The investments targeted P&W maintenance and aftermarket operations in Arkansas, Florida and Texas.
Pratt & Whitney (P&W) in the last year spent some $100 million to expand its PW1000G geared turbofan (GTF) maintenance and aftermarket capabilities, saying the investments are speeding up its repair processes.
The investments come at a time of heightened demand for GTF engine maintenance, with customers clamouring for repair work and spare parts in response to engine durability problems.
Connecticut-based P&W disclosed the investments on 21 April, saying it spent the money on various projects at three US maintenance sites: those in Arkansas, Florida and Texas.
“As part of ongoing efforts to ramp maintenance capacity for the GTF engine, Pratt & Whitney is expanding the facilities and adding new equipment to enhance speed and efficiency throughout the MRO process,” P&W says.
Of the $100 million, P&W spent $78 million on projects at its 46,450sq m (500,000sq ft) “used serviceable material” site in Irving, Texas. The firm says the investments will help address the problem of “material constraints”, which it cites as among primary factors causing maintenance delays.
“The investment will increase [used-serviceable material] stock by more than 60%, helping to reduce engine turnaround time. It also enables the expansion of part repair development capability and MRO quick-turn capacity,” P&W says.
The firm also invested $20 million at its GTF site in West Palm Beach, Florida. That money bought equipment needed for assembling and disassembling engines, and for machining, cleaning and storing engine components. P&W says the funds helped increase maintenance capacity there by 40%.
Additionally, P&W spent $4.7 million at its maintenance site in the Arkansas city of Springdale. The company added 650sq m of space to that facility, providing more room for repairing commercial and military engine cases. It also purchased “new equipment to enable GTF additive-manufacturing repairs that will reduce process time by more than 60%”, it says.
Separately, P&W this year opened 7,525sq m of additional space at its GTF maintenance facility in Columbus, Georgia.
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