AirLiance Materials Appoints Paul Hawthorne as Director of Quality Assurance.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2001

AirLiance Materials, a jointly owned company formed by United Airlines, Air Canada, and Lufthansa Technik, has announced the appointment of Paul Hawthorne as Director of Quality Assurance. Mr. Hawthorne will report directly to David Sisson, President/CEO of AirLiance Materials. Mr. Hawthorne will oversee the integrity of the inventory in compliance with regulatory requirements, the company's quality policies, and specific customer requirements. His duties include, though are not limited to, ensuring proper documentation, traceability of the inventory, process improvement, as well as maintaining the company's ISO 9002 Certification.

Mr. Hawthorne has been in the aerospace industry for more than 23 years. According to Mr. Sisson, "Mr. Hawthorne has a track record of accomplishment in our industry in quality control and quality assurance. He is instrumental in achieving constancy in a particularly volatile segment of the aviation industry." Mr. Hawthorne has also achieved national recognition as a member of the Federal Aviation Administration Suspected Unapproved Parts Steering Committee. He is also a member of the ASQ CQCA Conference Committee, and was a member of the ARAC Aircraft Maintenance Recordkeeping Working Group. In the past, he has worked on ATA and SAE Committees and was the Chairman for the MD-11 MSG-3 Structures Working Group.

Mr. Hawthorne joins AirLiance from Aviation Sales Distribution Company, where he was VP of Quality Assurance for six years. In that position, he was responsible for all aspects of quality assurance and quality control for the distribution company. Mr. Hawthorne has previously held engineering, planning and management positions with Sikorsky Aircraft, Eastern Airlines and Federal Express.

He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, holds a private pilot's license, and an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic's license. After graduating from college, Mr. Hawthorne began his aviation career as a mechanic with Rocky Mountain Helicopters.

Created for airlines, by airlines, AirLiance Materials is the exclusive supplier of high-quality, traceable, surplus parts from three operators to the global air transport industry. The company operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Headquartered in its 187,000 sq. ft. facility, AirLiance Materials is located at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The company offers its products and services through an international network of offices around the world and their e-commerce site www.airliance.com. AirLiance Materials offers a wide range of supply chain related aircraft products and services for its customer airlines and maintenance repair organizations. These products and services include material sales, sourcing, repair management services, parts exchanges, parts kitting, AOG and Just-In-Time services.

ISO 9002 certified, AirLiance Materials employs advanced systems and technology to reduce the costs and complexity of obtaining high-quality engine and airframe parts for its partners and non-partners. The company's partners, United Airlines, Air Canada, and Lufthansa Technik, combine to operate more than 1,000 aircraft and generate 17 percent of the world's available seat miles.

For more information, please visit the website at www.airliance.com. If you would like to set up an interview for Mr. Hawthorne, please contact Rod Sims, King Group IMC, phone: [phone]; fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail].