D.O.M. Maintenance Management Blog

Sometimes as a distributor, I see other competitors that do things that are just plain wrong. Normally, i can keep quiet. After hearing customers complain about what another distributor has been doing to them, I decided it was time to at least make DOM's aware of a special situation. There is a very large aircraft parts distributor who has been overhauling Cleveland King Air High Float brakes in their own shop (Part Number 30-162), instead of Cleveland's own repair station. While this practice would be normally fine, they have been engaged in a bait and switch technique that has bitten a least six or seven maintenance shops that I know of. What they are doing, is quoting an overhaul exchange price that is roughly $800 less than a factory overhaul. Then 2-3 months later, the customer receives a bill ( almost in every case) for $1,000 to 1,250 per each returned brake core.  What they are doing, in reality, is billing you back on the brake housing. This housing is very expensive, and is routinely replaced due to corrosion. We have chosen to send all of the Cleveland 30-162 brakes through Cleveland, because of their flat rate exchange policy. Cleveland is aware that the corrosion may occur, particularly on old brakes, so they have made sure to address this during overhaul.

Big manufacturers don’t care about AOG’s.

Some things never change. You would think that in this economy, manufacturers would relish every opportunity to move their product. You would think that their customer service would improve, or yet be adequate.  But as usual, this is not the case. Today I called a very large aerospace “conglomerate” with an AOG for a U.S. military aircraft part. Surprisingly, they had the item in stock. But what followed next is the sad malaise that most of my fellow distributors experience. I reasoned that in an AOG situation, with a tail number and aircraft serial, surely this manufacturer would ship this item today.  I also reasoned that this manufacturer would put forth a minimum effort to expedite this item, especially since it was for an AOG U.S. military aircraft.  I was told that they could not ship the product for three days. When I pressed them with a DOD contract number, they bluntly told me that AOG’s aren’t expedited any sooner than three days. The request could be an AOG for an air ambulance or a U.S. military aircraft, neither really mattered to their customer service team!