200 not out

British Airways heavy maintenance facility in Glasgow has completed its 200th Airbus aircraft service.  
The 200th aircraft, an Airbus 321, completed its ‘C’ check in nine days, and left the hangar ahead of schedule.  
British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh paid tribute to the 240 staff employed at the Glasgow base during a ceremony to mark the occasion.  
He said: “The work carried out in Glasgow is top class and is widely recognised to be among the best in the industry. These are the people that keep us flying.”  
Bill Armstrong, General Manager at the facility, added: “It is a tribute to the expertise, professionalism and dedication of staff at the hangar – past and present – that after more than 40 years we continue to play a vital role in the engineering function of one of the world’s largest and most prestigious airlines.”  
British Airways Maintenance Glasgow (BAMG) has been in operation at Glasgow airport since 1966, and has carried out heavy maintenance on the airline’s Airbus fleet for six years.  
BAMG carries out both C and D checks on BA’s fleet of Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family aircraft.  
The checks, carried out approximately every 18 months, can last from three to 28 days. Each aircraft will have between 900 and 11,000 man hours spent on it.  
The hangar employs 270 people. Over the last 40 years it has maintained aircraft such as the Vickers Viscount, BAC Trident and the Bae Advanced Turboprop (ATP) aircraft.  
BAMG is now looking to the future, by running its second modern apprenticeship scheme, training 10 apprentices to become engineers in conjunction with James Watt College in Greenock.  
They will complete an academic and practical apprenticeship, eventually achieving a Higher National Certificate in Aeronautical Engineering and a Scottish Vocational Qualification Level 3 in aircraft maintenance, as well as receiving valuable practical training.  
The facility has also recently taken on 14 engineers from different sectors and has put them through conversion courses to enable them to work in the aviation sector.

Source: Transportweekly