Lufthansa Technik Digital Summit

Yesterday evening, the second of a total of three Airbus A350-900s of the German Ministry of Defense's Special Air Mission Wing arrived at Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg for cabin completion. After the first aircraft 10+03 "Kurt Schumacher" was initially equipped with a transitional cabin last year to ensure an early entry into service, 10+01 "Konrad Adenauer" will now receive the first full government cabin for an aircraft of this type. The completion work will therefore take much longer this time. Delivery to the Luftwaffe is planned for fall 2022.

In parallel with the revised exterior appearance, which has been updated with, among other things, titles in the "Bundes Sans" font and wingtips in large-scale black, red and gold, the 10+01 will also differ significantly from the 10+03 in the interior. In contrast to the latter's open cabin design, the various functional areas for political-parliamentary flight operations will now be structurally separated from one another, as was already the case with the two predecessors based on the Airbus A340. The rest of the cabin will be available to the delegations flying with them, as usual. It will feature seating with generous seat pitch, an appropriate number of washrooms and modern galley equipment.

In October, the third Airbus A350, registered 10+02, will also arrive in Hamburg to also receive the full government cabin. When both 10+01 and 10+02 have been redelivered to the German Armed Forces, 10+03, which is currently already in service, will also return to Lufthansa Technik to be converted from the transitional to the full government cabin.

Lufthansa Technik AG recently began the strategic further development of its proven patient transport unit PTE (German: Patiententransporteinheit) for the air transport of patients in intensive medical care. Based on an order placed by the German Armed Forces in 2020, an initial 26 PTE NG (New Generation) units will be produced over the next two years.

The further development for the German Armed Forces is based on the Patient Transport Unit (PTU) NG in international service, of which Lufthansa Technik recently delivered eight additional units to NATO's Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport fleet. One goal of the further development is to make the PTE NG flexibly deployable on all suitable aircraft types of the German Armed Forces. To enable it to be used, for example, on both the Airbus A400M and the future Airbus A321neoLR of the German Air Force, it will receive all the necessary military and also civil approvals as both aviation and medical equipment.

The specification and airworthiness certification will be carried out by Lufthansa Technik. The specialized Swiss medical device manufacturer Aerolite has been contracted to develop and manufacture the system. For installation in different aircraft types, the partners have also developed a special concept that allows electrical connection to various on-board power systems with direct and alternating current. Installation requires no tools and takes only a few minutes.

"The ease of adaptation to a wide variety of aircraft types is a decisive advantage of the new PTE NG for the German Armed Forces," said Mirco Laufer-Beuser, Senior Engineer Aeromedical Solutions at Lufthansa Technik. "This enables us to provide our customer with the greatest possible flexibility in successfully managing its increasingly extensive range of missions."

"With this order, we are also following up on an almost 20-year success story of first-generation PTEs," adds Oliver Thomaschewski, Head of Product and Project Management Aircraft Components at Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg.

The German Armed Forces currently operate 37 first-generation PTEs, which were procured at the time for the Airbus A310 MRTT and C-160 Transall. Almost all of them are still in daily service, since 2018 also on the Airbus A400M. The new generation will also meet the requirements of the German Air Force's future transport fleet. The wealth of experience gained from Bundeswehr missions flows directly into the PTE NG.

Lufthansa Technik and the Mexican carrier MasAir Cargo Airline have signed a comprehensive Total Component Support (TCS®) contract covering repair and overhaul of components for MasAir's Boeing 767F fleet. The new contract governs supply for up to 14 aircraft over a period of five years. This is the first contract signed directly between Lufthansa Technik and MasAir.

Gustavo Acevedo, Director of Maintenance, MasAir, said: "With Lufthansa Technik we are confident to have secured the support of a global player in technical aircraft services whose experience and reliability we highly value. This is especially important now that we have started our ambitious fleet expansion plan."

