LATAM Brasil started at its Maintenance Center (MRO), in São Carlos (SP), the first heavy maintenance process (“Check-C”) on a Boeing 767 freighter aircraft.
The airplane model has been widely used by the company since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic to transport numerous medical supplies throughout Brazil.
The aircraft, registration N420LA, landed in São Carlos at 10:30 am on Monday (24), coming from Miami and after a stopover in Campinas. It will remain at LATAM's MRO for 30 days for a more in-depth review of its components and structures.
Since 2009, LATAM has been certified to carry out heavy maintenance (“Check-C”) on any Boeing 767 enger aircraft.
Applying the process to cargo planes is part of the strategy to internalize maintenance processes and strengthen LATAM's MRO, since, previously, this type of work on freighters was only carried out in maintenance centers outside Brazil. The project should collaborate to optimize maintenance costs.
“We already had a well-defined strategy of bringing our aircraft to the MRO, with the aim of taking advantage of our expertise and further enhancing our operations in the location. With the pandemic, we ended up accelerating this project and have already started the first Check-C on a cargo plane, with the expectation of receiving another unit of the same model for revision by the end of 2020”, says Alexandre Peronti, Director of Maintenance at LATAM Airlines Brazil.
The project will have the collaboration of 100 professionals from different areas of LATAM's MRO, such as engineering, warehouse, planning, mechanics, among others, who received training on the specific details regarding maintenance on freighters.
Check-C maintenance and cargo aircraft
Check-C type maintenance is a detailed review of the aircraft, consisting of disassembly, inspection, assembly, parts replacement, restoration and testing services. The C-Check can last from 5 to 30 days, depending on the complexity of the services and the age of the aircraft.
It is expected that, still in 2020, another Boeing 767 cargo aircraft from LATAM will undergo maintenance of the Check-C type at LATAM's MRO in São Carlos (SP).
