Croatia Airlines finalizes Pratt & Whitney GTF Engine and EngineWise maintenance agreements

Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, announced yesterday that Croatia Airlines finalized engine and aftermarket agreements for the GTF engines that will power its fleet of fifteen Airbus A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft. These include six purchased and nine leased aircraft, six of which will come from Air Lease Corporation (ALC). The first aircraft is currently scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2024. Pratt & Whitney will provide engine maintenance for Croatia's fleet with an EngineWise® Maintenance long-term agreement.

Pictured above, from L to R: Steven F. Udvar-Házy, executive chairman of Air Lease Corporation, Jasmin Bajić, CEO and president of the Management Board of Croatia Airlines and Rick Deurloo, president of Commercial Engines at Pratt & Whitney finalize GTF™ Engine and EngineWise® maintenance agreements.

"This is an exciting time for Croatia Airlines as we modernize our fleet with these GTF-powered A220 aircraft," said Jasmin Bajić, CEO and president of the Management Board of Croatia Airlines. "By replacing prior-generation aircraft with the most efficient and sustainable engines and aircraft available today, we'll be able to shrink our environmental footprint and keep fares competitive."

Founded in 1991, Croatia Airlines is the national carrier of the Republic of Croatia and a member of Star Alliance. Based in Zagreb, the airline's first planes were powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, including Boeing 737-200 and McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft with JT8D engines, and ATR 42 aircraft powered by PW100 engines.  

"Pratt & Whitney and Croatia Airlines have a longstanding relationship, dating back to the airline's first passenger operations," said Rick Deurloo, president of Commercial Engines at Pratt & Whitney. "With this GTF-powered A220 fleet backed by EngineWise services, Croatia Airlines will benefit from industry-leading technology and world-class service and support, with a growing GTF MRO network, including facilities like Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, EME Aero and Lufthansa Technik Aero Alzey in the heart of Europe."

Pratt & Whitney and Indian Start-up Awiros launch AI-based aircraft engine inspection tool

Pratt & Whitney launches Percept – an advanced AI-based Aircraft Engine Analysis Tool.

Percept is a computer vision product that operates on top of the Awiros Video Intelligence Operating System (OS). Its cloud-based interface allows users to capture images and videos of aircraft engines on their mobile devices and receive real-time responses on parts availability. This helps enable faster and cost-efficient turnaround of leased engine assets. Instead of an inspector having to examine an engine and check part-by-part, Percept automates this inspection, and reduces time taken by nearly 90%.

"The Percept tool helps reduce time and effort involved in the pre-and-post lease analysis of aircraft engines," said O Sung Kwon, vice president, Customer Support, Pratt & Whitney. "We have been working with Awiros, an Indian Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up for the past few years to mature this technology; we are excited to be shifting from technology development to now bringing an operational product to the market." 

"Building the Percept tool in collaboration with RTX has been one of the most exciting opportunities in the journey of Awiros as a startup. We are proud that Percept's high-fidelity scanning of Pratt & Whitney engines with handheld mobiles phones, without any specialized hardware, is being commercially deployed in the aerospace industry." said Vikram Gupta, founder and CEO, Awiros.

Pratt & Whitney and Virginia Tech work on laser-optical thrust and emissions measurement for gas turbine

Pratt & Whitney and Virginia Tech has announced a pioneering new technology for calculating thrust using lasers to enable high-fidelity measurement of key gas turbine engine parameters including velocity, temperature, and density. Known as Filtered Rayleigh Scattering for Thrust measurement (FRST), this new optical instrumentation technique offers significant advantages compared to traditional sensors and probes, which will support the development of more efficient engine core technologies and could enable the measurement of non-CO2 particulate emissions in flight.
"The ability to use lasers and optical sensors represents a major step forward in engine instrumentation technology and is testament to the longstanding collaboration within the Pratt & Whitney Center of Excellence at Virginia Tech," said Geoff Hunt, senior vice president, engineering and technology, Pratt & Whitney. "FRST provides a less intrusive and more cost-effective method for measuring a range of engine metrics. We see exciting potential for FRST to help advance gas turbine propulsion technologies, particularly involving smaller and more thermally efficient engine cores, which are key to our next-generation military and sustainable commercial engines."