"This contract is a big success for Lufthansa Technik in the highly competitive Mexican market. As a strong partner, we are looking forward to supporting MasAir during the successful expansion of its business," said Robin Johansson, Senior Director Corporate Sales Latin America and The Caribbean, Lufthansa Technik.

With the Total Component Support TCS® agreement, MasAir benefits from an individual supply concept that enables short, rapid transport paths. Component support of MasAir fleet will be ensured through a home base stock to be established in Mexico City and in Los Angeles, California.

The crisis in the aviation industry brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has hit Lufthansa Technik AG hard. In fiscal year 2020, revenue* plummeted by 43% year-on-year to €3,747 million (prior year: €6,572 million). Adjusted EBIT dropped well into the red to €-383 million (prior year: €463 million).

In the second quarter of 2020, the pandemic led to a temporary suspension of the majority of air traffic worldwide, resulting in extensive downtime and decommissioning of commercial aircraft, as well as postponements of maintenance events. As a consequence, demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft, engines and components suffered a massive slump. Lufthansa Technik, the MRO world market leader, felt the impact of this development in the capacity utilization of its workshops. Certain product divisions, such as Engines and Component Services, saw their capacity utilization temporarily drop by well over half.  

As a result, the company has had to reduce its workforce: Including external staff, the number of employees worldwide has already declined by more than 3,000 in the wake of the crisis – a reduction of 12.5% compared with 2019. This also included around 1,900 temporary workers around the world. In terms of in-house staff, the number fell by 5% to 22,745 at the end of 2020 (year-end 2019: 23,855). Numerous investments also had to be stopped or postponed. At €152 million, expenses for investments were thus significantly lower than in the previous year (€313 million).  

Wizz Air becomes the first customer of the Technical Logbook solution of AVIATAR. Through the newly introduced solution, Wizz Air will replace the manual and paper-based process of capturing technical issues during flight/on ground and implement the seemless digital pilot-to-maintenance collaboration application.

AVIATAR's Technical Logbook offers prefilled text blocks and automated input masks that capture technical issues of the aircraft during flight and on ground. It therefore replaces time-consuming manual entries into paper books and improves data quality as well as transparency. The new solution works with any hardware device (e.g. tablet, smartphone or desktop computer) and provides pilots with access to aircraft status anywhere and anytime. It also offers back-up processes in case of connectivity issues. Real-time data availability, directly connected with the M&E system (maintenance and engineering system), ensures maintenance on arrival and enables a seemless pilot-to-maintenance collaboration - leading to decreased turnaround times and costs. In addition, the standardized data structure helps airlines to gain insights into trend analytics.

Julia Brix, Head of Technical Services at Wizz Air, said: "Following our goal to become a paperless airline and to further reduce our environmental footprint significantly, we are excited to become the Launch Customer of AVIATAR's Technical Logbook solution in partnership with Lufthansa Technik. AVIATAR's Technical Logbook will help Wizz Air to deliver such goals by introducing a full paperless cockpit for our crews and also for maintenance. Due to its full integration with AMOS, meaning also live feed with both MOC (Maintenance Operations Center) and OCC (Operations Control Center), the solution will further enhance Wizz Air's Technical and Operational performance."

"Especially during these difficult times for the aviation industry, it is our goal to help our customers to improve their processes digitally with new solutions on AVIATAR. The modular Technical Logbook application will help our long-standing partner Wizz Air to not only benefit from direct efficiency gains but also enable them access to a completely new pool of real-time operational data. We are proud to jointly work with Wizz Air towards new predictive use cases and health management features leverage this data," said Philip Mende, Vice President Digital Fleet Solutions at Lufthansa Technik.

Launched in 2017, AVIATAR is the independent platform for digital products and services developed by Lufthansa Technik. The platform offers its users digital products ranging from predictive maintenance  to automated fulfilment solutions. AVIATAR combines fleet management solutions, data science and engineering expertise to provide a comprehensive range of integrated digital services and products for airlines, MRO companies, OEMs and lessors that seamlessly integrate with physical fulfilment in TechOps and beyond.

