Pratt & Whitney has announced this week the expansion of their MRO facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.
This $20m investment will accommodate a significant rise in capacity for such facilities on offer.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Expansion in West Palm Beach…
The $20m investment into expanding the West Palm Beach facility from Pratt & Whitney is pertinent to the GTF engines.
Furthermore, such an expansion will increase capacity by 40% and will be completed by 2H25.
Workforce at the facility will increase by 25% to accommodate this.
Commenting on this expansion was Kevin Kirkpatrick, vice president of Global Aftermarket Operations at Pratt & Whitney:
“The expansion at West Palm Beach is the latest example of our global investment to support the GTF fleet”.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to support customers and maintain their trust as we carry out the GTF fleet management plan.”
More Facilities Needed?
In the context of the issues that Pratt & Whitney is having with their GTF engines, are more facilities needed?
Furthermore, within the overall announcement, they did address this point saying the following:
“In 2023, Pratt & Whitney announced three GTF MRO facility expansions and five shop activations to support the growing GTF fleet.”
“There are currently 16 active GTF MRO engine centers around the world, with another three expected to come online by 2025.”
Back in September, it was revealed that the engine issue would ground 350 aircraft per year through 2026.
Furthermore, airlines are bracing for what is expected to be a difficult few years as a result of these ongoing issues.
Overall…
In conclusion, this is a positive move by Pratt & Whitney.
It is clear that preparations are very much underway and in strong progress to expand MRO where they can.
Furthermore, West Palm Beach will no doubt continue to benefit stakeholders of the engine manufacturer for years to come.
For now, let’s see what else comes from the manufacturer as we progress through this ongoing issue.
Did you know AviationSource has two newsletters? One covers the general news and analysis of the industry as a whole, and the other to do with emergencies that take place throughout the year! To subscribe to our General News Newsletter, CLICK HERE!
To subscribe to our Emergencies, Accidents & Incidents Newsletter, CLICK HERE!
Click the photo to join our WhatsApp channel so then you can stay up to date with everything going on in the aviation industry!
