Zürich, Switzerland and the SR Technic Tour

Today, I went to Zürich, Switzerland for a special organized tour of SR Technic at the Zürich International Airport. I found out about this tour and the possibility to spot aircraft from the observation deck from my airliners.net forum, which I’m an active participant. I was hesitant to commit to an event that would be taking place miles away from home back in June, but I believed it would be a good way for me to network and perhaps make new connections in the European aviation industry. The day our tour was set to take place also happened to be the Zürich Street Parade, which if you don’t know, is a huge techno fest that takes place around the harbor in Zürich. People go to this festival in unique dress from skintight leather pants and shirts to weird self-made clothes.

The day began in Radolfzell where I met my friend Anna, a fellow U of M student that just also happened to have applied to this program, and who had also been placed in Radolfzell. Anna is of Polish decent, and thus has an interest in Germanic and Eastern European history and policy. Patrick, another PPPler, also had decided to join us on our excursion. At the train station, we met yet another fellow PPPler, Meredith, who had planned to go on a different excursion but was ditched by her friends who failed to show up because of too much partying the night before. So at 9am we were on the train headed for Zürich.

The train ride from Radolfzell to Zürich lasts all of 1:10. We had to make one connection in Singen (Hohentwiel) 5 minutes away from Radolfzell where there is a large junction. Since Switzerland is now part of Schengen, it is no longer necessary for people travelling between Germany and Switzerland to pass through border control. However, boarder guards did come on the train, and despite us asking for them to stamp our passport, they told us it was not possible as they were now members of Schengen.

Upon arrival at the train station in Zürich, it was clear that the Street Parade was in full swing. Since the train station is enclosed, there was a huge stage set up (mind you, it’s still early morning) with people dancing to the music. It was loud and crowded. Not very pleasant when you’re trying to find the tourist information so that you can get a map and navigate the city. However, we finally did get a map of the city and we were off. The city was filled with techno fans though, and it was quite difficult to walk around immediately from the Bahnhof (Train Station), as there were so many people. We decided to go to a section of the city called Lindenhof, where there was a viewing platform of the whole city. Also located in the old section of the city, we where able to roam the small streets, shops, and also grab some lunch. Unfortunately, the weather was turning gloomy, and it began to rain. Fortunately, we were able to walk around the old town, and I was able to see Marc Chagall’s stained glass window in the cities most prominent protestant church, the Fraumünster.

Following, we ended up on the city’s most chic shopping boulevard lined with stores like Bally, Louis Vuitton and others. We did some window-shopping, and I came across Burger where I actually found a great deal on some great tailored shirts. I bought two shirts, and that will probably be the culmination of my shopping in Europe at least until the next year. As it was already nearing 1pm, I decided to get a move on to the airport, where I was supposed to meet for my tour. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the train system in Switzerland. The train from Zürich to the Flughafen (airport) was direct and simple. Any ticket for any train was valid on the route, and I got to the airport in 20 minutes. Additionally, there were trains every 15-20 minutes. At the airport, which I think was one of the nicest that I have ever been too (so you know that’s impressive) I met the other anetters (members of the airliners.net forum) for the start of our tour.

 SR Technic was a daughter company of the Swiss Air Group. However, the Swiss Air Group was dissolved a couple years back, and the airline component was bought out by Lufthansa GmbH. The other parts were sold to other investors. SR was the former airline IATA code for Swiss Air. SR Technic however still does all the maintenance for Swiss Air and many other airlines around the world, as well as engine manufacturers. Once we passed security, we were transferred by bus from the airport terminal to the SR Technic main building. There, on foot, we went from hanger to hanger touring the facility and how the company repairs aircraft engines.

When engines need overhauling, repairs, or maintenance checks, Airlines don’t ground the plane, but rather have spare engines available to swap in for an engine that needs a check up. Thus, the plane never actually sits on the ground, but rather has its engine swapped every 2-3 years. SR Technic does not repair and service all engines, but they do service GE and Pratt Whitney engines, and they have one time, repeat, and contractual customers. Some of their customers include Swiss Air, Cathay Pacific, Vietnamese Airlines and 100’s of others. SR Technic will dismantle the entire engine into every part, clean the parts, analyze the wear on the each part, and assess what needs to be replaced. Such a service usually costs an airline between 1-2 million dollars. Additionally, SR Technic will need a minimum of 40 days to turnaround the engine, but usually requires much more time as the supply of parts is tight considering the extravagant cost of each spare part. Additionally, there is no place to store so many parts. Some engines have over 100,000 parts.

During the tour, we saw many engines on carts getting prepped for repair. We also saw airliners being converted from passenger variants to cargo, as well as a complete refurbishment of other airliners (including new seats, carpeting, window panels, overhead bins, crew rest cabins, and exterior repainting. In all, I cannot fathom how one opens such a business as the start up cost are extremely exorbitant, the know-how of personnel much be extremely technical, and the work done must be of the highest quality. Basically, in our globalized economy, many airlines are finding that it is much cheaper to outsource such work rather than opening their own shops. Additionally, manufactures use such repair facilities to send their engines when they are overburdened with work. However, our tour guide did acknowledge that the amount of work has diminished due to the global economic crisis, as airlines are favoring grounding airplanes that require upcoming checks due to the slack in demand.

Next post, Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle and Bavaria.