Increased Spares and Service Capabilities
April 12, 2016 (Shanghai, China) – Several years of continuous investment in the Dassault Falcon customer service network in China have led to a sizeable increase in customer support activity, bringing significant added value to Chinese operators and transient customers.
These investments include:
An agreement with Beijing-based Deer Jet last year to provide line and unscheduled maintenance for the Falcon 7X
Opening of a local customer service headquarters in Beijing in 2013
Introduction of an onsite flight dispatcher training and jump seat support program in 2013
Establishment of Dassault Falcon Services-Shanghai, a joint venture between Dassault Aviation and Shanghai Hawker Pacific, in 2012.
“China is a key market for Falcons and providing the best customer service solutions here is of paramount importance to us,” said Olivier Villa, Senior Vice President of Civil Aircraft for Dassault Aviation. “This is apparent in our continued commitment to improving our Chinese customer support network.”
Falcon Customer Service Activities Expanding
Located at Beijing Capital Airport, Deer Jet is one of the largest business jet operators in the Asia Pacific region. It manages and supports a large fleet of business jets, including the 7X.
The partnership with Dassault covers light line maintenance (up to 2A and 2A+ inspections) and unscheduled maintenance on Chinese registered Falcon 7X aircraft at Deer Jet’s Beijing facility.
Since the Dassault agreement went into effect in May 2015, the facility has supported about 100 routine servicing and maintenance events.
Deer Jet has also applied for full FAA repair station approval. Currently, the company maintains three technicians on staff dedicated to supporting Falcon customers, including provision of 24/7 AOG support.
Dassault Falcon Services-Shanghai offers a full range of MR&O services, from heavy maintenance through A and B checks. Staffed by a team of Dassault trained technicians with an average experience of more than 10 years on Falcon business jets, it is equipped to handle line
and base maintenance for all current production Falcon models. The facility reported a nearly 40% increase in larger scheduled maintenance events last year.
The Dassault team has also moved to address special operator requirements that cannot be readily met by local service providers. In 2013, it introduced an initiative to provide onsite flight dispatcher training. “We are the only company to offer this type of service,” said Kathy Liu, Director of Falcon Customer Service-Asia “and it is already proving very popular among our growing network of Chinese operators.”
Spares Value Grows Over 10%
The new Beijing customer service office has focused special attention on reinforcing local access to spare parts. The office is staffed with Field Technical Representatives and Customer Care Managers specialized in spares, warranty issues and other operational matters.
Maintaining a large Falcon spares inventory in China facilitates customer component exchange transactions, affording a significant time savings and sharply reducing duties and taxes.
Combined with other spares depots in the Asia Pacific, this inventory allows operators to immediately access the top 3,000 high demand parts for in-production aircraft.
Since early 2015, the Falcon spares value level based in China has risen over 10%, to almost $6 million, bringing total inventory in the region to more than $35 million. This spares commitment has been accompanied by efforts to expand tooling inventory made available to
Falcon operators through a rental pool.
ABACE to Include Falcon M&O
Dassault Aviation will again hold a Falcon Maintenance and Operations (M&O) seminar in conjunction with ABACE. The M&O seminar will focus both on operations and technical issues of concern to Chinese customers and is designed to help aircraft operators improve the
efficiency, reliability and safety of their operations. Topics will range from the latest customer service and engineering support initiatives to enhancements in troubleshooting and product reliability.
Source: Dassault Aviation