StandardAero’s engine MRO facility in Gonesse, France has with new capabilities and additional hires. The Gonesse facility, located mid-way between Le Bourget and Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, last month renewed its Pratt & Whitney Canada Designated Overhaul Facility (DOF) licenses for the PW100 and PT6A turboprop engine families. The facility has a 33-year association supporting the PW100 engine, its predecessor company SECA having been the first independent PW100 shop to be appointed in 1986.
Gonesse has approvals for 23 members of the PW100 family, including the PW127M variant powering the latest generation of ATR -600 turboprops, plus the PW127G engine which powers the Airbus C295 transport aircraft. Gonesse also has extensive approvals for the PT6A family, including, including the widely used PT6A-41/-42 models plus the Daher TBM 700’s PT6A-64 powerplant, and will shortly be delivering its 1,500th PT6A engine.
The Gonesse facility has also been re-selected by Daher as the PT6A engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider for TBM very fast turboprop aircraft based in Europe. StandardAero was originally selected by Daher in 2016, this agreement including engine support for the fleet of TBM 700 aircraft operated by the French Ministry of Defense and managed by Daher under a Full Operational Support agreement.
The Gonesse facility has focused significant effort in optimizing its work-flow through the introduction of lean manufacturing process over the past five years. For 2019, the Gonesse facility plans to offer additional capabilities to its customers throughout the EMEA region with the introduction of a dedicated on-site service center capability and an expanded Mobile Repair Technician (MRT) team of field support reps.
The dedicated on-site service center will offer a convenient and responsive solution for customers with ‘light’ MRO requirements up to and including hot section inspections. Gonesse’s expanded MRT team will provide customers with the additional option of having work performed at the operator’s own location, including rapid-response solutions for engine-related ‘aircraft on the ground’ (AOG) situations.
“We are pleased to further expand the range of cost-effective service offerings offered to PW100 and PT6A operators across Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” said Laurent Cluzel, general manager of StandardAero’s Gonesse facility. “StandardAero’s decision to make the Gonesse facility the focal point for its European PW100/PT6A MRT team highlights the strong service focus of our workforce here, while the recent addition of several new hires reflects the high level of demand we are seeing from the marketplace. Moreover, through close coordination with our sister facility in Summerside, Canada, we are able to fully meet the requirements of transnational customers such as aircraft lessors with seamless, single point of contact support.”