As part of efforts to clear logjams delaying support for business aircraft engines, Rolls-Royce recently started using an additional hangar to keep its CorporateCare power-by-the-hour customers flying. The facility has allowed the manufacturer to fast-track North American operators with additional slots available to handle short-notice tasks, such as engine changes.
The initiative introduced in recent months has quickly made a difference to the extent that Rolls-Royce is now looking at where else it could add more hangar capacity in regions including Europe. The first hangar is located at Indianapolis Regional Airport, which is not too far from the company’s existing facility in the city.
Despite the fact that Rolls-Royce already has 85 authorized service centers worldwide, Lindsey Gillen, vice president of sales and marketing for business aviation, said it has sometimes proved hard for operators to secure a convenient slot, and the company also needs to keep lease engines maintained and ready for use. “We’re expanding availability because we want to provide support to CorporateCare and CorporateCare Enhanced customers whenever and wherever they need it,” she told AIN.
The extra capacity is part of a wider $1 billion investment Rolls-Royce has made in its business aviation service network. It has been looking to further boost its support offering since launching the CorporateCare Enhanced program in January 2019 to respond to customer demand for closing gaps in what work and materials are covered for the BR and Pearl family of turbofans.
The manufacturer now has an inventory of 250 engines and nacelles available to lease and located in parts stores worldwide. The most recent addition was a facility at New York’s JFK International Airport, where the whole operation runs from a service center in Germany on a 24/7 basis. It employs more than 80 OnWing service technicians who can be dispatched worldwide to provide local support.
More Data Means More Predictability
Another improvement is the introduction of the new Engine Network app that Rolls-Royce technicians use to access comprehensive information about the current state of every engine they support. The platform constantly draws engine health monitoring (EHM) data, covering more than 9,000 engine parameters and all replaceable parts covering 3,800 aircraft in service with some 3,000 customers.
“It shows everything about the work that has been done, and the EHM data means we can be far more predictive and less reactive in how we support customers,” Gillen said. “We can know when and how something is going to happen with an engine, and that is helping us to achieve better reliability and availability and improve time on wing.”