New LMS Repair Capability Could Save Customers More Than $500,000 and Reduce Turnaround Time

What if a typical month-long fan case repair could be completed in less than a week? Consider the benefits: shortened turnaround time, reduced cost and more time in the sky, ultimately helping customers’ revenue services. Sound too good to be true? Think again. This is the latest development in the evolution of offerings from Pratt & Whitney’s Line Maintenance Services team.

Removal and replacement of an engine’s thermal conform liner, one of the most exposed parts on an engine, could save customers more than half a million dollars as it prevents the need to replace the entire fan case. P&W’s LMS team recently introduced this repair capability for the PW1100 engine, which can be completed at its Dallas-based shop or in the field.

“It’s a huge leap forward,” said Justin Hoyle, a Dallas repair engineer who is a member of the specialized LMS team that travels the world to serve customers.

Engineers from Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies business, developed the process in collaboration with the LMS team, fan case supplier Japanese Aero Engine Corporation and MTU Aero Engines.

“We have close collaboration with the mechanics, inspectors and engineers on the ground,” said Tucker Snyder, a rotational engineer on the Dallas-based LMS team. “We know what causes customers pain and we try our best to find optimized ways to help them.”

“Any time we can return an engine to revenue service faster, the happier a customer will be,” said Brett Belgum, repair engineer, Pratt & Whitney LMS. “While we have completed the repair in our Dallas shop before, we just completed our first job at a customer site in Poland. Seeing their reaction once we completed the replacement really emphasized the value this new offering brings.”

These days, thanks to flight data captured over the course of a flight, Pratt & Whitney’s EngineWise® analysis experts are often able to prevent an engine issue before it occurs. But some incidents, such as bird strike or foreign object debris damage to a fan case’s thermal conform liner, are impossible to predict. This new repair offering is an opportunity for customers to receive rapid response assistance.

For customers, the new on-site fan case repair capability is a major advancement – and a valuable tool to keep the fleet flying. LMS is continuously working on new on-wing repairs to support customers and the MRO network.