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Making Light of Heavy Maintenance	April 24, 2002

The leader in regional and business jet heavy maintenance services has just signed a new client: Northwest Airlines. Earlier this month, the West Virginia Air Center (or WeVAC, as it's known) held a small signing ceremony to celebrate the agreement between Northwest and the Bombardier-owned maintenance facility.

WeVAC will now service all of Northwest Airlink Express I's CRJ200 and CRJ440 regional jets for heavy maintenance. WeVAC's facilities range from sheet metal work to non-destructive testing, and hosted over 400 aircraft visits in 2001. The Center is an FAA Part 145 repair station focused on the Bombardier CRJ, but can service other aircraft types as part of an airline's overall fleet management as well.

The Northwest agreement covers "C" checks done every 4,000 aircraft flying hours as well as structural inspections every two years. Based on firm orders and aircraft already in the fleet, Northwest's fleet of CRJ200 and CRJ440 aircraft will grow to 129 aircraft during the initial five years.

One of the key factors in Northwest's selection of Bombardier? According to Jeff Mihalic, VP Aircraft Services, Regional Aircraft, it was WeVAC's commitment to a shorter out of service time for aircraft. "Downtime for the maintenance checks will range from two to six days, depending on the nature of the inspection," he said.

Bombardier Aerospace wishes to thank Northwest for their continued support and looks forward to a strong future together!