Triumph Group [NYSE:TGI] and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) announced today they have finalized the formation of their joint venture (JV) under the name xCelle Americas, to overhaul nacelles for new generation aircraft at Triumph's Hot Springs, Arkansas repair facility.

xCelle Americas will perform maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for "new gen" nacelles on Boeing 787, Boeing 737MAX, Airbus A320neo, and Airbus A350 aircraft for operators in North and South America. Acting through its affiliation with AFI KLM E&M, xCelle Americas will perform Boeing 787 nacelle repairs under Air France's license from Rohr, Inc. (Collins Aerospace), thus expanding Air France's licensed repair capabilities for those nacelles to the Americas.

The formation of xCelle Americas advances important strategic objectives for both Triumph and AFI KLM E&M, expanding the reach of AFI KLM E&M's nacelle MRO capabilities and Boeing 787 license into the Americas and enabling Triumph to be positioned on new gen nacelles business, thus supporting key North and South American customers on the core of their future fleets. With this JV, Triumph and AFI KLM E&M achieve a first step in their strategic partnership and their ambition to provide local support to airlines.

"The announcement of this joint venture is a huge achievement and a sign of confidence in the future. It's an honor to be selected to lead xCelle Americas as its CEO. Together with William Buxton, xCelle Americas COO, we will give our best to make this new JV a success. We are very excited to set up this new product in the Americas and to offer reliable and local solutions on the new gen-nacelles for the operators," said Philippe Martin De Beaucé, CEO of xCelle Americas.

"I am very proud of the hard work the teams have done to make this joint venture a reality and we look forward to making it a success," said William Buxton, COO of xCelle Americas. "Triumph and Air France have a great working relationship, and Philippe and I are excited for the opportunity to combine the strengths of our respective companies in order to bring new and unique offerings to our customers."

"This new joint venture with our partner Triumph expands the AFI KLM E&M's extensive network. With xCelle Americas, we continue to meet our main ambition of providing local services to our customers and of continuing to be the benchmark for service level on the MRO market," said Benjamin Moreau, AFI KLM E&M SVP Components Product

"Triumph is excited to partner with Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance to form this joint venture, xCelle Americas. We look forward to the opportunities this venture creates by expanding our network and capabilities for existing as well as new customers," said Bill Kircher, Executive Vice President, Triumph Systems and Support