AirLiance Materials Launches Expendable Materials Group.

Business Editors & Aviation Writers

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2001

Group Formed to Support Air Transport Operators With the Considerable Logistics Involved in Keeping Fleets Provisioned With the Thousands of

Expendables Required for Efficient and Safe Operation

AirLiance Materials, a leading supplier of commercial aircraft replacement parts and the supply-chain partner to many of the world's leading airlines and MROs, has announced today that the company has officially launched its newly formed Expendable Materials Group. The new group was formed with the goal of simplifying the often complex logistic involved in provisioning fleets worldwide with the replaceable parts and components used in line and regularly scheduled maintenance. By combining the extensive operational experience of its founding partners (United, Lufthansa Technik and Air Canada) with state-of-the-art, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce tools and the industry's largest inventory of expendables, AirLiance Materials is confident that the new specialized group can make a significant impact in efficiency of operations for its customers worldwide.

Headed-up by 15-year logistics expert Jerry Simpson, the group has already begun supporting the maintenance operations of its customers with everything from same-day shipment of individually specified expendable materials to highly-customized logistical support programs designed to simplify operations and reduce cost-of-operation over the long haul. The company offers a wide range of expendable kits and component pre-packaging for use in line and heavy maintenance of both airframes and engines. Specifically, airframes supported include Airbus A340, A330, A321, A320, A319, A310, A300, Boeing B777, B767, B757, B747, B737, B727, CRJ, MD11, MD80, DC10, DC9 and DC8. Engines supported include CF6, CF34, CFM56, JT3, JT8, JT9, PW100, PW2000, PW4000 and IAE V2500.

According to Roscoe Musselwhite, AirLiance Materials Executive Vice President, the decision to form the group was in response to customer feedback gathered over the last year that indicated that supporting their operations with the large volume of expendables often took a disproportionate amount of time and effort. Mr. Musselwhite said, "A common concern with our customers was that although expendables were critical to their operations from an efficiency and safety perspective, too low of a priority was placed on them due to the low dollar value." He added, "Our charter is to be the supply-chain partner to the world's airlines and air transport operators, so we felt it was important to point our resources at solving this problem."

Created for airlines, by airlines, AirLiance Materials is a jointly owned company formed by United Airlines, Air Canada and Lufthansa Technik. It is the exclusive supplier of high-quality, traceable, replacement parts from the 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 recent news releases and other information, please visit the website at www.airliance.com/news.