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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 1905.PDF
OPERATIONS.- AIR TRANSPORT P&W boosts Aer Lingus engine venture BY KIERAN DALY Pratt & Whitney and Aer Lingus engine-overhaul sub sidiary Airmotive Ireland (AMI) are launching a joint-venture company specialising in engine case re-manufacture. The new company, PWA International (PWAI), will be based in a 64,000ft2 purpose- built green-field unit near AMl's existing headquarters at Rath- coole, outside Dublin. The partners' investment, together with a contribution from the Irish Government, totals $35 million. The enterprise will be 55 per cent owned by P&W parent United Technologies and 45 per cent by AMI. PWAI should be ready to start business in late 1990 and expects to employ 290 technical staff. Initially, work will primarily be on JT9Ds, with some oper ations on JT8Ds. Main customers are expected to be engine over haul shops rather than aircraft operators. As with AMI, the customer base will be essentially Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. P&W itself will also supply significant work on subcontract. Since its launch in November 1980, AMI has grown into one of the prime European engine shops, and only 7-8 per cent of its work is provided by owner Aer Lingus. As well as engine and acces sory overhaul and repair, it can provide "power by the hour" engine leasing and sales, quick changes, and field work. As turn over approaches $130 million, managing director Conor O'Hara declares profits to be "in line with the industry". P&W vice-president overhaul Horst Pohlmann, centre, visits AMI O'Hara says that AMI has invested $16 million in a heavily "front-end-loaded" programme to bring about a CFM56 overhaul capability, so called because the powerplant's proven reliability means it will be some time before a return on the money is achieved. O'Hara describes the CFM56 business as "extremely com petitive". AMI's service now has 50 aircraft committed to it, but he explains that 100 "mature" flying aircraft are needed to provide the 60 engine visits a year required to make the line viable. P&W's vice-president over haul and repairs, Horst Pohl mann, says that the Irish Government grant was critical in persuading his company to launch the new venture. "AMI approached us, and at first I really rejected the idea because I felt we had a lot on our plate. But what made it very attractive was that the Irish Government was willing to subsidise us with a grant. Since this is a very capital-intensive take Qantas has assigned six 747s to Aer Lingus for major maintenance business, we started to very hard look at it." Pohlmann says that P&W had already identified major case repairs as a niche sector which would avoid competing with the manufacturer's airline cus tomers' overhaul businesses. O'Hara and Pohlmann are convinced that the engine over haul business is set for major growth as airline fleets continue to expand. In a separate move, Aer Lingus also plans to create a spares trading business, to be known provisionally as Aer Lingus Airspares. Airline chief operating officer Donal Downing says: "We want to have a worldwide busi ness through subsidy arrange ments whereby we become a world player in spares trading in aircraft parts to complement our aircraft maintenance business. "We expect to be developing businesses that would have, within two to three years, annual revenues in the order of £20 million, with offices in Ireland, the UK, the Middle East and the Pacific. They could be joint ventures." p FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 17 June 1989 27
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