P&WCSMART Makes Maintenance More Cost Effective & Predictable
By Pratt & Whitney Customer Service
When it comes to major engine maintenance, Brazil’s largest Cessna Caravan civil operator, TwoFlex, is experiencing greater cost predictability and affordability through P&WCSMART PT6A solutions.
Solutions Designed for Mature Fleets
Affordability and cost predictability remain the number one challenge for operators. This is especially true in the case of mature fleets. The value of the aircraft decreases over time, while maintenance costs increase.
As Denis Latremouille, Associate Director, P&WCSMART Maintenance Solutions, notes, this can make maintenance planning, budgeting and management more complicated for many operators.
“It is crucial for operators to have their engines serviced by reliable companies at fair prices in order to keep their fleets in operation and stay competitive,” he explains.
Our P&WCSMART solutions are designed to help address rising expenses by offering a competitive and guaranteed pricing with a high focus on new parts embodiment. Solutions include flat-rate engine exchanges and overhauls – one of the biggest-ticket items faced by operators. By making them available through our shops and our designated repair and overhaul facilities, accessibility to these solutions is worldwide.
P&WCSMART resonates with our customers by offering maintenance solutions that deliver comprehensive OEM added value – such as genuine P&W parts and service – with an up-front price that is fixed and final, ensuring there are no surprises on the bill.
- Denis Latremouille, Associate Director, P&WCSMART Maintenance Solutions
Over 500 Pt6a Engines Serviced under P&wcsmart & Growing
In Latin America’s biggest general aviation market, there are around 2,000 PT6A engines in service, many of them are mature models. Many operators in Brazil find themselves in the situation described by Denis.
One of those operators is TwoFlex, a regional airline and utility company that offers cargo and freight services along with commercial passenger flights to several cities across Brazil.
TwoFlex has Brazil’s largest civil Cessna Caravan fleet, with 19 PT6A-114A-powered aircraft averaging 150 flight hours per month and 11 operational bases. In 2018, its aircraft landed at 186 different airports in Brazil, and the company recently signed a code share agreement with one of the country’s main commercial airlines, GOL.
Along with being the first P&WCSMART customer in the country, TwoFlex has the 500th PT6A engine worldwide to be overhauled under a P&WCSMART program as the program continues to expand.
The airline’s experience is a testament to how the program can benefit customers, says Roberto Habib, Senior Regional Sales Manager, South America, P&W, who handles sales and commercial support in Brazil, Chile and Bolivia. Roberto is the one who presented and explained the P&WCSMART maintenance portfolio to TwoFlex.
“The P&WCSMART Flat-Rate Overhaul and Exchange Programs for PT6A engines are well suited for customers like TwoFlex, and are key in helping ensure they achieve their business targets,” he remarks.
As a busy operator of a mid-sized fleet, effective maintenance cost management is paramount for TwoFlex. It decided to go with the P&WCSMART Flat Rate Overhaul solution as well as concentrate its broader engine maintenance, including hot section inspections and repairs, at P&W Service Centres in Brazil.
According to the company’s President, Rui Thomaz de Aquino, it was an easy decision to make.
We chose P&WCSMART because it offered us a guaranteed fixed price and allowed us to work with Pratt & Whitney.
- Rui Thomaz de Aquino, President, TwoFlex
Aquino explains that through P&WCSMART and working directly with the OEM, he’s able to optimize his maintenance, allowing TwoFlex to increase the availability of its aircraft. For the airline’s president, this is the biggest advantage of the program.
What’s more, the guaranteed flat-rate pricing model simplifies budgeting and administration, making it is easy to consolidate the final price and get approvals.
He adds that “we work 100% with Pratt & Whitney because we have a very comfortable relationship and there are no quality concerns when you’re dealing with the OEM. Everything we need, we get an answer for.”
TwoFlex has already sent four PT6A-114A engines to be overhauled under the P&WCSMART Flat Rate Overhaul Program. Additionally, by the end of 2019, Pratt & Whitney’s new overhaul facility in Belo Horizonte will open its doors for operation, making it easier than ever for PT6A operators to take advantage of the P&WCSMART program in Brazil.
P&wcsmart Continues to Evolve
TwoFlex’s president expects more customers in Brazil will embrace the program in the future. “P&WCSMART will help Brazilian operators to manage their fleets and save money,” he says.
Besides cost predictability, another key appeal of P&WCSMART is that the program continues to evolve and enhance. A number of changes have been made since it was introduced in 2014, driven by customer feedback.
The P&WCSMART team holds ongoing discussions and meetings with customer service and sales personnel to find out where operators’ priorities lie and make appropriate enhancements. This has led to a higher ratio of customers choosing P&WCSMART for their overhauls.
With no additional costs for corrosion, sulphidation, minor foreign object damage, major casing, and non-genuine parts replacement -- and options such as capped prices for part replacement when flying with an extended time between overhauls -- P&WCSMART provides operators with a competitive solution regardless of their engines’ condition.
The P&WCSMART program has evolved over time to better address our customers’ expectations and maintenance needs, such as giving them bigger bang for their buck with a higher content of new OEM parts. We don’t compromise on including all recommended service bulletins 1 through 6. When it comes to their future maintenance costs, customers will clearly benefit from their decision to go with P&WCSMART.
- Denis Latremouille, Associate Director, P&WCSMART Maintenance Solutions
Along with the PT6A family, there are also P&WCSMART solution portfolios available for PW100 and helicopter engines. For more on the story behind P&WCSMART and how it helps mature aircraft keep flying longer, read our Q&A with expert David Allaire-Maheux.
