“Southern Cross goes above and beyond to work as a business partner for our clients,” said Ricardo Carvalho, director of sales. “We make sure our clients have what they need to maintain and operate their aircraft as well as possible. We know the service we provide is mission-critical, so we assure our clients we will be there for them when they need us most.”
For more than 30 years, Southern Cross Aviation (SCA) and its sister companies have been providing its worldwide client base with whatever they need to keep their aircraft flying, efficiently and reliably. From aircraft sales to parts supply and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, Southern Cross can provide operators with a complete solution.
“We help our customers find the correct spare parts they need, for the right price,” said Carvalho. “We also offer MRO services. Our MRO management program provides simplification for operators by having a single point of contact while achieving savings thanks to the larger repair volume of SCA.”
Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Southern Cross has five facilities in the area: its parts division head office, a distribution center, two warehouses and a repair station certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. These locations work in concert with Cruzeiro do Sul (CDS) MRO, its distribution center and Brazilian (ANAC) certified repair station in Sao Paulo.
It’s an arrangement that provides the company with a logistical and strategic advantage. SCA can create partnerships with suppliers and manufacturers in the United States while providing parts and services for its global clients, and specific regional support for its substantial South American client base. It’s a strategy that Carvalho said has proven quite successful.
“We support clients in 110 countries. And, SCA is an authorized distributor for over 55 different manufacturers for diverse products such as batteries, lighting, ignition systems, chemicals, engine replacement parts and fuel systems.”
For helicopters, in particular, Carvalho said Southern Cross “inventories a large number of parts specific to the most popular helicopter platforms.”
Those popular platforms include models from Airbus (H135 and H175); Bell (212, 412, 427 and 429); and Leonardo (AW109, AW119, AW139 and AW609).
On top of that, the company is always looking to expand its offerings, particularly on the helicopter side. That’s why it decided to partner with EXTEX and join its aftermarket network.
“EXTEX offers a great product,” said Carvalho. “Their engine replacement parts are high quality and are used by most turbine overhaul shops–as are their [airframe] replacement parts. Both save our customers a lot of money and offer excellent value.”
In turn, SCA offers EXTEX its South American market know-how, contacts, sales force and customer base.
It’s just one more example of the long-term, mutually beneficial relationships Southern Cross believes in building with both clients and suppliers alike.
