Pratt & Whitney Enhances Service Offerings at EBACE

Among the companies making the headlines at EBACE 2022 was Pratt & Whitney Canada with a trio of announcements highlighting enhancements to its products and services for customers in Business and General Aviation…

Never one to miss an opportunity to grow the support services it offers to operators, Pratt & Whitney Canada has expanded the portfolio of its P&WCSMART maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solutions.

P&WC Extends P&WCSMART into Turbofan Market

Since Pratt & Whitney launched the P&WCSMART portfolio in 2014 it has grown to more than 30 different offerings for PT6A and P&WC-powered helicopters and regional aircraft. But this latest program expansion takes the service into the business jet market for the first time, for Cessna Citation Mustang owners and operators.

Specifically, the new P&WCSMART solution is a flat-rate ‘zero time since overhaul’ (0-TSO) engine exchange for PW615F-A engines.

This is part of the company’s effort to provide flexible, cost-effective solutions for major engine maintenance, which support the full engine lifecycle, with flat-rate overhaul options, overhaul alternatives, and more, according to one company spokesperson.

The new P&WCSMART offering enables Citation Mustang customers to exchange their existing PW615F-A engine with a freshly overhauled PW615F-A engine for a “very attractive price”, Pratt & Whitney says.

With this option, customers avoid having to rent an engine and the corresponding removal and installation, reducing downtime to just a few days – the time necessary to install the 0-TSO exchange engine(s).

“P&WCSMART solutions provide competitive flat rates and capped costs for major engine maintenance, eliminating price variables and uncertainty,” Irene Makris, Vice President, Customer Service, Pratt & Whitney Canada, commented.

Video Series to Support PT6E-67XP Operators

Furthermore, having announced the expansion of its PT6 E-Series engine family in April, Pratt & Whitney Canada has launched a new video series about the PT6E-67XP to “help customers fully benefit from the PT6E-67XP engine experience - including digital connectivity, built-in intelligence and powerful diagnostic/prognostic capabilities”.

The PT6E-67XP engine powers the Pilatus PC-12 NGX (which entered service in 2020), and the Video Series comprises three parts, showcasing different aspects of the PT6E-67XP engine user experience.

“This video series will help customers new to the PT6E-67XP engine to take full advantage of its state-of-the-art technology,” says Nicholas Kanellias, Vice President, General Aviation, Pratt & Whitney Canada.

Part 1 - Simplifying the Flying Experience with Intuitive Controls: The PT6E-67XP features a dual-channel integrated electronic propeller and engine control system — the first of its kind in the General Aviation turboprop market.

The result is a more intuitive way of flying that reduces pilot workload. The first video in the series demonstrates how the digitally enabled single lever simplifies engine operation and allows for true precision-controlled auto-throttle.

Part 2 - Supporting Troubleshooting with World-Class Service: The PT6E-67XP is digitally connected through its Data Collection and Transmission Unit (DCTU), which wirelessly transmits full-flight engine data shortly after landing and shutdown.

The data is reviewed and analyzed by dedicated experts of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s Proactive Services team, who will then contact the Director of Maintenance directly to provide updates, and, if needed, recommend preventive actions, such as proactively swapping-out parts. The second part in the series provides an overview of troubleshooting support.

Part 3 - Facilitating Maintenance with Digital Connectivity: Part three looks at digital connectivity. Available for download on the Apple iOS App Store, the DCTU app was developed to communicate with DCTU hardware on PT6 E-Series engines using wireless connectivity, for the purpose of performing maintenance actions.

Primarily used by technicians, the DCTU app makes it easy to view a host of parameters, events, exceedances and faults, retrieve diagnostics data, monitor the engine’s health status, perform live diagnostics, and test transmissions or change engine modules using barcode scanning, among other actions. Part three of the series demonstrates how.

Carbon Offset Service Rolled-out to GA Customers

And finally, having rolled-out its Carbon Offset Service initially to Eagle Service Plan (ESP)-enrolled business jet customers, before expanding it to helicopter and regional operators, Pratt & Whitney Canada has now further extended the service into General Aviation.

European fractional owner JetFly has signed up its entire fleet of PT6A and PT6 E-Series powered Pilatus aircraft that are enrolled in the ESP maintenance program to the Carbon Offset Service, which enables operators to contribute to greater environmental sustainability by offsetting the carbon footprint of their aircraft in a simple, cost-effective manner.

P&WC’s Carbon Offset Service enables operators to contribute to greater environmental sustainability.

The operator’s aircraft’s emissions are estimated, and compensated, through the sourcing of carbon offset credits from South Pole (a globally recognized provider of environmentally sustainable solutions), and the Carbon Offset Service supports initiatives that benefit the environment and local communities by creating economic opportunities, such as clean water access, renewable energy, and forest conservation projects.

“JetFly’s decision to register these engines in our Carbon Offset Service underscores the importance of expanding to our General Aviation customer base, the largest market segment for the company,” Irene Makris, vice president, Customer Service, Pratt & Whitney Canada highlights.

“Environmental responsibility is important for JetFly and for our customers,” adds Cédric Lescop, Chief Executive Officer, JetFly. “It also fits within our sustainability goals, and this is one of the reasons why we also fly PT6A and PT6 E-Series powered aircraft – they are reliable and fuel-efficient engines.”

“Pratt & Whitney has a long-standing commitment to offering environmentally responsible products and solutions to its customers,” Makris concludes.

More information from www.pwc.ca