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Behind the Phones
of an MRO Facility
by Rebecca Groom Jacobs
Airplanes are expensive. Most of us do all we can to reduce that expense, but despite our best wishes – and often in the face of meticulous preventative care – eventually something is going to malfunction. When it does, we turn to the experts at Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities.
Enter a company like Duncan Aviation. Even if you are not a customer of theirs, there is a good chance the ma- jority of you reading are familiar with the name.
After more than 60 years in the business, Duncan Aviation is the largest privately owned MRO facility in the world. The company provides nose-to-tail support for Bombardier, Dassault, Textron, Gulfstream and Embraer aircraft.
Component Repair
Repair is an integral portion of Duncan Aviation’s business model. With three major MRO facilities in Battle Creek, Michigan, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah, and multiple satellite shops around the country, Duncan Aviation repairs approximately 25,200 components and accessories each year.
When a customer calls regarding a potential repair, one of Duncan Aviation’s 10 customer account representa- tives (CARs) provides technical and
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DUNCAN AVIATION
troubleshooting support. The team works alongside shop technicians and sales reps to handle virtually any air- craft system problem including batteries, electronics, avionics and landing gears.
With the phone lines open 24/7/365, this group of CARs administers around 600 calls and inquiries every week. The team members often face pressure from operators with grounded aircraft and time-critical situations.
This led us to wonder: What exactly takes place on their end – behind the phone? We visited with Andrew Theis, a 15-year Duncan Aviation customer sales and service representative, to find out.
A Day in the Life
Each morning, Andrew Theis arrives at his office by 7 a.m. and promptly opens his computer to respond to any pressing emails or phone calls from international customers. Whether it’s sending pricing to a customer in Australia or arrang- ing the shipment of a loaner unit to a grounded aircraft in Europe, he must prioritize these items as the workday in those distant countries nears completion. While he addresses international cases, his phone and computer start to come alive with the day’s newest inquiries. Andrew responds to each while also be- ginning to check the status of his ongoing repair orders.
A repair order, or work order, is tied to every component in the shop. With a quick search in Duncan Aviation’s pro- prietary computer system, Andrew can view each customer’s work order which includes information such as repair sta- tus, unit history, aircraft model, owner, etc. When a customer calls regarding accessory or component repair, it is the job of a customer account representa- tive (like Andrew) to affirm the issue, discuss all options and develop a repair order unique to the customer’s needs and timeline.
Once a solution and deadline is agreed upon between the CAR and cus- tomer, an elaborate sequence of events is
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Duncan Aviation Repair by the Numbers (Weekly)
• 500 units received for repairs
• 500 completed units shipped
• 100 units shipped internationally
• 620 inbound calls
• 150 AOG calls received by CARs