ExecuJet MRO Services has been steadily growing its workforce in Australia thanks to more business coming from operators of Dassault Falcon aircraft. “When Dassault Aviation acquired ExecuJet MRO Services Australia in 2019, Falcon aircraft accounted for a very small percentage of our maintenance business, but today it accounts for 15 per cent,” says Grant Ingall, regional VP Australasia at ExecuJet MRO Services. “Our workforce in Australia today is over 100 personnel including contract labour, while in 2019 we averaged 80. So we've grown 25 per cent in the last four years.”

ExecuJet MRO Services Australia has heavy maintenance bases in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne as well as line stations in other cities, such as Brisbane in Australia and Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington in New Zealand to support Falcons on-demand.

“We have invested in tooling and training for maintenance of Falcon aircraft at all of our Australian bases in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane,” Ingall continues. “We have completed Dassault specialised horizontal stabiliser bushing measurement training and structural mapping training. Later this year we will be upgrading our non-destructive testing (NDT) capabilities. We will, for example, be able to perform the ultrasonic inspection of the horizontal stabiliser, a task we previously had to bring in specialists from Dassault to perform.”

ExecuJet MRO Services, since the Dassault purchase in 2019, has altogether either trained or hired 15 engineers and technicians rated on Falcon types. “ExecuJet technicians and engineers are continuing to be sent from Australia to Dassault Aviation for advanced technical training including the new aircraft types such as the Falcon 6X,” states Ingall. The 6X is due to be certified and have entry-into-service middle of this year.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), since February 2020, has approved ExecuJet MRO Services Australia as a factory-owned Dassault Aviation MRO organisation to perform line and heavy maintenance on all in-production types, namely the Falcon 7X/8X, Falcon 900LX and Falcon 2000LXS.

ExecuJet is also approved by CASA to service some of the out-of-production models, namely the Falcon 50/50EX, Falcon 900/C/DX/EX/EX EASy and Falcon 2000/EX/LX.

ExecuJet MRO Services Australia has also secured work from four Embraer executive jet operators in Indonesia.

The contracts with the four Indonesian operators cover a total of five Embraer Legacy aircraft and include either airframe heavy maintenance checks, avionics upgrades or both. ExecuJet MRO Services Australia is already certified by Indonesia's Directorate General Civil Aviation to perform maintenance on Indonesian registered aircraft.

“Indonesia has always been a key market for us, and our sales and customer service personnel have always made an effort to engage with and develop the relationship with Indonesian aircraft owners and operators,” says Ingall. “Supporting these Indonesian operators demonstrates the confidence Embraer and their operators place in us.”

ExecuJet has been an authorised Embraer service centre since 2010. The Australian MRO company is authorised to process Embraer Executive care and warranty claims for spare parts and labour directly with Embraer, making the process seamless for customers.

ExecuJet MRO Services is working in Sydney with the local technical and further education (TAFE) aviation college and in Melbourne and Perth with Aviation Australia to increase the number of apprenticeship positions at the company.

“We have been consistently employing apprentices each year but are now increasing the intake. It is important to invest in homegrown talent and our young people,” says Ingall. “We are helping young people to acquire high tech skills relevant to the business aviation MRO industry and creating a pipeline of new highly-skilled and qualified technicians and engineers to facilitate the growth of ExecuJet MRO Services Australia. This year we have five openings for apprentices.”

Apart from the apprenticeship programme, ExecuJet also hires entry level graduates with aerospace and aviation degrees. In Australia, ExecuJet MRO Services currently employs talented people who are commencing their first aviation role in the supply chain, quality, safety and planning departments.