November 30, 2006

Sabreliner Expanding KC-135 Component Work

Sabreliner Corp. has undertaken the remanufacture of flight control components of the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, used for aerial refueling. The company is serving as the primary subcontractor to The Boeing Company for the work, which is being performed at Sabreliner’s Ste. Genevieve, Mo. operation.

This is a three years contact valued at $23 million with potential for a, multiyear, follow-on contract.
Sabreliner already maintains and repairs a number of flight control components from the KC-135 and E-6B versions of the Boeing 707. Under the new contract, the company is providing an even higher level of service for components requiring remanufacture. Between 150 and 300 components are expected to be remanufactured during each year of the 3 year contract.

The contract is part of the Air Force’s Management of Items Subject to Repair (MISTR) program, which designates qualified facilities to remanufacture specific aircraft components. The Sabreliner subcontract with Boeing calls for Sabreliner to work on such flight control components as elevators, ailerons and rudders.

Sabreliner will utilize its proprietary Virtual Program Manager electronic program management tool to track the work accomplished at Ste. Genevieve.

The KC-135 was first flown in August of 1956, and entered service with the Air Force in June of 1957. The last tanker was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. Over those eight years, a total of 732 KC-135s were built and delivered to the Air Force. More than 500 of the tankers remain in service today.

For more information about Sabreliner’s government service and subcontracting capabilities, see www.sabregov.com.