Ex-Aveos engine wing awarded big contract

JULIEN ARSENAULT

The former engine-maintenance division of Aveos, since purchased by Lockheed Martin, has been awarded a major contract that will allow operations to continue at its Montreal plant.

The deal between Lockheed Martin Commercial Engine Solutions and Air Wisconsin Airlines, worth $50 million to $70 million, is for the maintenance of 71 CRJ200 regional jets built by Bombardier. The agreement covers five years, with the possibility of extending it another two years.

In March, Lockheed Martin signed a deal with Denver-based Frontier Airlines for maintenance of the company’s Airbus A319s and A320NEO engines.

“The addition of the CRJ200 shows our potential customers that the Montreal facility has the capacity and the talent to meet their needs,” Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Andrews said in a telephone interview. “We hope this will cause a chain reaction.”

Under the contract, 20 CF34 engines built by General Electric will be sent to the plant in St-Laurent.

In 2013, Lockheed Martin bought the engine-maintenance division of Aveos, whose sudden shutdown in March 2012 resulted in the loss of 2,600 jobs, including 1,800 in Montreal. At that time, this division had only a few workers. The company now has 240 workers and hopes to bring that to 300 to 350 within a few years, Andrews said.

“We are working on two or three major contracts that we hope to conclude by the end of the year,” he said. “All this work will be done in Montreal.”

Quebec union chief, David Chartrand, welcomed the news. “We were aware that the company was bidding on several contracts and that it was hiring. This contract will bring water to the mill.”