Tightening the screws
EgyptAir's maintenance services, which have been repeatedly blamed for crashes and flight delays, are just one part of the company that is being overhauled. Amira Ibrahim speaks to the man newly appointed to oversee these services
When an EgyptAir plane crashed in Tunis in May, dozens of stories blamed the company's aircraft maintenance services, going as far as to speculate that the plane's wheels failed to lock in preparation for an emergency landing. The subsequent investigation, however, concluded that the plane had been in "perfect condition".
Even so, whenever a flight is delayed or there is an accident, the 70 year-old carrier's maintenance services are immediately on the hot seat.
"Maintenance causes only 10 to 15 per cent of flight delays. Passengers' attitudes, flight traffic, ground services and even pilots are usually responsible, but maintenance is always blamed," said Atef Abdel-Hamid, chairman of EgyptAir's new maintenance and technical support company. Abdel-Hamid, a former air force engineer who more recently directed the air force's aircraft factory, took up the post to oversee maintenance one month ago. "Our authorisation is required to permit planes to take off, consequently it is our job to investigate and examine the plane's technical condition thoroughly. If there is the slightest suspicion of a problem, we repeat inspection procedures. This is the only case when maintenance procedures are responsible for flight delays," he said.
Following the 7 May crash in Tunis, Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq issued a series of measures aimed at improving the national carrier's performance. Topping these was a change in management and the company's transformation into seven holding companies. The new entities are dedicated to air services, ground services, maintenance, cargo, tourism and duty free shops.
Another obstacle that affected the performance of EgyptAir's maintenance is the shortage of qualified engineers licenced to service its newer aircraft. "When an old type of plane is replaced with newer one, engineers licenced for the old type need additional training," Abdel-Hamid said.
Following the 1999 crash of the Boeing 767-300 off of the US's east coast, EgyptAir sold the only Boeing 767 remaining in its fleet, choosing instead to use the Boeing 777- 200 on its route to New York.
New security regulations are also keeping EgyptAir's maintenance company busy. In February, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended that civil aviation authorities install new securer cockpit doors by November 2003. The American Federal AviationAuthority (FAA), however, requires that the cockpit doors of all domestic and foreign carriers using US airports be upgraded to its new standards by 9 April 2003. In the meantime, AFA regulations requiring that temporary door-strengthening devices such as the steel bars and extra locks be installed -- stipulations that go into effect in September -- have already been implemented by EgyptAir.
To better serve its own fleet as well as the aircraft of other Egyptian and Arab carriers using the country's airports, EgyptAir in 1999 built an LE500-million engineering complex in Cairo in cooperation with Lufthansa. The German airline continues to be involved in the complex on a consultative basis. Among the four-hangar complex's facilities are the largest engine test bed in the Middle East, two engine overhaul bases and an engine test cell.
In spite of the expansion of EgyptAir's maintenance facilities, Abdel-Hamid says that maintenance needs to grow further to meet the increasing demand for its services, highlighting the need for additional funding and human resources. "Our staff consists of 3,500 persons, 900 of them licenced engineers. For the time being, we don't have any problem serving the EgyptAir fleet. But to meet the ambitious plans -- offering services to foreign carriers at all Egyptian airports -- we need to at least double our staff of engineers, which we have started to do."
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