Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews With over 13,000 large commercial engines installed , Pratt & Whitney is no amateur to this business. So lets cut some flak. The GTF engine is a class by its one and as a Head of Engineering of a major airline told aerospacediary: “ Technology such as this takes some time to get off ground.” He added: “Remember the battery issue in the 787s? Now we hardly talk about it.” Even the aviation ministry said recently in-flight shutdown cases in A320neos in India are less than global average but it would do a comparable study to assess the timeline of teething issues in new engines. So, at a meeting at the ministry when senior aviation ministry officials met with their stakeholders to discuss the GTF performance of the A320neos, the only issue and status to be give by Pratt was regarding the main gearbox and status of root cause analysis. Pratt has said work is on and will be submitted to the DGCA in a few weeks. Secretary Choubey confirmed Pratt is working...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Oct 15, 2011 Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have signed an agreement to form a new partnership to power future mid-size aircraft (120 – 230 passenger aircraft). The two companies will establish a joint venture company, in which each will hold an equal share, to develop new engines for the next generation of aircraft that will replace the existing mid-size fleet.  Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney will also restructure their participation in IAE, which produces the V2500 engine. Under the terms of the agreement Rolls-Royce will sell its equity and program shares in IAE to Pratt & Whitney for $1.5 billion and in addition receive an agreed payment for each hour flown by the current installed fleet of V2500-powered aircraft for 15 years from completion of the transaction. The new venture will cater to this fast growing segment in which worldwide demand for around 20,000 new aircraft (or nearly 45,000 engines) is predicted over the next 20 ye...

News AWIN First Jan 19 , 2011 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com Mumbai Air India says it has performed 124 engine washes in Mumbai since being appointed a Pratt & Whitney EcoPower franchisee in July 2010. It is carrying out the service under a five-year agreement that made it the first airline to get the patented engine wash technology, which claims to reduce fuel burn by around 1.2%. In addition to growing its service network, Pratt has made other moves that signify its investment in EcoPower services. On Jan. 18, it completed an agreement with Gas Turbine Efficiency to purchase its aviation business, including the patented technology behind EcoPower. Pratt has held exclusive rights to use the technology since launching EcoPower services in 2004, but it now will own that patent itself. The EcoPower engine wash system at Mumbai Santa Cruz domestic airport could be supplemented by a second system at another Ind...

MRO Aviation Daily Jul 21 , 2010 , p. 15 Neelam Mathews The holding company of Air India, the National Aviation Company of India Ltd., has signed an agreement with Pratt & Whitney to set up an EcoPower engine wash service at Mumbai International Airport. P&W says its patented engine wash system reduces fuel burn by as much as 1.2%, eliminating three pounds of carbon dioxide emissions for every pound of fuel saved, while decreasing engine gas temperature and increasing the amount of time an engine can stay on wing. The agreement will enable Air India to offer the services to other carriers in the region. The service center can perform washes on nearly all commercial engines in service, including the PW4000, CFM56-5/-7, V2500, CF6-80C2 and GE90-100. An EcoPower engine wash, according to the company, takes about an hour, which it says is up to six times faster than other current methods. It requires fewer hookups, less equipment to install and less disassembly. “This will...