Duncan Aviation has been recognised by Bombardier for its performance as a top authorised service facility in the support of Bombardier business jet customers. Judged on a set of criteria that included superior quality, performance and effective customer support, Duncan's Lincoln, Nebraska facility was named the winner of both the Overall and the North American categories of the 10th Annual Bombardier Authorized Service Facility (ASF) Excellence Awards.

“We are proud of the services we provide and appreciative of the great support we receive from Bombardier,” states company president Jeff Lake. “We have a long and strong relationship with Bombardier and continue to work together to provide the best service possible for operators of Bombardier business aircraft. We are proud to be recognised by Bombardier for our commitment to providing its aircraft operators with superior quality and performance and are thrilled that all of our full-service facilities have been recognised with this award over the years.”

“This award recognises Duncan Aviation's commitment to serving Bombardier operators with superior quality and performance, effectively supporting our mutual goal to maximise the efficiency of our customers' operations,” adds Jean-Christophe Gallagher, executive VP of services and support and corporate strategy at Bombardier.

Duncan Aviation has more than 240 team members dedicated to the support of Bombardier products with an average of 12 years of experience.

Earlier this autumn, the avionics technicians at Duncan's full-service facility in Lincoln, Nebraska upgraded the CMS for a Challenger 605 with components from the Honeywell Ovation and Cadence switches from Alto Aviation. The owner of the aircraft, who was facing obsolescence issues with his current switches and CMS screens, worked with Duncan avionics sales representative Scott Kruce to select the necessary components to upgrade the system.

“The customer knew how difficult it was to find parts or repair the older push-button switches and screens because he'd faced the same problems with other aircraft,” says Kruce. “We were able to fit the Cadence switches into the existing cutouts in the drinkrails, which minimised necessary changes to the woodwork, decreased downtime and helped keep down costs.”

New Ovation touchscreens were added to the VIP seat and the galley, and with the addition of the Honeywell backbone, the Duncan Aviation technicians also added Bluetooth wireless technology, high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) and Blu-ray support. The entertainment system on the aircraft is now fully modernised, and the screens support HD content.

“One big advantage to going down this route is how customisable it is. You can have a system that is mostly Ovation, mostly Alto or anywhere in-between. The cabin entertainment options are also scalable. We can do a minimalist system with a couple of HDMI ports or a system like this aircraft with HDMI ports, Blu-Ray, Bluetooth and cabin iPad remote. This range of options in the switching and source equipment allows us to tailor-fit the cabin to the customer's mission,” Kruce concludes.