Greensboro News & Record, Katie Arcieri, June 6, 2010

The inside of an airplane parked at Piedmont Triad International Airport resembles a long, hollow tube. There are no seats. No carpets. Nothing.  But in roughly a month’s time, this plane will be equipped with new seating, carpets and galleys before takeoff.

Each day, employees of TIMCO Aviation Services in Greensboro report to four hangars at the airport, where they repair, refurbish and retrofit elite planes from as far as Italy, Chile and Russia.  It is here that they toil over massive gray KC-10 U.S. Air Force tankers, FedEx MD-10 freighters and 767-300ER airplanes.  TIMCO technicians will spend as many as 1,250 working hours on a single plane.  “We can turn planes as well – if not better – than most,” said Ron Utecht, president and co-chief executive officer of the aircraft maintenance firm on Radar Road.

The major aircraft repair work performed in Greensboro offers a glimpse into a tightly run company that follows strict systems for getting an airplane back to a customer on time.  “There’s no chaos,” said Gene House, TIMCO’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “Everything is like a storyline. There’s a beginning, middle and an end.”

The work here also provides a window into a business that has transformed into a one-stop shop for the aviation industry.  TIMCO not only designs plane interiors and provides routine “line maintenance” checks on airplanes.  It also manufactures seats, installs galleys, replaces carpets and provides Federal Aviation Administration certification on changes to a plane’s interior.

TIMCO’s Greensboro operation generates a substantial local economic impact: Roughly 1,800 of  TIMCO’s 2,800 employees work in Greensboro and get annual incomes ranging from $25,000 to $125,000.  Structural technician Eddy Messick, who celebrates his 20^th year with the company in July, said he enjoys TIMCO and its “relaxed atmosphere.”  There’s also the intellectual challenge: Messick said he’s like “Daniel Boone” when it comes to his work.  “I’m blazing the trail,” he said.

Founded by Charles Bell, TIMCO began in 1990 at a time when commercial airline carriers performed their own maintenance work. Today, 64 percent of that work is outsourced to independent aviation maintenance firms, Utecht said.  “TIMCO was one of the early pioneers,” he said.

The aviation maintenance industry is small. Utecht said there are only about 20 businesses like TIMCO in North America; TIMCO is the largest. The company tries to separate itself from competitors by providing better service and returning planes to customers on time or early. “It’s a huge part of our value,” said House, who worked with Utecht for 40 years at United Airlines before joining TIMCO in 2006.

Planes are a “hugely expensive asset for the airlines and the only time that asset is generating revenue is when it is in operational service,” House said.  Turning airplanes accurately and on time requires unique skills. To that end, the company relies heavily on GTCC for training future technicians, Utecht said. House added that the Greensboro area’s quality of life and “competitive cost of living” are attractive to TIMCO employees and customers.

TIMCO endured a series of obstacles during the last decade. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the airline industry shrunk 20 percent. “Maintenance spending was cut back dramatically,” said Joseph Schwieterman, an aviation expert and professor at DePaul University in Chicago who teaches transportation.  “It went from boom to bust overnight,” said Schwieterman, who also was a former analyst with United Airlines.  TIMCO struggled so much that one of the company’s major investors, Lacy Harber, had to write a check to keep the payroll going, Utecht said.

Utecht, who started his career as a technician at United Airlines and rose to become its senior vice president of maintenance and engineering, joined forces with other members of the TIMCO leadership team and turned the company around.  TIMCO began developing a more comprehensive menu of aviation services and engaged employees in their work.  “All of our money comes from leveraging our labor,” Utecht said. “You have to have employees on your side.”

The company also began aggressively going after government and international business. TIMCO is now working as a subcontractor with Northrop Grumman on the KC-10 U.S. Air Force planes. The contract will bring the company more that $20 million a year.  Japan Airlines recently announced that it will buy TIMCO’s “Featherweight” galley designed to improve fuel consumption. TIMCO officials did not disclose terms of the deal.

Now, TIMCO is ready for more growth. The company plans to double the number of airports to which it provides line maintenance from 21 to about 40 by the end of 2011. TIMCO also plans to open a new aircraft-seat-assembly plant at an undecided location by next year. “We continue to look at opportunities to expand,” Utecht said.  The expansion plan follows a painful year for the airline industry. Utecht said TIMCO posted roughly $300 million in revenue last year, down from $328 million in 2008. Last year, TIMCO cut 300 employees, including core players in Greensboro, he said.  The firm also implemented one furlough week a month for about three months, Utecht said.

Even so, TIMCO’s work force has retained a strong sense of community, Utecht said. Employees organize fundraisers for organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They support each other during a celebration or a crisis, Utecht said. “That was not something that we brought here,” he said. “That was something that was here.”