Daher has announced the appointment of Switzerland’s MecanAir SA as an authorized service center for both the Kodiak and TBM turboprop-powered aircraft.
Based at Ecuvillens Airport (LSGE) near Fribourg, MecanAir is an EASA Part 145 certificated maintenance and repair station. It has been operating as an authorized Kodiak service center, and the expansion of its responsibilities to the TBM underscores Daher’s integration of these two airplanes in the company’s single-engine turboprop product line.
MecanAir is specialized in the maintenance and repair of aircraft weighing under 12,500 lbs., as well as the overhaul of turboprop engines and accessories. In addition to its Ecuvillens Airport location, the company has maintenance workshops at the Swiss airports of Yverdon-les-Bains and Grenchen.
Under the expanded agreement with Daher’s Aircraft Division, MecanAir is now capable of handling all scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance services for Kodiak and TBM aircraft, and airworthiness-related control/management under the authorization as a Continuous Airworthiness Monitoring Organization (CAMO).
“This is another important step in enhancing our global Network after Daher’s acquisition of Kodiak in 2019,” explained Nicolas Chabbert, the Senior Vice President of Daher’s Aircraft Division, and the CEO of Kodiak Aircraft. “With MecanAir’s dual Kodiak and TBM authorization today – to be followed by other service centers in the future – customers will benefit from more comprehensive coverage and the increased synergy of our Network worldwide.”
Raphaël Maître, the Vice President of Customer Support for Daher’s Aircraft Division, added: “As a key member of services for the Kodiak aircraft family for 10 years, MecanAir distinguished itself as an extremely capable support partner. Our Kodiak Care team, led by Dave Schuck, has been very pleased with MecanAir’s responsiveness at its own facilities, as well as the response to off-site maintenance calls. The next step was extending MecanAir’s capability to the TBM.”
MecanAir founding-CEO Michel Devaud is a well-known professional who developed a range of auto racing engines in the Can-Am and F5000 series for teams that included McLaren and Lola during the 1970s.
As an active private pilot, Devaud has built his own aircraft, and he set up an aviation engine overhaul operation to work on airplane engines. In 1976, Devaud created MecanAir as an aircraft maintenance and engine overhaul facility specialized in light aircraft – as well as for such legendary airplanes as the Tiger Moth, Bucker, Spitfire, AT-6 and Wildcat.
