South African Airways Technical (SAAT), a subsidiary company of the State-owned South African Airways (SAA) Group (and so, a sister company to the SAA airline), has reported that it has overhauled a shipset of landing gear for a Boeing 737-800 airliner in a record time. The term landing gear refers to the legs of the undercarriage, attached at one end to the aircraft fuselage and, at the other, to the wheel assemblies. Shipset indicates that the overhaul was carried out on all three landing gears (two main and one nose) of an aircraft.

Aircraft landing gear is subject to serious forces on landing and must bear the weight of the aircraft when it is on the ground. It must be very strong and durable but is inevitably subject to wear-and-tear and can suffer corrosion and other damage.

Typically, overhauling a shipset of 737-800 landing gear takes up to 60 days. SAAT did it in just 40 days.

“Completing this project within 40 days is one of the most significant achievements in my career, and I attribute it to effective communication, team commitment and thorough planning,” highlighted SAAT production leader James Nthulana. “This accomplishment has put us on the map as one of the few facilities in Africa with such capabilities and is a proof point to manufacturers.”

(Nthulana is a 28-year veteran of SAAT and for 21 of those years was a technician or supervisor specialising in landing gears.)

SAAT interim CEO Wellington Nyuswa affirmed that this achievement showed that SAAT was able to turn itself around, to grow and become a world-class centre of maintenance, repair and overhaul excellence. He also expressed pride in the record-breaking achievement of the SAAT team.

“Our strategic plan is to expand our landing gear shop and back-shop capabilities while focusing on sustainable profitability and efficiency,” reported Nyuswa. “With SAAT now operating with an organisational structure that is fit for purpose, we believe this will empower and motivate the team to continuously look for ways to improve and make SAAT the industry benchmark.”