Operators Seek Options for Engine MRO

While airlines edge toward profitability, it seems operators’ disciplined focus on cost of ownership during the recession will not abide as the economy picks up. Instead, a permanent cultural change of maximizing expenditure benefits has occurred in the aviation aftermarket. The engine aftermarket is a perfect example because operators demand parts repairs to cut down on new component purchases, in situ repairs to expedite fixes less invasively, and used serviceable material to decrease costs. “Repairs will continue to be of the major factors driving cost of ownerships,” says Bill Kircher, managing director of Eagle Services Asia, “because they are one of the best levers to lower costs.” While the demand for repairs grows, he thinks that the depth of engineering required to create new ones quickly could drive continued consolidation in MRO. In terms of overall operations, Kircher also predicts in the next few years that airlines will pay more attention to health management data to lower ownership costs. In Singapore, Pratt & Whitney recently held a PW4000 engine technical conference to bring operators together to talk about these types of issues, including data sharing, airworthiness directive implementation, health management through Pratt’s Advanced Diagnostics and Engine Management system and fuel savings from engine washing. Kircher thinks the engine MRO market is slowly picking up for certain powerplant models, such as the CFM56 and IAE V2500, for which Pratt & Whitney has been expanding its capabilities around the world—from China to Turkey. “We’re well positioned to accommodate that growth,” he says. For legacy engines whose installed base is not increasing, Kircher says “there are pockets of strength” but most of the market is rather flat. Kircher closely monitors the cargo market because Pratt & Whitney engines power a lot of those aircraft, so the downstream benefits could be profitable for Eagle Services Asia, a joint venture between Pratt and SIA Engineering Co., which specializes in repairing and overhauling JT9D, PW4000 and General Electric GE90 engines.