Against the grain

The number of Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines powering the global airline fleet is shrinking by the year as more and more new generation engines come on line. Yet the US company’s Singapore maintenance, repair and overhaul arm (MRO) – it focuses on the PW4000 – is seeing its business grow.

When U.S. engine giant Pratt & Whitney held a grand opening ceremony for a new manufacturing facility in Singapore during the island State’s bi-annual air show last month (February) some may have thought it represented a nail in the coffin for one of its primary Asian businesses, the repair and overhaul of the company’s global fleet of PW4000 engines.

After all, the new facility, first of its type outside the U.S., will manufacture fan blades and, later, high pressure turbine disks, for P & W’s new generation, fuel efficient PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ engines (GTF), the GT90 and GT 7000. As airlines increasingly modernize their fleets with jets equipped with the latest in engine design, the number of PW4000s on the wing is already decreasing.