 PPG Aerospace - Transparencies, the aircraft windshield and window business of PPG Industries, has begun selling replacement cockpit windows for all Boeing airplanes directly to airlines as a result of a licensing agreement with Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Airlines previously bought their PPG-made replacement cockpit windows from Boeing for all Boeing and McDonnell Douglas airplanes, except for the main windshields for Boeing 747 jets. PPG has a separate Boeing license to sell airlines rebuilt glass windshields for Boeing 707, 727, 737, 757, 767 and 777 airplanes, and will continue to offer them.
Under the new agreement, PPG is able to sell to airlines replacement cockpit windows for all Boeing aircraft. This includes cockpit windshields and windows for Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft. PPG Aerospace also is now licensed for direct sale of replacement cockpit windows for these aircraft no longer in production: the Boeing 707 and 727, and legacy McDonnell Douglas aircraft DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, MD-90 and MD-11.
"This agreement is a win for the airlines, Boeing and PPG Aerospace," said Dave Morris, head of PPG Aerospace and a vice president of PPG Industries. "It affords each of us the opportunity to focus on what we do best, while maintaining the three-way relationship that allows us to continuously improve product service life.
"PPG Aerospace will continue to work closely with Boeing on the design, development and manufacture of transparencies for its aircraft, whether those transparencies are installed on the airframe production line or by airlines as replacements," Morris said.
For more than a decade, PPG has been the sole producer of original-equipment cockpit windows for Boeing 777, 767, 757 and Next-Generation 737 airplanes.
According to David R. France, PPG Aerospace global sales director, original-equipment transparencies, PPG is the only transparency manufacturer capable of providing airlines with the latest design enhancements for windshields and windows on these Boeing aircraft.
"Boeing operators are now able to buy transparencies directly from the manufacturer - PPG - streamlining ordering, shipping and warranty administration," France said. "We already produce these parts for both original-equipment and replacement applications, and our long-term supply relationship with Boeing means that PPG is the only manufacturer able to produce windshields and windows that incorporate the latest design enhancements."
PPG already supplies replacement cockpit windows for operators of Airbus, BAE Systems, Embraer, Bombardier Aerospace, Saab, ATR and Fokker airplanes, France noted. It stocks replacement products for operators of other aircraft at its global depots, and Boeing parts are now being added to the inventories.
"We have the infrastructure and experience of stocking and delivering windows for airlines operating other equipment, and can begin immediate sale to Boeing operators of replacement parts," said M. Anthony Stone, PPG Aerospace global sales director, aftermarket transparencies. PPG will enhance its ability to provide airlines operating Boeing airplanes with 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week AOG (aircraft on ground) service, he added.
"With parts in stock at our depots, we can dispatch transparencies to meet AOG requirements from strategic locations worldwide," Stone said.
Mixed-fleet operators can benefit from having PPG Aerospace as a single source of replacement transparencies, he added.
"Since we already supply airlines with replacement parts for other aircraft, they will be able to reduce acquisition costs by consolidating their supplier base with PPG Aerospace."
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