100% aircraft availability is our number one priority

Whether they’re powering submarines, naval vessels, cruise ships, yachts, or commercial, military, and private aircraft, Rolls-Royce’s legacy of advanced engineering, quality manufacturing, and commitment to customer support have made it the engine provider of choice across the spectrum of transportation.

And that leadership is nowhere stronger than in today’s business aviation sector, where the RR marque is displayed proudly on the nacelles of the newest aircraft from Bombardier, Cessna, Embraer, Gulfstream, and soon to be Dassault.

“We’ve been very successful in that our new-generation Pearl-series of engines has won the last three major long-range, large-cabin business aircraft campaigns,” explains Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s senior vice president of customers and services, Andy Robinson. “We’ve seen the entry into service of our Pearl 15s and Pearl 700-series engines, and we’re working through the test flight phase for the newest Pearl 10X engines.”

While the technologies behind manufacturing extremely efficient and reliable engines are what the airframe manufacturers are looking for, Robinson knows that end-customers prefer Rolls-Royce Business Aviation engines because of the company’s unwavering commitment to ensuring their aircraft are ready go wherever their pursuits of business or leisure take them.

“We are the only engine manufacturer with an entire organization dedicated to the unique needs of our business aviation customers. That’s a huge advantage in the market today,” he says. “We’ve built a global support network of 85 authorized service centers, 85 on-wing services technical experts, 10 CorporateCare spares stores, and one billion dollars invested in spare engines and parts – all controlled from our 24-7-365 Aircraft Availability Center (AAC) in Germany.”

“Everything we do is focused on what is important to our customers, which is first and foremost aircraft availability, followed by maximizing the resale value of the aircraft,” he says. “Our CorporateCare and CorporateCare Enhanced maintenance programs have been created to support both of those goals with the end result being 100 percent aircraft availability.”

Robinson explained that today, 72% of the Rolls-Royce Business Aviation engine-powered fleet is enrolled in CorporateCare, and the majority of those have upgraded to the unparalleled peace of mind provided by CorporateCare Enhanced.

Your plane is our priority

Robinson says that what sets the CorporateCare Enhanced program apart is that everything that is provided by Rolls-Royce Business Aviation is totally covered against wear and tear, damage, corrosion, and erosion on the complete engine and nacelle. The only caveat is damage resulting from misuse.

“Along with parts and supplies, CorporateCare Enhanced also covers labor, troubleshooting, technician travel, and lease engines and nacelles,” he continues. “Rolls-Royce Business Aviation takes on all the responsibility for whatever it costs to get that aircraft back in the air as quickly as possible to avoid a missed trip.”

While the vast majority of AOG situations involve replacing a routine part or component, ensuring said replacement parts are available at a “moment’s notice” for a global fleet of approximately 4,000 customer aircraft requires a monumental amount of coordination by the team at AAC headquarters.

But whether it’s a simple “O” ring or an entire engine, the Rolls-Royce Business Aviation team has proven time and again to get the aircraft off the ground (AoG) as quickly as possible.

While it may seem like a “Hollywood script,” an example of just how far the team will go to support a CorporateCare Enhanced customer was an occurrence of an AOG in the Maldives (the smallest country in Asia). After the flight crew had contacted the operator’s Rolls-Royce Business Aviation representative and attempted to resolve the issue, they collectively consulted with the troubleshooting team at the AAC in Germany.

The decision was made to replace the offending engine. With limited shipping options, the only solution was to charter a C-130 to transport the replacement engine, along with the technical team and their tools, to the island nation.

Robinson adds that thanks to the combined coordination and cooperation of our global team – including input from representatives from Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems team, who had coincidentally encountered a similar issue with an engine on a private yacht in the area – they were able to get the aircraft returned to service in record time and at no cost to the CorporateCare Enhanced enrolled customer.

“That’s the power of CorporateCare Enhanced. Rolls-Royce Business Aviation is the only company to offer this kind of coverage,” he says.

While you may think that providing this level of support may be enough, when your legacy is Rolls-Royce, it’s just the beginning. With the help and guidance of its Corporate Customer  Council and Influencer Advisory Board, the company continually seeks ways to enhance the value of its engines and programs for its customers.

“Our service offerings are always evolving. For example, on our new Pearl 700 engines, we have added foreign object damage (FOD) coverage for the entire front fan blisk (combination nosecone, fan blades, and disk),” Robinson explains. “That added coverage was based on direct feedback from our customers.”

Staying one step ahead of the AOG

While building a network of service centers is a great way to minimize AOG downtime, Robinson says that an even better solution is to stop them before they happen.

“We are continually increasing our use of our Digital Toolset, including active engine health monitoring,” he explains. “With the customer’s permission, we monitor the engines’ performance in-flight to spot any anomalies or negative trends. We’ve been able to notify our technical team and often ship replacement components to the aircraft’s destination before it lands.”

As impressive as that is, Robinson stresses that Rolls-Royce Business Aviation is continuing to expand its digital engine health monitoring further by providing advanced remote diagnostics and bi-directional data sharing on its new Pearl-series engines with the engine vibration health monitoring unit (EVHMU).

“Both of these capabilities make the Pearl-series the first Internet of Things (IoT) enabled engines in business aviation,” he explains. “In fact, the digital tools our teams are now honing, from robotics to cloud-based analytics in big data, are playing an increasingly expanding role in delivering exceptional levels of aircraft availability.”

“The speed of our response helps to improve aircraft availability. Our engines are extremely reliable delivering 99.98% dispatch reliability” Robinson continues.

‘But it’s that zero-point-two percent that when they need support, that solution becomes our priority.”  We aim to ensure our customer meets their next trip 100% of the time, no matter where they are in the world.

“That’s the goal of our priority access through CorporateCare Enhanced efforts. Knowing that we will do anything we can to meet our goal of 100 percent aircraft availability gives them the confidence that they will receive the fastest AOG solutions possible,” he adds. “From my experience, no other engine manufacturer in business aviation does as much or goes as far for its customers.”

And while maximizing aircraft availability is the primary benefit, Robinson shares that there are other value-added perks from enrolling in CorporateCare Enhanced.

“We’ve seen through transactions from brokers and appraisers that CorporateCare and CorporateCare Enhanced coverage enhances the residual value of the aircraft, while giving owners the added peace-of-mind in knowing that CorporateCare Enhanced covers every cost of maintaining their engines throughout the life of their ownership experience.”