Delta Air Lines' maintenance division is establishing overhaul capability for Rolls-Royce BR715 engines, which power the US carrier's Boeing 717 fleet.
Rolls-Royce and Delta TechOps have agreed to start building up the required technical capabilities in 2016, says the UK manufacturer.
Earlier this year, the two parties arranged for Delta TechOps to become part of Rolls-Royce's MRO network for services on Trent XWBs and Trent 7000s, which are the sole powerplants available for the Airbus A350 and re-engined A330neo, respectively.
Delta TechOps will service these engines for its own and other customers' aircraft.
Today, Delta is the largest 717 operator, with plans to operate 91 of the type, Rolls-Royce indicates.
The vast majority of these aircraft have been leased from Southwest Airlines, having previously been deployed by the Dallas-based budget carrier's subsidiary AirTran Airways until that unit ceased to operate under its own brand.
Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer database shows that a total of 146 717s are in service today. Nine are in storage.
Other operators of the type include Hawaiian Airlines, Qantas, Turkmenistan Airlines and Spanish carrier Volotea.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
