UTC Aerospace Systems this week welcomed Airbus to its landing gear production facility in Oakville, Ontario, to celebrate two program milestones.
As the supplier of the body and wing landing gear for the Airbus A380, the event commemorated the pending delivery of the 200th shipset of gear. It was also an opportunity to recognise the upcoming delivery of the first shipset of main landing gear for the A350-1000 program. UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit of United Technologies.
Senior representatives from Airbus were on hand to acknowledge the relationship with UTC Aerospace Systems, which has led to the successful achievement of these milestones, and to thank the employees for their contributions to these key programs. In support of the event, Airbus provided an overview of its business activities, participated in a Q&A session and presented employees with special mementos marking the occasion.
“As a long-standing supplier on the A380 program, we very much appreciate Airbus taking the time to join us in celebrating this important milestone and to personally acknowledge the efforts of our employees. We are pleased to honor this relationship by commemorating the delivery of the 200th set of A380 landing gear,” said Frank Karakas, vice president of Airbus programs for UTC Aerospace Systems’ Landing Systems business.
“We are equally excited to celebrate the upcoming delivery of the first set of main landing gear for the A350-1000 aircraft, a program that will continue to strengthen our ongoing relationship with Airbus,” affirmed Karakas.
“The UTC Aerospace Systems team is a strong supplier to Airbus, particularly in the Oakville facility. I am happy to come here and thank the employees for their hard work on all of our programs, to recognise their dedication to the A380 program, and to celebrate reaching this important first milestone on the A350-1000 program,” said Sean Black, senior director – Head of A350 XWB U.S. Program, Airbus Americas.
As a leading provider of landing gear systems for commercial aircraft, UTC Aerospace Systems has been supplying the body and wing landing gear for the A380 since the outset of the program. At 19 feet tall, the body landing gear is the largest gear aboard a commercial aircraft and with 2 body gears and 2 wing landing gears supplied per aircraft, a shipset comprises 20 wheels. The company is now leveraging its expertise to design and manufacture the main landing gear for the A350-1000, the latest version of the Airbus A350 XWB family of wide-body jetliners.
UTC Aerospace Systems designs, manufactures and services integrated systems and components for the aerospace and defense industries. UTC Aerospace Systems supports a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and customer service facilities.
In August, UTC was also selected by easyJet to supply the wheels, carbon brakes and MRO support for the 68 new Airbus A320ceo aircraft being added to its fleet.
United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries.