Rodolphe Marchais leasing and aircraft maintenance activities, through its subsidiaries, TAT leasing and Sabena technics. In a decade, TAT Group increased its maintenance activity and took part in a concentration movement in a fragmented market: it acquired successively AOM Industries in 2000, Sabena technics (at the time maintenance subsidiary of the Belgian National Airline) in 2005 and EADS Sogerma Services as well as EADS Barfield in 2007, making his subsidiary, Sabena technics, the world’s third largest independent MRO. Today, Sabena technics has all the necessary skills and agreements to perform maintenance on a large range of narrow and wide-body aircraft (Airbus, Boeing,
Sabena planes were part of a record-order of 34 Airbus A320 family aircraft, imposed on Sabena when under Swissair management. After an airline recession and the effects on the airline industry of the September 11 attacks in 2001, all airlines that flew across the Atlantic suffered. Swissair had pledged to invest millions in Sabena but failed to do so, partly because the airline had financial problems itself, having filed for bankruptcy protection one month prior. The company filed for legal protection against its creditors on 3 October, and went into liquidation on 6 November 2001. Fred Chaffart, Chairman of the Board