CAL saves $350,000 with in-house painting

Caribbean Airlines (CAL) will soon unveil one of its Boeing 737 aircraft which is currently being painted, completely in-house, a first for the airline. Officials of the state-owned carrier said bringing the painting process in-house, CAL will achieve cost savings of approximately $350,000, including savings from not flying the aircraft to an external service provider, which incurs costs for incidentals such as fuel and crew expenses.

The maintenance and engineering teams involved in the painting and branding of the aircraft were specially trained by PPG Aerospace, global suppliers of the coatings and surface materials necessary to prepare and paint the aircraft in CAL’s livery. PPG, world leaders in environmentally-friendly coatings, provided free training and development of local skills in the application and process of their aerospace materials.

CAL’s VP Maintenance & Engineering, Colville Carrington said: “Our partnership with PPG comes at an opportune time, and we are pleased to offer our teams training of this type, as local skill development lends itself to local industry development and self-sustainability.” The aircraft will be fully painted, without any adhesive decals, and will also be hand polished regularly to maintain fuel savings by reducing “drag”—the measurement of wind resistance to the aircraft as it flies through the air.