Airline provides litany of alleged problems at Duma hearing, although Tupolev is reluctant to accept the charges made (720 words)

Published: 10/1/2001

Anatoly Sokolov, the Deputy Head of Mineralnye Vody -based KMV, who spoke to the Duma Transport Committee hearings on 24th September, reported a number of difficulties the airline was having operating its two Tu-204s. Sokolov cited three problems with the aircraft that need rectifing, but have yet to be resolved by the producer. These are as follows: 1. Aviastar's failure to supply complete sets of documentation and ground maintenance equipment (hydraulic jacks, testing benches, towing equipment, etc), historically supplied with the aircraft, that have had to be located at great expense by the carrier. 2. Aviastar's failure to organise proper support of the aircraft in the field in terms of spare parts, return of components and to establish overhaul facilities. KMV says this has meant incurring expenses to undertake the work. Sokolov accepts that the terms of the agreement on the first two aircraft were vague in this area. He assumes this is because Aviastar did not want to assume the functions, being aware of the corresponding responsibility and its own funding problems. 3. Exorbitant spares prices for the Tu-204 that Sokolov illustrates by the differences in the price of a Tu-204 landing gear brake disc at Rb32,000 ($1,100), compared to Rb1,000 ($34) for the same item for the Tu-154. Sokolov accepts in part that the price reflects the scale and higher input cost, but still believes the cost to be unjustifiably high. Sokolov is also unhappy with some of the systems within the aircraft, singling out the air conditioning system produced by NPO Nauka as being the worst offender. He says the system has failed, in some cases, some 300 hours after overhaul, aggravated by the fact that the system was not only expensive to buy, but also to maintain, with the overhaul cost almost equal to that of a brand-new system. Another area of concern for Sokolov is the aircraft's tyres that have to be replaced after every 150 landings. The Russian tyre producer, a plant in Yaroslavl, requires a minimum, pre-paid order of at least 500 tyres, leading many operators to source tyres from the other tyres certified for the aircraft, from Michelin and also from Goodyear, which has supplied 150 tyres to Aviastar and the airlines. Both producers, however, have had problems with the quality of Tu-204 wheel hubs, according to Goodyear, resulting in some restrictions of the use of tyres until the problems were resolved. Sokolov also pointed out further defects as follows: 1. The airline has had to reinforce the aircraft's floor with Tuplov's assistance, but according to Sokolov, the airline's third aircraft will have the same problem. 2. The aircraft's onboard computer, the VSS-85, continues to overheat despite being reported in April 2000. 3. Excessive noise from the air conditioning system is still not resolved. 4. No refrigerator 5. Overly short limits and maintenance periods that have subsequently been changed to reflect the airline's route structure. Tupolev's General Designer, Lev Lanovsky, refutes practically all the claims made by Sokolov. He comments that the bureau has responded to problems that have emerged with operation and rectified them. All new aircraft now have reinforced floors; the company had responded to problems with the VSS-85 and altered the cooling problem. He says it had also addressed the issue with the fans in the air conditioning system and the refrigerator was a customer requirement. Lanovsky insisted that the air conditioning system was "okay" and that there was no question mark over quality, given that the JV between Nauka and Hamilton Sundstrand provided parts for the Boeing 777's environmental systems. He did acknowledge that five or six of the systems installed had failed, although he denied they failed every 300 hours. Sokolov says that Naura blames the system problems on component suppliers. Aviastar, for its part, accepted the airline's complaints about support, but said the new management was attempting to resolve this problem allowing the producer to improve its ability to meet KMV's support requirements. Oleg Gruzdev, spokesman for Aviastar, added that no agreement had been signed with KMV for the third aircraft, but Lanovsky has been quoted in the Russian press as saying that the aircraft will be delivered to the airline in October.

Article ID: 2791