Expanded Capabilities Unveiled At Miami

The inauguration of the new Satair Group service and support facility in Miami in April 2016 has now been followed by the unveiling of expanded capabilities.

Mike Heaton, Satair Group’s Managing Director and Head of Sales Americas stated: “Not only have we transferred everything from the previous Miami facility, but we have now built on the back of this new facility to have a much better footprint, new capabilities and even better service and support levels to our customers”.

Described by Mike as ‘the heart and soul’ of the new facility, the extended hose production and repair capability is a major step forward from the smaller scale hose production facility in the previous warehouse.

Since 2010, Satair Group has been approved under AS/EN9100 and from Eaton Aeroquip to manufacture and repair in Miami a wide range of aircraft hose assemblies for many aircraft types and for major airlines as well as OEMs. Satair Group also has approvals to support the aftermarket through distribution from Miami to a wide range of customers.

The expansion of this capability in new ‘state-of-the-art’ premises meant that, in the final quarter of 2016, the European Aviation Safety Agency approved adding the Satair Group location in Miami to the Airbus Production Organisation Approval. This enablesthe support of South American Airbus operators with parts that have their Authorised Release Certificates issued on site.

This big step forward is a testimony to the skills, dedication and long-term experience of the Miami staff, some of whom have more than 30 years’ service in hose shop production.

“We have four other expanded capabilities in this new facility”, said Mike Heaton. “These are enhanced warehousing, a wider battery repair offering, a better HAZMAT (hazardous material) facility and additional office space to house extra staff.”

The new warehouse is four times the size of the previous Miami facility. Distribution covers the Americas and also further afield through Satair Group’s globally integrated systems. But Miami has a particular value for Latin America due to its proximity and access to that part of the world. Both Airbus and Satair channel brands are now catered for out of Miami.

The battery repair shop undertakes NICAD battery maintenance for primarily SAFT, Concord and Marathon batteries serving multiple applications such as commercial aircraft, helicopters, corporate aviation, defense and MRO. Recently the Miami team targeted the corporate aviation sector in Florida to coincide with the November NBAA show in Orlando.

The brand new HAZMAT facility means that all such materials previously handled at other Satair Group North American facilities at Ashburn, Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia have now been moved to the new dedicated Miami Hazmat Centre of Excellence.

More office space built into the Miami facility means that extra staff are being accommodated for business development across a wider range of customers. Mike said that two specialists were now based at Miami to support the used parts business in the Americas, as well as additional sales and product management personnel also.