As the value proposition became clear, the powerplant OEMs—General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, etc.—slowly expanded their businesses beyond manufacturing to include this new line of revenue of extended maintenance. For some context, consider the numbers from Pratt & Whitney. Pratt & Whitney produces a range of turbine engines from the PW300 to PW800 series, powering popular business jets like Cessna Citations and Gulfstreams. They offer a maintenance program called the Eagle Service Plan. This program’s revenues are classified as aftermarket or post-sale services in the financial reports of its parent company, Raytheon Technologies, now RTX Corporation. In its 2023 second-quarter earnings report, Pratt & Whitney announced sales of $5.7 billion, marking a 15 percent increase from the previous year. This growth was primarily attributed to a 26 percent surge in commercial aftermarket sales. The company highlighted that this surge in commercial sales was due to more frequent and comprehensive maintenance
services and higher engine deliveries, including those to airline partners. As engines become more complex due to increased internet connectivity and components designed for sustainability, it is reasonable to expect an expansion in the range of maintenance services beyond the typical scheduled programs. The same thing has happened for airframes, too. Most major airframe OEMs also offer a maintenance program for their fleet, such as Textron Aviation’s ProParts, Dassault’s FalconCare, and Embraer Executive Care, among others. In the airframe context, Embraer, for example, in its recent third-quarter 2023 earnings report, stated that its Services and Support segment reached a record high of $2.8 billion, driven by an uptick in business jet sales and backlog. Additionally, the company said it was investing extensively in growing its operational facilities to boost service capacity, particularly in training and maintenance areas. Clearly, from a business perspective, there is something here, and no wonder the OEMs are trying to keep their business.
High-tech engines with digital capabilities lead operators to more predictable maintenance, streamlining cost management and providing OEMs and third-party maintenance providers with data-driven opportunities. This evolution allows for proactive maintenance strategies, ensuring efficiency and significant cost savings—not to mention driving a boom in the maintenance programs business.
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