Lufthansa Technik AG reorganized its global Corporate Sales management team at the beginning of the year. Kai-Stefan Roepke has taken over responsibility for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Thomas Boettger for the Asia Pacific region. Frank Berweger remains Vice President Corporate Sales for the Americas.

In December 2020, Kai-Stefan Roepke started his new job as Vice President Corporate Sales EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). He succeeded Robert Gaag, who retired last year. Kai-Stefan Roepke began his career at Lufthansa Technik in 1996 and has held several positions within the company since then. In his previous role, he was Vice President of Commercials, VIP & Special Mission Aircraft Services in Hamburg since May 2017.

Thomas Boettger has taken over his new position as Vice President Corporate Sales Asia Pacific in January 2021. Since 2001, he has worked in different positions within the Component and Engine department at Lufthansa Technik. Previously, Thomas Boettger was CEO of XEOS in Wrocław, Poland, a joint venture subsidiary of GE and Lufthansa Technik, since 2016.

"With Kai-Stefan Roepke and Thomas Boettger, we have been able to appoint two experienced managers from our own ranks, who now complete the leadership team of our Corporate Sales. In these challenging times they will decisively support our sales activities with their expertise," said Johannes Bußmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik.
 

Sichuan Airlines and Lufthansa Technik AG signed a 5-year agreement for digital fleet solutions through AVIATAR and engine maintenance services for the V2500 and CFM56-5B engines of the Airbus A320 fleet. AVIATAR will support Sichuan Airlines' Airbus A350, A330 and A320 fleets.  

For digitally optimized fleet operations of its overall 168 Airbus A350, A330 and A320 aircraft, Sichuan Airlines will implement AVIATAR's solutions - including condition monitoring, fleet management, certain predictive maintenance & health management solutions and event analytics. Under the duration of the contract, a full range of engine services are provided to Sichuan Airlines' A320 fleet.

"The new cooperation with Lufthansa Technik is part of our commitment to ensure the highest possible operational reliability and a further confirmation of the excellent relationship between us and our long-standing partner. We look forward to further intensify our close cooperation for the benefit of both parties." said Shao Chuan, Deputy Chief Engineer and General Manager of Engineering of Sichuan Airlines.

Johannes Bussmann, CEO of Lufthansa Technik said: "We greatly appreciate the trust Sichuan Airlines has placed in us and are delighted that they have joined our AVIATAR Community as well as selecting us for the engine support of their A320 fleet. Through our value adding digital solutions, we will support our partner Sichuan Airlines in optimizing their technical operations processes and help to eliminate unscheduled maintenance related events."  

Launched in 2017, AVIATAR is the independent platform for digital products and services developed by Lufthansa Technik. The platform offers its users digital products ranging from predictive maintenance to fulfilment and automated solutions. AVIATAR combines fleet management solutions, data science and engineering expertise to provide a comprehensive range of integrated digital services and products for airlines, MRO companies, OEMs and lessors that seamlessly integrate with physical fulfilment in TechOps and beyond.

Lufthansa Technik AG is proud to welcome United Airlines as the newest user of its AVIATAR platform. The airline signed a contract in late 2020 for digital support through AVIATAR for its Boeing 777 and Airbus A320 fleet, with plans to work with Lufthansa Technik to develop new predictive maintenance solutions for its Boeing 737 fleet.

Combining the strengths of the world's third largest Boeing 737 fleet operator, engineering know-how and data expertise will lead to unique predictive maintenance solutions for United's different fleet types.

United has already begun integrating AVIATAR into its existing processes and training procedures.

"By leveraging AVIATAR's digital platform, our tech-ops professionals can access data, insights and recommendations that help us optimize our operations and reduce flight delays or cancellations caused by maintenance issues," said Kurt Carpenter, United Vice President of Technical Operations Planning and Strategy. "We are excited to collaborate with Lufthansa Technik on this innovative digital maintenance solution which represents the future of aircraft maintenance program management."

