Approval Includes 777 Windscreens
PPG Aerospace - Transparencies, the
aircraft windshield and window business, has started selling direct
to fleet replacement cockpit windows for all Boeing airplanes.
Because of a licensing agreement with the airplane manufacturer,
sales are direct.
Airlines previously bought their PPG-made replacement cockpit
windows from Boeing for all Boeing and McDonnell Douglas airplanes,
except for the main windshields for Boeing 747 jets. PPG has a
separate Boeing license to sell airlines rebuilt glass windshields
for Boeing 707, 727, 737, 757, 767 and 777 airplanes, and will
continue to offer them.
The change comes at an interesting time. There have been three
recent incidents where the heating element is suspected of causing
in-flight cracks on 777 windscreens. Now, we're not suggesting any
fault with the windscreen. But with direct sales to customers, a
solution, if warranted, might arrive a bit faster.
Under the new agreement, PPG is able to sell to airlines
replacement cockpit windows for all Boeing aircraft. This includes
cockpit windshields and windows for Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767
and 777 aircraft. PPG Aerospace also is now licensed for direct
sale of replacement cockpit windows for these aircraft no longer in
production: the Boeing 707 and 727, and legacy McDonnell Douglas
aircraft DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, MD-90 and MD-11.
"This agreement is a win for the airlines, Boeing and PPG
Aerospace," said Dave Morris, head of PPG Aerospace and a vice
president of PPG Industries. "It affords each of us the opportunity
to focus on what we do best, while maintaining the three-way
relationship that allows us to continuously improve product service
life.
For more than a decade, PPG has been the sole producer of
original-equipment cockpit windows for Boeing 777, 767, 757 and
Next-Generation 737 airplanes.
According to global sales director David R. France, PPG is the
only transparency manufacturer capable of providing airlines with
the latest design enhancements for windshields and windows on these
Boeing aircraft.
"Boeing operators are now able to buy transparencies directly
from the manufacturer - PPG - streamlining ordering, shipping and
warranty administration," France said. "We already produce these
parts for both original-equipment and replacement applications, and
our long-term supply relationship with Boeing means that PPG is the
only manufacturer able to produce windshields and windows that
incorporate the latest design enhancements."
PPG already supplies
replacement cockpit windows for operators of Airbus, BAE Systems,
Embraer, Bombardier Aerospace, Saab, ATR and Fokker airplanes,
France noted. It stocks replacement products for operators of other
aircraft at its global depots, and Boeing parts are now being added
to the inventories.
"With parts in stock at our depots, we can dispatch
transparencies to meet AOG requirements from strategic locations
worldwide," Stone said.
Mixed-fleet operators can benefit from having PPG Aerospace as a
single source of replacement transparencies, he added.
"Since we already supply airlines with replacement parts for
other aircraft, they will be able to reduce acquisition costs by
consolidating their supplier base with PPG Aerospace."
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