Page 13 - AAA SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021 Online Magazine

eration engines such as the V2500-A5 or CFM56-7 tend to see four
to six visits across the lifecycle. Newer generation engines are also
designed to accommodate more on or near-wing fixes, so MROs
will also have to adapt and offer such services. For instance, we are
already able to boroscope LEAP engines on-wing. When taking a
longer-term view, for instance into the 2030s, we expect the engine
MRO demand to increase due to overall growth of the in-service
aircraft fleet and utilization. Next generation engines will not make
up a large part of the shop visit volume for a number of years.

Regional air travel markets are recovering faster
than international post-COVID. How big of an impact
do you expect it to have on the engine MRO market?

Regional air markets such as in USA, Russia, China, India, and
Europe are currently recovering well. This means we are seeing
a strong focus on narrowbody aircraft and resulting MRO needs.
Currently, we are seeing a variety of MRO strategies. Some airlines
are focusing on cash and looking to smaller workscopes and on
or near wing services to extend time on-wing, while others are
preparing for recovery and ramp up and sending engines for full
shop visits. Such decisions are extremely individual, and it is our
job as an MRO provider to adapt to our customers’ needs by being
flexible and supportive.
terms of workload, thanks to our broad port-
folio. For instance, narrowbody engines are MTU Maintenance is one of the few companies in the engine MRO
tending to be reactivated earlier than wide- sector to get through relatively unhurt by the pandemic. Apart from
bodies, and we serve the popular V2500 and your broad engine portfolio, is there any other factor that helped
CFM56 engine families. Newer generation mitigate the impact of the crisis?
engines are also being reactivated first, and We place a lot of importance on customer proximity and rela-
we are well set up here with our participation tionships. We have offices around the world and have been able
in the PW1100G-JM OEM networks as well to communicate with customers in their time zones and specific
as serving LEAP engines at our facility MTU to their regional needs. We have also been working on our digital
Maintenance Zhuhai. Furthermore, cargo oper- touchpoints to ensure the best possible service and transparency,
ations have been strong throughout and we’ve despite the large reliance on online meetings and difficulties in
seen great demand for services on engines seeing each other face-to-face. We however hope to be able to
such as PW2000 and CF6-80C2. We should travel more to our customers soon!
return to pre-Covid levels by 2022/23 earlier
than the market – thanks to our product mix During the crisis, we have taken a partnership approach to support
and ability to offer alternatives, including used our customer base and keep their engine fleet in a serviceable con-
serviceable material (USM) and green-time dition at all times. In essence, our broad engine portfolio with more
engines.

The introduction of new generation
engines will result in a reduction in
shop visits, at least in the short term.
Is this a cause for concern for MTU
Maintenance and other engine MRO
companies?

It is a well-known fact that next generation
engines are expected to have fewer shop visits
over the lifecycle. For instance, only three to
five visits during service life are expected for
next generation narrow-body engines such as
the PW1100G-JM or the LEAP – depending on
operating environment – whereas current gen-

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