United Airlines picks Pratt & Whitney GTF Engines for 120 Airbus A321neo and A321XLR aircraft

Pratt & Whitney confirmed this week that U.S. mega carrier United Airlines has selected the GTF engine to power 70 Airbus A321neo and 50 A321XLR firm aircraft orders, the first of which is expected to be delivered this year.

The two companies have a long history together,  with their relationship starting more than 90 years ago as part of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, together with Boeing, flying Boeing Model 40 aircraft with a single Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine. Today Pratt & Whitney powers more than 250 United aircraft, including the Airbus A320ceo family with V2500® engines and the Boeing 777 and 767 aircraft with PW4000 engines.

"United and Pratt & Whitney share a celebrated history as pioneers of commercial air travel, as well as a commitment to more sustainable aviation as we look forward," said Rick Deurloo, president of Commercial Engines at Pratt & Whitney. "GTF engines will enable United to get the most out of their A321neo and A321XLR aircraft, delivering industry-leading payload, range and environmental performance for those aircraft types."

About GTF Engines

The Pratt & Whitney GTF engine, featuring Collins Aerospace nacelle and engine accessories, offers the greatest fuel efficiency and lowest greenhouse gas emissions for the Airbus A320neo family. GTF-powered aircraft reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 16% to 20%, NOx emissions up to 50% and noise footprint up to 75%.* Certified for operation on 50% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and successfully tested on 100% SAF, GTF engines are ready to enable further reductions in carbon footprint, which will help the aviation industry meet its goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The engine's revolutionary geared fan architecture is the foundation for even more efficient and sustainable propulsion technologies in the decades ahead, with advancements like the Pratt & Whitney GTF Advantage™ engine and beyond. Learn more at pwgtf.com.

*Reductions vs. prior-generation aircraft, based on 75 dB noise contour and ICAO CAEP/6 emissions regulations.

Pratt & Whitney Canada launches PW545D engine to power new Cessna Citation Ascend

Pratt & Whitney Canada has announced that its new PW545D engine will power the Cessna Citation Ascend, the latest addition to Textron Aviation's business jet family. The engine was designed and enhanced for Textron Aviation to deliver improved specific fuel consumption (SFC), thrust and time between overhauls (TBO).

"The PW500 turbofan family has established itself as the engine of choice for light to mid-size business jets thanks to its proven safety, reliability and durability, attractive operating economics and comprehensive maintenance plans," stated Nicholas Kanellias, vice president, General Aviation. "The PW545D is the latest engine in this family. We injected all we've learned from the more than 4,600 PW500 engines produced to-date, which have accumulated over 22 million flying hours. This new engine is even more fuel-efficient, offers greater thrust and an increased TBO of up to 6,000 hours for eligible customers."

Building on the success of the PW545C, the PW545D incorporates new materials and technology. These include:

A more efficient high-pressure compressor for increased flow,

An enhanced single-stage, high-pressure turbine module, and

An advanced exhaust mixer to reduce fuel consumption and noise.

The new engine is also equipped with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) technology, which is included with many PW500 models. This enables the Citation Ascend to integrate new auto-throttle technology that simplifies control, maximizes efficiency and reduces pilot workload.

The engine supports digitally driven advanced health monitoring and diagnostics, in combination with the FAST™ (Flight, Acquisition, Storage and Transmission) system. With FAST™, the engine's full-flight data is downloaded, stored and analyzed by experts, enabling deep insights and predictive diagnostics to optimize engine performance and maintenance requirements. Customers with FAST™ installed who are enrolled in Pratt & Whitney's Eagle Service™ Plan (ESP™) pay-per-hour maintenance program may take advantage of the 6,000-hour TBO option.