P&WC Amplifies Efforts Across the Board to Support Helicopter Customers

Pratt & Whitney Canada launches several innovative solutions and offerings to deliver high value to its turboshaft customers around the world. These innovations provide real-time savings, reduce costs, create stable maintenance environments and enhance aircraft availability for the company’s growing customer base in this segment. P&WC is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).

“We know this is a demanding time for many segments of the helicopter industry, and we are focused on enhancing our service and support across the board,” says Irene Makris, vice president, Marketing, P&WC. “Whether it’s extended time between overhauls (TBOs), optimized maintenance plans or promotions tailored specifically to turboshaft customers, or preventative alerts and prognostics for troubleshooting potential issues before they happen, we’re working diligently to ease the pressure on our customers and give them enhanced services, availability and commercial solutions that are aligned with their evolving business needs.”

To reduce engine operation costs for its customers, P&WC increased the basic TBO of its PW210 engine early in its lifecycle, from 3,500 hours to 4,000 hours, extending time-on-wing, prolonging service events and reducing maintenance costs by over 10 percent for operators. The extension applies to all PW210 engines.

P&WC also recently announced that the basic TBO for the power section of the PT6B-37A engine is extended by a full 50 percent – from 3,000 hours to 4,500 hours. The clutch inspection interval for the PT6T-9 engine is extended by 60 percent, from 1,250 to 2,000 hours, leading to a reduction in associated maintenance costs for operators. All engines in service are eligible.

“Keeping our turboshaft customers flying at reduced operating costs is a top priority for us,” says Makris. “From fine tuning planned maintenance intervals by extending TBO limits to cutting our Eagle Service Plan® (ESP) rates, we’re committed to creating more savings for operators any way we can.”

P&WC’s Flight Acquisition, Storage and Transmission (FAST™) solution for engine diagnostics, prognostics and health management is another way the company is helping turboshaft customers to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. It captures, analyzes and sends flight data recorder and engine trend, health and usage data to helicopter customers within minutes of landing, enabling them to maximize aircraft availability, optimize maintenance planning, reduce operating costs, and avoid delays and cancellations. Phase two of the solution will also include automated power assurance checks that will help decrease pilot workload.

Introduced at HAI in 2015 as part of its P&WCSMART initiative, P&WC’s Turboshaft Dependable Maintenance Solutions are tailored maintenance programs designed to deliver the best value in the industry through guaranteed fixed pricing for major maintenance.

“We’re taking bold steps to give customers a boost in savings and significantly reduce price variables and uncertainty,” says Tim Swail, vice president, Customer Programs, P&WC. “Programs such as the PW200 Barrier Filter Upgrade, which enables customers to exchange a core engine for a new one at a discounted price with the installation of an approved inlet barrier filter, or the PT6B-37A Capped Cost program, which provides a guaranteed price for a hot section inspection and overhaul, are just two of our eight current offerings. We’re constantly looking at adding new ones to expand the program.”

Today, P&WC’s PW200 turboshaft family is the frontrunner in the 600- to 1,100-shaft horsepower (shp) class. The new PW210 sets the highest standards in fuel efficiency, power-to-weight ratio and operating economics. Similarly, P&WC’s PT6 turboshaft family delivers the best value for all types of missions in the 1,000+ shp class and is the number-one choice of customers in the medium- and super-medium helicopter segment.

The engine’s performance is backed by the most extensive customer service network in the world. Round-the-clock support, provided by the company’s Customer First (CFirst) Centres, sets the industry benchmark for rapid, real-time customer support.

“Our customers know we’re listening to them and working hard to deliver the right services and solutions to positively impact their bottom line,” says Swail. “And we’re not standing still. With new offers such as our breakthrough customer service portal, MyP&WC Power, coming in 2016, and prognostic solutions such as our FAST technology, we continue to evolve our services and respond to our customers’ needs.”

Visit P&WC at HAI Heli-Expo, booth #1817. Interested customers are invited to drop by P&WC’s booth to speak with a customer service representative.