Story ID: 360
Stevens Expands Gulfstream Support
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: The MRO provider has added two Gulfstream models to its list of capabiliites.
Word Count: 568
As it increases its focus on Gulfstream aircraft, MRO provider Stevens Aviation has added the GV and G450 to the lineup of legacy models it now supports from the Savannah airframer. The two new additions join its scheduled and unscheduled service offerings for the Gulfstream G200, GII, GIII and GIV. “Stevens Aviation [Booth 3700] is highly committed in supporting our growing Gulfstream customer base with additional qualified personnel and equipment,” said Rick Screen, the company’s head of Gulfstream operations, adding it offers “full maintenance support, AOG response, and mobile maintenance support to include avionics, avionics installs, interior repairs, full interior refurbishments, mechanical repairs, and inspections.”

The company’s Greenville-Donaldson Center facility recently completed its first major GV inspection and has others slated. It conducts inspections such as the periodic 12-month-to-96-month examinations as well as 5,000-landings inspections.

The South Carolina-based company, with facilities in Tennessee and Ohio, has been in operation for nearly seven decades. It services most major business aircraft manufacturers including Bombardier/Learjet, Cessna/Beechcraft, Embraer, Pilatus and Piaggio, and provides full interior work, modifications, avionics installation, engine changes, airframe repairs, gear and thrust-reverser overhauls as well as aircraft maintenance planning/tracking.

It also offers 24/7 support for grounded aircraft, and to that end it has just established a satellite service location in Opa-Locka, Fla., with a new mobile maintenance dispatch truck. Staffed by full-time technicians, the unit will serve the so-called southern-Florida region, including Miami, Cuba and the Bahamas.

In September, Stevens received ISO9001C and AS9110B quality management certification, at its Greenville, SC location, from SAI Global, an international third-party certification body. While the standard applies to maintenance and overhaul for U.S. military MRO customers, the company believes the standard will boost all its segments. “Obtaining AS9110 certification for Stevens’ DoD customers is having a positive effect on the culture and activities for all Stevens’ operations here in Greenville,” noted Dendall Wood, the company’s quality manager and chief inspector. “Many of the procedures are also being applied to the commercial division.”

With the end-of -2019 ADS-B compliance mandate rapidly approaching, Stevens is holding a reception/workshop on the topic this afternoon at its booth (557) from 3 to 5 p.m. “What I’m hearing from customers is they are more concerned about making sure they meet the mandate and have a slot to have the work done, more so than the product itself,” said company sales manager Phil Stearns. He added that the company is accepting reservations for slots and has some booked out as far as November and December 2019. Stevens put its ADS-B slot-reservation calendar through 2020 on its website, allowing customers to easily see what slots are still available. According to Stearns, deposits are applied to the final price, are refundable up to three months prior to installation, and are fully transferrable to the next aircraft owner if sold prior to 12/31/2019. “That way even if they sell the plane, it still has an installation slot secured, because there are more airplanes and more work than there are shops and capabilities,” Stearns told AIN. With the technical solutions still evolving, an added benefit to this is customers can wait to see what the most beneficial option for them will be at the time compliance is required, with the peace of mind that a slot for the installation will be waiting for them.