Air India engineers to repair Neo engines
Air India Engineering Services Limited’s (AIESL) facility in Mumbai has received its first geared turbo fan (GTF) engine in a deal with engine maker Pratt & Whitney.
Air India engineers will provide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities to faulty Neo engines of both IndiGo and GoAir, drastically reducing time taken for the upgrade. As directed by the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, procurement and replacement of 180 faulty engines is to be done by May-end.
Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., on Thursday officially announced that AIESL will service PW1100G-JM engines at its facility in Mumbai.
“With AIESL performing maintenance on our high-tech geared turbo fan engines, we are excited to strengthen our global MRO capacity and capabilities for customers on the ground in India,” said Joe Sylvestro, vice president of Aftermarket Operations at Pratt & Whitney.
AIESL’s introduction to GTF maintenance will be a phased approach, starting with engine upgrade and module exchange capabilities as immediate support of the GTF fleet in India. Of the 56 failures reported globally, 26 or approximately 46% are from Indian carriers. Of these, 22 belong to IndiGo and four to GoAir.
DGCA has said the failures are attributed to fracture of third-stage, low-pressure turbine blades, which are not able to withstand impacts.
Pratt & Whitney has developed more robust third-stage, low-pressure turbine blades, which have been installed on new engines starting June 2019.
As of February 29, DGCA said IndiGo had 152 modified engines and 60 unmodified engines, while GoAir had 54 and 32 respectively.
H.R. Jagannath, CEO of AIESL, said it was an exciting time as his team prepared for the GTF engine. “We have been engaged in providing engine MRO services to Air India and other operators for over 50 years. Our association with Pratt & Whitney goes back a long time as well. The GTF engine provides us with the opportunity to showcase our capabilities and establish AIESL as one of the premier engine MROs in Asia.”
Pratt & Whitney engines power more than 700 aircraft in service today in India, including more than 150 GTF-powered A320 Neo family aircraft. The GTF engine has saved Indian operators over 90 million gallons of fuel and more than 800,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions.
Ashmita Sethi, managing director of India for Pratt & Whitney, committed to investing in the success of the aviation industry in India.
“These services based on deep knowledge and expertise of the manufacturer, once performed in India, will save customers the downtime, disruption and costs, by keeping GTF engines flying longer and getting them back on the wing sooner,” Ms. Sethi said.
Since entering into service in early 2016, the GTF engine has demonstrated its ability to reduce fuel burn by 16%, reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 50% as compared to the regulatory standard, and to reduce the noise footprint by 75%.
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