To meet the growing needs of business aircraft operators in Mexico, Duncan Aviation (LABACE Booth 1019) recently began to stage critical tooling and turbine engine support equipment there to quickly respond to the most common and urgent maintenance requests from business aviation operators.

“Business aircraft operators in Mexico are looking for more options for quick AOG engine support,” said Rodolfo Rodriguez Zapata, Duncan Aviation’s regional manager in Mexico. “It is not unusual for an aircraft to be grounded for up to five days before an engine technician can get on site to assess any issues. And if the right equipment is not available or the engines need to be removed and shipped to the United States for repair, they wait some more.”

James Prater, Duncan Aviation’s manager of turbine engine services, said delays are often due to the regulations that govern bringing engine crates, tooling and equipment into Mexico. “We are able to move technicians and computers quickly in and out of the country,” he said. “But it can take up to three days for our tools and equipment to be cleared to cross the border.”

With the tooling and support equipment in place, Duncan Aviation will have a company representative on site with the aircraft within 48 hours of receiving an AOG call. If necessary, an engine technician and tools will be on site within 72 hours of the original call, its said.

Meanwhile, Duncan Aviation is beefing up business aircraft support just over the border in the U.S. Earlier this month in San Antonio, Texas, the company opened an avionics work-away location. Greg Ashpaugh, who began his career at Duncan Aviation as a crew lead at the Dallas satellite facility 13 years ago, will be working in San Antonio and traveling to customer’s aircraft to perform avionics repairs and installations.

And in Utah, Duncan is expanding its Provo location, to include a 166,000-sq-ft aircraft maintenance and modifications center and new 53,000-sq-ft paint facility. The expanded facility will accommodate larger business jets, including the Gulfstream G550, Bombardier Global 6000 and Dassault Falcon 7X. Its paint facility will be able to simultaneously handle multiple aircraft, using a two-zone airflow system.

Duncan Aviation will break ground early next year on the $50 million project, which is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2019.