"Innovative digital solutions are a cornerstone of our corporate strategy and joining forces with United Airlines as a leading global airline is a strong signal for the aviation market," said Johannes Bussmann, CEO of Lufthansa Technik. "Together with United Airlines we will further improve digital TechOps on a large scale and look forward to jointly creating new use cases for advanced digital technologies."

Launched in 2017, AVIATAR is the independent platform for digital products and services developed by Lufthansa Technik. The platform offers its users digital products ranging from predictive maintenance to fulfilment and automated solutions. AVIATAR combines fleet management solutions, data science and engineering expertise to provide a comprehensive range of integrated digital services and products for airlines, MRO companies, OEMs and lessors that seamlessly integrate with physical fulfilment in TechOps and beyond.

The Luxembourg-based company ESPACE 2001 S.A., which specializes in industrial robotics and image processing, has acquired all the shares in the joint venture 3D.aero GmbH from the previous owners Lufthansa Technik AG and Pepperl+Fuchs SE with effect from 1 January 2021.

3D.aero was founded in 2017. Since then, the company has been researching, developing and marketing innovative automation and digitization solutions for the aviation industry. In addition to industrial maintenance and factory automation solutions, 3D.aero also offers optical measuring device applications, digital inspection and image processing applications and related consulting services.

ESPACE 2001, which offers services in the field of robotics and industrial automation, intends to further develop 3D.aero's portfolio and to market the company's existing products and expertise in sensor-based automation technology in various industries outside of aerospace. The Administrateur Délégué of ESPACE 2001, Dr. Werner Neddermeyer, said: "We are very pleased to continue the successful and close cooperation with 3D.aero that has grown over the years. As shareholders of 3D.aero, we will push ahead with a targeted further development in the field of sensor-based automation technology, and in particular in the field of high-resolution 3D sensor technology. It is of particular importance to us that our highly specialized and motivated employees continue to lead the company to economic success with interesting and future-oriented technologies in the field of industrial 3D sensor technology and data processing. To this end, we will expand the strategic partnerships that exist to a large extent in the aviation industry and in other areas".

Dietmar Focke, Vice President Engine Services at Lufthansa Technik, evaluated the agreement: "The dramatic impact of the coronavirus crisis on the aviation industry has unfortunately not stopped at 3D.aero. To ensure the survival of the company, an orientation towards new markets is necessary. We are therefore extremely pleased that in ESPACE 2001 we have found a buyer that not only has a high level of expertise but also the necessary broad market positioning. I wish our employees the best of luck and success in their new working home, and thank them for the great work they have done over the past few years".

Dr. Gunther Kegel, CEO of Pepperl+Fuchs, welcomes the agreement: "We are convinced that the strategic reorientation of 3D.aero, which was made necessary by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, can be moved forward much faster under the umbrella of ESPACE 2001, and we are delighted to have found a future for 3D.aero and our employees in this way. We would like to thank them for their excellent work and wish all of them the best of luck and success. In future we would like to continue our cooperation in automation on a project-specific basis".

The headquarters of 3D.aero with its 20 employees is the Hamburg Innovation Port (HIP).

With the previously announced departure of Constanze Hufenbecher and Antonio Schulthess from the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik AG at the end of the year, the new Executive Board department of Finance and Human Resources will initially be taken over by the Chairman of the Executive Board, Dr Johannes Bussmann, on a provisional basis from 1 January 2021. The transitional arrangement will apply until a new head of the department is appointed. The Supervisory Board will decide on this personnel matter at the beginning of the new year.

In November, the Supervisory Board decided to reduce the size of the Executive Board and to change the structure of the individual departments accordingly. In the course of this reorganisation, Constanze Hufenbecher as Chief Financial Officer and Antonio Schulthess as Chief Human Resources Officer decided to leave Lufthansa Technik at the end of the year to pursue new entrepreneurial challenges. Dr Johannes Bussmann as Chief Executive Officer and Soeren Stark as future Chief Operating Officer will remain on the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik AG.