Engine maker Pratt & Whitney has received U.S. FAA 180-minute ETOPS (extended-range twin-engine operations) approval for its PW1500G engine. ETOPS is defined as the maximum allowed single-engine flying time that an aircraft needs to reach a suitable airport, with reserves.
The PW1500G geared turbofan (GTF) exclusively powers the Airbus A220-100 and -300 (formerly C Series 100 and 300, respectively). To date, the more-than-30-strong A220 regional jet fleet has logged nearly 150,000 GTF engine hours with three operators serving 145 destinations.
Pratt's GTF continues to meet performance improvement targets for customers, said the company, including up to 20 percent lower fuel consumption; 50 percent reduction in NOx emissions; and a 75 percent smaller noise footprint.
In other news at the show, P&W announced its F100 engine program (powering the F-15 and F-16) has reached 28 million flight hours. The engine powers more than 2,000 aircraft around the world and has been in service for some 40 years. There are currently more than 3,800 F100 engines flying.
Meanwhile, P&W's civil business is expanding its GTF service network, with plans to have a total of eight engine centers operating by 2020 from the current complement of five providers. The most recent addition was Delta TechOps. Eva Azoulay, P&W v-p of engine services, said, “The growing GTF network spans three continents, ensuring world-class service for every GTF customer.”
Finally, aviation services provider Hawker Pacific has agreed with P&W to collaborate “in a number of areas” to better serve customers. Under terms of the deal, Hawker Pacific will provide P&W customers with maintenance, repair, engineering, mobile repair services, and customer support.