Winglet Modification Delivered Two Days Ahead of a Tight Deadline

The client is a mainland Europe-based provider of refurbishment, modification, upgrade and maintenance services for private and commercial aircraft. Engineering changes and contract variations are a routine part of this work, and the client has built a reputation for handling them without letting customer satisfaction slip.

Vertage has worked alongside the client as an embedded, trusted partner for 15+ years of service, stepping in whenever a project calls for extra specialist engineering capacity at short notice.

When a Boeing Business Jet customer asked to add a split scimitar winglet modification as a contract variation, Vertage had to mobilize and deploy an engineering team fast. The aircraft was already in the hangar mid-C-Check, its structural integrity compromised at that stage of the inspection, so the team had to work on the airframe in situ, alongside other engineering crews, against a contractually bound timescale that carried financial penalties for late delivery.

Vertage's Chief Aerospace Engineer worked onsite with the client's Project Manager to define the project brief, build the work breakdown structure and set tasks for a team of six specialist engineers.

The team liaised directly with the aircraft OEM and the winglet manufacturer to confirm specifications, technical drawings and instructions, and to secure every part in time for the deadline. Daily stand-ups and progress meetings with the client's Project Manager kept access and workspace coordinated with the other engineering teams working on the aircraft.

Vertage had a nine-day window to complete the work but delivered the aircraft for client sign-off in seven days, two days ahead of schedule.

The aircraft went back to its owner on time with the winglet modification complete, saving thousands of pounds of cost, plus the fuel savings that come with the new winglets. It is one more example of the kind of challenge Vertage has helped this client solve throughout a partnership now well past its first 15 years.