MRO Network Continues to Expand Above and Beyond Previous Plans

GE Aerospace and CFM International will keep grinding away on their growing network of Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul facilities around the globe, as highlighted in a report to investors and clients.

“When the CFM LEAP engine entered service in 2016, its maker, CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, had a hunch it might be popular. But maybe not this popular,” a GE release reads. “Case in point: Over the past few years, airlines that have selected Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft have opted for CFM LEAP engines about 70% of the time. And that’s just a portion of the engine program’s remarkable success. With more than 3,700 LEAP-powered aircraft in service with more than 150 operators around the globe, 60 million flight hours logged, and more than 10,000 engine orders on backlog, the company faces a growing challenge: how to keep all those engines in tip-top shape. Indeed, because of the sheer number in service, shop visits for LEAP engines are expected to increase significantly by the end of this decade.”

As befitting a GE Aerospace presser, they’re quick to remind everyone about their GEnx, too. They say that almost 3 of every 4 orders for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner opts for the GE mill. All of that work adds up, and like any precision manufacturing operation, growth is demanding. As seen in the difficulties of Russian carriers once the flow of western parts tapered off, it’s not easy to spin up turbine maintenance from scratch. GE and CFM have been adding a constant drumbeat of new MRO shops all over the world, while expanding the throughput of their own MRO facilities wherever possible.

Earlier this year, a Polish facility opened its doors to service the LEAP family. XEOS is operated along with Lufthansa Technik, offering 375,000 square feet of modern support equipment. The plan so far is for LOT Polish Airlines to make it their new MRO hub, thanks to a ““XEOS features a state-of-the-art test cell, a modern clean-and-inspect line, advanced repair capability, and a training center” that can handle proprietary LEAP systems at the highest level. GE’s mention of this facility could be telling, for those companies open to expanding their own MRO footprint in the network. XEOS is a sort of flagship, showing the level of trust and customer activity firms can expect when they attain Premier MRO status with CFM. GE Aerospace and CFM need that growth, but it can’t all be in-house, in the end.

They drive home the point with the mention of a 6th Premier MRO provider announced at MRO Americas: MTU Maintenance Dallas, servicing GEnx engines via a co-branded service agreement. That firm will “conduct performance restoration shop visits and industrialize extensive repair capabilities for CFM LEAP-1A and -1B engines, and for GEnx-1B engines — serving operators of Airbus A320neo family, Boeing 737 MAX, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft around the world.”

And, like XEOS, GE says they were “chosen because of their demonstrated capabilities in overhaul and repair.” Which begs the questions for MRO investors everywhere: Just how expensive would it be to get in on this?

FMI: www.geaerospace.com