Story ID: 731DassaultServiceNBAA15
Dassault Expands Product Support
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Offering alternate lift is just one of the airframer’s recent product support upgrades.
Word Count: 323
Since its establishment at the beginning of the year, Dassault’s Falcon Airborne Support Response team has been busy, according to company senior vice president for civil aircraft Olivier Villa. On Monday at NBAA 2015, he said that the pair of dedicated airborne support Falcon 900s, one based at Paris Le Bourget in January and the second at Teterboro Airport in July, have flown 90 missions so far this year in support of Dassault customers.

The two trijets are used in AOG situations to swiftly dispatch parts and technicians anywhere in the world. Unique among OEMs, the FalconResponse aircraft can also be used for alternate lift. “In case the aircraft cannot be back in flight in time for the next flight, then we are able to take passengers to their final destination,” said Villa, noting that almost 50 percent of the missions were used for this purpose. “I can tell you this has received a great response from customers who are facing this situation.”

Villa said the company has also expanded its ground service assets. In April, it established a mobile repair unit (MRU) with two technicians in the Northeast U.S. and bolstered them with another two Teterboro-based GoTeam technicians in July. This month, the OEM added another MRU in Dallas.

Last month, the company broke ground on a new heavy maintenance center near its Falcon 8X assembly line in Mérignac, France. When the facility becomes operational in mid-2016 it will have six bays that can support the Dassault fleet, primarily the 7X and new flagship 8X. The airframer’s maintenance network currently includes 47 facilities around the world, with another project under way in Moscow.

This year, Dassault added two new regional parts distribution centers–in Lagos, Nigeria, and Louisville, Ky.–bringing its worldwide total to 15, with a combined $800 million inventory. That has allowed the manufacturer to achieve an enviable 98.5-percent available parts rate.