Following production of the final Avro RJ, effectively the last new-build British airliner ever, BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has been restructured as a support company within its Aviation Services Group. Last November the company canceled the planned Avro RJX variant of the BAe 146 regional jet. “The removal of manufacturing means that we can concentrate on building a service business,” said new managing director Alan Fraser. “We are planning new ideas, service products and methods [to] meet the demanding needs of customers.”
Three main elements will constitute the new business: customer support, engineering and asset management. Fraser will oversee rationalization of several sites that will establish BAE’s Prestwick facility in Scotland as the main engineering and support center by the end of this year. Spares provision will be based at Weybridge, between London Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, and supported by other centers near Washington, D.C., and Sydney, Australia, while asset management will remain at Hatfield, north of London. The workforce will be reduced to 1,150 by next summer and the company plans to invest some £20 million ($29.3 million) in new information-technology systems and facilities.
