Pratt & Whitney is expanding its GTF engine maintenance operation to Christchurch.
Pratt & Whitney is expanding its GTF engine maintenance operation to Christchurch.
Air New Zealand and Pratt & Whitney will spend US$150 million ($252m) on expanding the airline’s Christchurch Engine Centre, adding 200 jobs to its workforce of 400.
The 14,000sq m expansion will add maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities for the Pratt & Whitney GTF (geared turbo fan) engine in NewZealand, with capacity for up to 140 engine overhauls a year.
Air New Zealand makes about $30m a year in profit from its 49% stake in the engine centre.
Expansion of the facility begins this month to double its size, and the first GTF engine overhaul is expected in the fourth quarter of next year.
The engine type is at the centre of a global maintenance issue which has forced the grounding of some Air New Zealand aircraft here and those belonging to other airlines overseas.
The Christchurch Engine Centre was founded in 1948 by Air New Zealand. In 2001, the airline and Pratt & Whitney partnered to develop the joint venture, focusing on the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of Pratt & Whitney JT8Ds on Boeing 737 aircraft and then the V2500 engines used on Airbus A320s.
Today, the Christchurch Engine Centre employs more than 400 highly skilled staff and has overhauled more than 1500 V2500 engines for dozens of airlines around the world.
“This project between Air New Zealand and global aviation leader Pratt & Whitney marks a significant investment to New Zealand’s economy, helps expand our aviation industrial capability, and adds 200 high-value jobs into the Canterbury region,” said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, a former Air NZ chief executive.
GTF engines have faced complex maintenance issues related to earlier-than-expected checks for corrosion on fan blades for those built between 2015 and 2021. Thirteen of Air NZ’s A320/21s were fitted with the affected engines.
Air New Zealand chief financial officer Richard Thomson said the ability to work on GTFs wouldn’t help solve the airline’s problem in the short term as the shop wouldn’t come online until 2026. But when it did, it would provide extra resilience and avoid the need to send the engines overseas as they are at the moment.
He was confident there would be enough skilled workers to staff the centre and there was an opportunity for more engineering apprentices to be hired.
The undisclosed price of the centre’s upgrade would be funded by the airline and Pratt with retained earnings from the operation. The ability to expand into new engine types would help its financial sustainability.
Shane Eddy, Pratt & Whitney president, said the Christchurch Engine Centre had a proven track record.
Christopher Luxon at the expansion of Christchurch Engine Centre. Photo / George Heard
“With the Asia-Pacific region projected to experience the highest aviation growth globally over the next 20 years, it is a strategic imperative for us to invest here and partner with Air New Zealand as we continue to expand the GTF MRO network in support of the growing fleet.”
P&W says the GTF engine is the most fuel-efficient and sustainable engine for single-aisle aircraft available today. GTF engines lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 20% relative to previous-generation aircraft and have a 75% smaller noise footprint.
P&W says the new engines have saved airlines 7.5 billion litres of fuel and 20 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions since entry into service in 2016.
Air New Zealand chairwoman Dame Therese Walsh said the expansion will allow the airline to service its V2500 engines powering the A321ceo aircraft and PW1100G-JM GTF engines on the A321neo aircraft in its fleet.
“The introduction of new GTF repair capability will be completed in 2026, and the Christchurch Engine Centre will maintain, repair or overhaul both the V2500 and PW1100G-JM engines for many years to come,” said Walsh.
“As our fleet of Airbus aircraft continues to grow, with another four expected to arrive over the next three years, the importance of this facility to our airline also grows significantly so we can continue to deliver on our purpose of connecting Kiwis with each other and the world.”
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said the investment was a vote of confidence in the Christchurch Engine Centre and the city.
‘‘The creation of 200 new jobs is great news for our local economy and further positions Christchurch as a world-class technology and aerospace hub,” he sad.
During the last five years, Pratt & Whitney’s network of GTF engine bases has more than doubled in size and it now has 12 active locations around the world, with an additional seven expected to be open by 2025. The nearest is in Singapore.
Engines are air-freighted to centres from around the world.
The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentschler, pioneer of the air-cooled radial engine design which enabled unprecedented power-to-weight ratio.
In 1944, Pratt & Whitney began its gas turbine and jet propulsion initiative. The company constructed a wind tunnel, laboratory and engineering centre to support the allied war effort.
Today, Pratt & Whitney has more than 85,000 engines in service and approximately 17,000 customers worldwide.
In 2014, Air New Zealand and Pratt & Whitney invested $20m in new workshops and a logistics facility at the centre.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
