Boeing

The Boeing Company today announced the official launch of Boeing Airplane Services, a new business dedicated to post-delivery modification and engineering services for commercial airplanes.

"We're intent on increasing customer satisfaction while finding new opportunities for profitable growth for our company," said Tom Schick, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group executive vice president - Customer Services. "Boeing Airplane Services is a key piece of that strategy."

Boeing Airplane Services offers engineering retrofit packages, avionics upgrades, passenger-to-freighter conversions, interior reconfigurations, recovery and repair services, and airplane performance improvements for all Boeing commercial airplanes. It also provides technical consulting and general contracting support for passenger and cargo airlines.

Boeing Airplane Services is part of the Boeing Customer Services organization, which offers the aviation industry's broadest array of support resources. There are more than 10,000 Boeing airplanes in operation today around the world.

"At Boeing, we've said we must increase value from existing programs and create new value for the company," Schick said. "With Boeing Airplane Services, we're working on maximizing the value of current activities, such as modification work and engineering services, by being much more focused and aggressive in pursuing them."

Schick added, "Over time, we also expect to add new value-creating activities as we develop Boeing Airplane Services and position it to capture additional business in the post-delivery marketplace."

Boeing Airplane Services is led by President Joe Gullion, who came to Boeing in October 1998 from AlliedSignal Aerospace, where he was vice president of Global Sales, Marketing and New Business Development. "We hired Joe to run this new unit because of his broad industry experience, his leadership skills and his vision for what Boeing Airplane Services could become," said Schick.

"Our job is to listen to our customers and help them make affordable, high-quality improvements to their commercial airplanes," said Gullion. "We think this will be an exciting and profitable market for The Boeing Company and a valuable service to our customers."

Gullion pointed to the passenger-to-freighter conversion market as one of many opportunities for growth. "For instance, we predict that more than 1,500 airplanes will be converted from passenger models to freighters during the next 20 years," Gullion said.

Boeing Airplane Services has its own dedicated staff of engineers and support personnel, as well as the ability to tap all the expertise and resources of The Boeing Company.

"As the original equipment manufacturer, we have direct access to all of the proprietary data involved in the original airplane design," Gullion said. "We can match any new changes with the airplane's original certification, which can help ease the supplemental certification process."

Boeing Airplane Services facilities are located in Long Beach, Calif.; Wichita, Kansas; and the Puget Sound area of Washington state.