types such as: Airbus A300, A310, A318, A319, A320, and A321, Boeing 737NG, 757, 767, DC-10/MD-10, MD-11, and Embraer E-170/190 and ERJ 145. Hawker strives for continuous improvement in innovation and technology to achieve customer satisfaction.

Hawker Pacific offers to support its customers with an Aircraft on Ground (AOG) team. The global network of the Lufthansa Technik Group provides Hawker with access to over 21,000 spare part numbers that are available at any time, either individually or in complete sets.

Hawker’s broad parts portfolio and in-house expertise enables it to provide impressive turn-around times and cost-effective solutions for its customers. It is able to adopt lean processes, taking advantage of the full scope of its parent company.

Hawker Pacific understands the cost-related price pressures facing its customers. At the same time, it remains cognizant of the regulatory restrictions to which they are bound. As Strauss explained, “Typically, the landing gear need to be repaired or overhauled every ten years, so there is a hard time limit.

“We emphasize a Lean Production concept and run various continuous improvement projects in order to keep our overhaul process as efficient as possible,” Strauss noted. “Additionally, we drive a ‘Repair before Scrap mentality’, focusing on limiting the number of parts to scrap. The common scrap reason is landing gear parts wearing beyond their reparability limit throughout the typically ten years of use. Through our constant innovation and our continuous improvement, we develop procedures to repair parts rather than having to scrap them.”

The company has assembled a knowledgeable and qualified team of professionals who are equipped to respond quickly to customer needs and deliver on-time results of the highest quality. Hawker Pacific is reliable, responsible and committed to the delivery of world-class service and flexible support for its customers around the world.

“We have a very successful program for regional jet Landing Gears. In 2015, we overhauled more than thirty sets of Embraer E-190 Landing Gears. We have been gearing up for this program for the last five years,” said Strauss.

For Hawker Pacific, an aircraft’s size does not denote its importance. Regional aircraft play an important role in the commercial aviation industry, and Hawker is there to provide that highly-demanding market with the necessary service and support.

The company offers quality delivery, reliability and competitive pricing. Hawker Pacific employs an on-site FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER) who develops and approves repair procedures that can save customers on the cost of replacement parts.

The company provides localized service with a global reach. Being a part of the Lufthansa Technik network provides access to a joint asset pool of over 40 Landing Gear sets for exchange and lease, as well as many other items. Hawker can offer same-day delivery and world-class service from its complete support staff of qualified inspectors, engineers and professionals.

As an integrated landing gear service provider, Hawker Pacific’s hydraulic and mechanical abilities extend to a number of components including retract actuators, steering actuators, pitch dampers and telescopic struts.

Four years ago, Hawker introduced a new product into its portfolio. In collaboration with Lufthansa Technik’s Airframe Related Component (ARC®) shops in Hamburg and Shenzhen, Hawker has included thrust reverser repair and overhaul services. To date, Hawker holds capabilities for the CFM56-5B and V2500-A5 Thrust Reversers with the intention to further grow the portfolio into CF34-10E and CFM56-7B.

“We have long-term experience in the Lufthansa Technik network with these products, but we did not have a local footprint in the Americas, so obviously our goal is to build this Thrust Reverser branch and make it equally successful to the landing gear,” Strauss noted.

In addition to industry compliance with the regulatory framework of the FAA and EASA, there is a strong internal commitment at Hawker Pacific – and across Lufthansa’s global operations –that is built upon competition, integrity and responsible behavior.

“Throughout the whole Lufthansa Technik network, we have the same quality system; there are quality standards, and each of our facilities has to meet them. There are internal audits between the different facilities to ensure every company works to the same standard,” Strauss explained.

At the heart of product delivery and exceptional customer service at Hawker Pacific is the dedication and skill of its employees. Hawker Pacific is not only committed to customer satisfaction, it makes great investments in its employees to attract the industry’s best via job fairs and recruitment efforts at institutions of higher education.

“Employees are very loyal to their company, and that loyalty is driven. It’s advantageous both ways. Once we find the right skills and the right employees, we invest in them. We need to make sure that we keep them involved, we keep them happy and, most importantly, we keep them trained,” said Strauss. “Hawker benefits from the people working here who are motivated to go the extra mile.”

The Lufthansa Technik Landing Gear network is preparing for a number of new aircraft types, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing Dreamliner. As the landing gear ages, these too will require maintenance, repair and overhaul services. Hawker Pacific will be ready.

“They will need to be overhauled as well, hence we need to keep innovating, and we need to set up capabilities to serve the market,” stated Strauss. The goal is to continue to expand Hawker Pacific’s global reach, while solidifying its place in the local and regional market.

“We want to bring more capabilities into the local areas. We want to be able to repair more components for the American market in the Americas instead of having to send them to Europe for repair,” Strauss concluded.

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