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Monday, Mar 18, 2024

When Aging Jet Engine Needs Parts, Call Ontic

Ontic Engineering & Manufacturing Inc. has made a deal with Pratt & Whitney Canada for the manufacturing rights to components for a business jet engine. It is the third such deal with Pratt & Whitney Canada in as many years by the Chatsworth supplier of aftermarket aerospace parts. Ontic will manufacture the parts for the JT15D turbofan engine, used on Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker business jets, at its San Fernando Valley facility. The JT15D engine has 2,200 to 3,400 pounds of thrust and Pratt & Whitney Canada has produced more than 6,700 of the engines. Robert Sadler, director of business development for Ontic, explained that this deal is a continuation of the company’s first foray into legacy engine support that started with deals with Honeywell International Inc. and Rolls-Royce plc. “That opened the doors for us to start talks with Pratt Whitney Canada,” Sadler said. Ontic is a subsidiary of BBA Aviation plc, an aviation company based in London. Pratt & Whitney Canada is a business unit of United Technologies Corp., in Farmington, Conn., With this deal, and two others done in 2015 and 2016, Ontic now makes about 300 parts for the JT15D engine. This has allowed the company to grow its portfolio, which now numbers 4,500 products and 1 million component parts for about 3,000 military, commercial and general aviation customers. “It cements the relationship with Pratt & Whitney Canada,” Sadler said of the latest deal. “They wouldn’t come back again and again if it wasn’t working for them.” With aircraft flying for 30 to 40 or in some instances 50 years, the engine manufacturers have a support obligation for those planes until there are about five remaining in service, Sadler explained. When orders for these older aircraft become sporadic, it becomes difficult for the engine makers to support them as well as they used to because their focus is so much on new engines. “That is where Ontic comes in,” Sadler said “We are focused 100 percent on these types of products. Our whole infrastructure is set up for it.” Ontic expects to have further rights acquisition announcements with Pratt & Whitney Canada as well as other aerospace manufacturers it works with in the next few months. New Bus Driver BYD America has hired a new general manager and promoted a senior staff member at its coach and bus division in Lancaster. As general manager, Milo Victoria, with 40 years of transit agency experience, will oversee the day-to-day operations of BYD’s battery-electric transit bus manufacturing facility in the Antelope Valley. Victoria has worked for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, in Washington, D.C., for Omnitrans in San Bernardino County, and as chief executive of Victorious Gold Partners, a transit consulting firm in West Covina. Macy Neshati, senior vice president of BYD Heavy Industries, which includes bus manufacturing, called Victoria a respected veteran of the transit industry. “He is knowledgeable on every aspect of transit bus operations,” Neshati said in a statement. In addition, Bobby Hill has been promoted to vice president of U.S. sales for BYD Coach and Bus. He will manage all U.S.-based transit sales responsibilities, including managing day-to-day activity of sales staff, demonstration scheduling and marketing coordination. Hill previously worked as Midwest regional sales manager. Navy Contract Saalex Solutions has won a $60 million contract to provide technical, engineering and logistics services to the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The Camarillo engineering and information technology company will perform the work at the warfare center’s Range Systems Department in Norco. “Naval Surface Warfare Center has been a customer of Saalex’s for decades,” Saalex Chief Executive Travis Mack said in a prepared statement. “We are glad to rekindle this important relationship and further grow our presence in the area.” The warfare center provides independent engineering, planning, test and operation support for fixed and portable land-based, airborne and shipboard telecommunications and other range instrumentation systems. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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