Triumph Group and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) have finalised the formation of joint venture (JV) company xCelle Americas.
The new company will provide MRO services for nacelles on new generation aircraft at Triumph’s Hot Springs, Arkansas, US repair facility. These include 787s, 737MAXs, A320neos and A350s.
Acting through its affiliation with AFI KLM E&M, xCelle Americas will perform 787 nacelle repairs under Air France’s license from wholly-owned Collins Aerospace company Rohr. This expands Air France’s licensed repair capabilities for those nacelles to the Americas.
Triumph and AFI KLM E&M said the formation of the JV achieved “a first step in their strategic partnership and their ambition to provide local support to airlines”.
“The announcement of this joint venture is a huge achievement and a sign of confidence in the future,” said xCelle Americas’ CEO Philippe Martin de Beaucé. “It’s an honour to be selected to lead xCelle Americas as its CEO. Together with William Buxton, xCelle Americas COO, we will give our best to make this new JV a success. We are very excited to set up this new product in the Americas and to offer reliable and local solutions on the new-gen nacelles for the operators.”
Buxton commented: “I am very proud of the hard work the teams have done to make this joint venture a reality and we look forward to making it a success. Triumph and Air France have a great working relationship, and Philippe and I are excited for the opportunity to combine the strengths of our respective companies in order to bring new and unique offerings to our customers.”
AFI KLM E&M’s SVP components product Benjamin Moreau said: “This new joint venture with our partner Triumph expands the AFI KLM E&M’s extensive network. With xCelle Americas, we continue to meet our main ambition of providing local services to our customers and of continuing to be the benchmark for service level on the MRO market.”
Triumph Systems and Support’s executive vice president Bill Kircher commented: “Triumph is excited to partner with Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance to form this joint venture, xCelle Americas. We look forward to the opportunities this venture creates by expanding our network and capabilities for existing as well as new customers.”
