That’s how 2023 passed at LOTAMS. What is in store for the next one?
The year 2023 is already behind us. It has been a very intense time for LOTAMS. -It’s hard to argue with the numbers – it has been a very good year, and we’re heading for more in 2024 – says Aleksandra Juda – CEO of LOTAMS.
Base and line maintenance, Part-21J – LOTAMS provides services to global airlines
Last year, up to 102 aircraft underwent the hands of our heavy maintenance engineers. These included types such as EMBRAER ERJ195/190/175/170, Boeing B737MAX, B737NG, B767 and our flagship B787 known as the Dreamliner.
Regarding line maintenance, we spent 440,600 man-hours on light maintenance. Our line services included B777, B787, B737MAX, B737NG, E2, ERJ 195/190/175/170.
Our paint shop, also has much to be proud of. In 2023, we provided up to 25 aircraft with new colours. LOTAMS’ customer portfolio continues to grow. In 2023 only, we supplied 20 customers from all over the world on a base maintenance and 17 on a line maintenance.
– Vietnam, Turkey, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, France, Iceland or Singapore – these are just a few of the countries the airlines served by LOTAMS originate from,’ Aleksandra Juda listed. – Of course, PLL LOT aircraft make up the largest part of the service at LOTAMS, but more and more new clients outside the Polish Aviation Group are appearing in our hangars, which is something we are also extremely proud of – LOTAMS CEO adds.
Is Warsaw not enough? Building of the hangar in Rzeszów begins
Although LOTAMS has 4 hangars in Warsaw, in 2023 we started the building of a new hangar at the airport in Jasionka, near Rzeszów. Exactly on 21 September 2023, we marked the milestone for our new facility!
– The Rzeszów base will be dedicated to, among other purposes, servicing Dreamliners. It will be the largest and most modern base for heavy aircraft maintenance, in Poland. The building area itself will be almost 28,000 m2 – emphasises the LOTAMS CEO.
It is planned that the new LOTAMS base in Podkarpacie will receive its first heavy maintenance aircraft in the second half of 2025.
LOTAMS is constantly hiring
In 2023, around 500 new employees and contributors came on board at LOTAMS . However, the HR department is not stopping there. 2024 will be a major challenge in terms of new recruitments.
–For our team, we need primarily certifying staff. An aircraft engineer with a licence is at a premium in any MRO today, which is why we work with many technical schools in Poland, as well as universities, to help young people direct their career path already on the stage of education. Working in aviation is a great responsibility but also an opportunity to realise your greatest passions. This is what we offer at LOTAMS – says Małgorzata Gawryszewska, HR Director at LOTAMS.
There is no secret that LOTAMS is still recruiting in Rzeszów, where we will be appearing at the next job fair on 21 February in the Podpromie. We look forward to meeting you and having interesting discussions!
Warsaw and Kielce’s University of Technology in collaboration with LOTAMS on innovative laser
Last year, LOTAMS continued the TECHNIKS research and development project, which started in 2020 and is being carried out under the Path for Mazovia programme. The aim of the project is to develop technologies for the treatment of aluminium and composite primary and secondary structures. The result of the activities will be the elimination of currently used chemical and mechanical technologies for the removal of paint coatings from aircraft structures. The application of the new alternative technology significantly reduces the execution time of these processes, the exposure of workers and the environment to chemical vapours or dust, and ensures higher precision in paint stripping, especially of composite materials. The project is being carried out in partnership with the Warsaw University of Technology – Faculty of Materials Engineering and the Kielce University of Technology – Faculty of Mechatronics and Machine Building.
– In 2023, we completed the research and development stage, its finale being the construction of a technology demonstrator – a robotic station enabling the application of the developed technology on both flat surfaces and solids of different shapes. Further activities within the project in 2024 will continue towards the development of a path for the production implementation of its results – concludes Piotr Żurawski, project manager.
New infrastructure LOTAMS in Warsaw and its improvements
In order to increase comfort and bring hangar conditions up to the highest possible standards, we renovated hangar 4 and hangar 2 in 2023. We also launched a new Operations Centre, formerly operating as an MCC for us, to effectively delegate tasks and link all operational units of our MRO. In addition, we launched Base Maintenance Slot Teams to improve coordination in the maintenance slots.
Safety comes first at LOTAMS
In 2023, we implemented a new access control system at the LOTAMS site extended to several new locations. In retrospect, we can say proudly that the change has had a positive impact on the level of security of the LOTAMS site and the comfort of employees moving around the Company’s territory. In addition, we have expanded the CCV monitoring system to nearly 300 cameras. The system largely supports areas such as safety, quality, health and safety, logistics and production and production support.
In the interest of employee health and safety, LOTAMS’ health and safety department conducted nearly 250 initial training sessions expanded to include first aid issues in 2023 itself, thanks to the purchased phantom and AED trainer. Through active communication raising awareness of workplace risks, we have reduced accidents by 56% (compared to 2022).
LOTAMS is constantly striving to achieve new hights!
We are committed to raising the standards and increasing our efficiency in 2024. We are constantly looking for new solutions to make the work in our facility brings satisfaction to our employees and our customers are even more satisfied with the services we provide. SKY IS NO LIMIT!
