The first six months of this year have been the best half-year for Pratt & Whitney Canada since the similar period in 2001. Company president Alain Bellemare tells Geoff Thomas things are definitely picking up
Q: The first four years of the new century have been challenging for the aerospace industry - but are we starting to see recovery on the horizon?
A: We're certainly seeing a nice recovery in our business which is up in most segments. The first six months of this year have been our best half-year since the similar period in 2001 and it certainly appears that the recovery of the US economy is being reflected in our sales figures, both for new engines and maintenance service agreements (MSAs). Overall, the volume is more than 25% up year on year and we are gaining market share in our three key market sectors of business/GA, regional and military.
Q: Is the recovery patchy?
A: Yes, indeed it is. There's no doubt that the US is leading the way with Asia and Europe lagging slightly behind. Looking at the industry itself, I believe that there's far too much conservatism generally and the hard fact is that this is not sustainable. Although the message from Farnborough may not be totally up-beat, at least it's more positive than it was here two years ago - or even in Paris and Dubai in '03 and Singapore earlier this year.
Q: Apart from relying on improvements in the world economy generally, what is P&W Canada doing specifically to trade out of the industry recession?
A: The most important things have been to continue investing heavily in research and development (R&D) while putting competitive MSA packages together for our customers. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are generally reducing their inventories and this has provided an opportunity for us to provide economical solutions. The R&D investment has certainly paid off too: between now and 2007 we will have certified 27 new applications for our engines.
Q: How many engines do you now have operating worldwide?
A: There are now more than 38,000 P&W Canada engines installed on airframes across the globe, so you can see the tremendous opportunities we have for MSA packages.
Q: Using your crystal ball, what do you regard as the most important sectors for you over the coming decade?
A: It's not so much crystal ball as extremely hard work by our teams in R&D. We are very excited by the potential in the business and GA sectors, as well as what we believe will be an important 'new sector' of air taxis. Once again, the USA is leading the way here, but we're confident that others will quickly follow. It's all about the ability for passengers to fly point-to-point and our engines - from 1,000-3,000lbs (4.4-13kN) thrust - place us right in the centre of this growing sector. We have been preparing for this for the past two years and are starting to see major things happening.
Then we are seeing a considerable up-turn in our turboshaft helicopter market which has been very strong this year and we predict that this speed of growth will continue. Although the corporate and regional markets are picking up, the recovery has been slower, so it's the MSA opportunities that we are concentrating on here.
Q: What about current milestones in the business/GA sectors?
A: Here it's all about the PW600 family of engines along with the PW300 series. The PW610F ran for the first time in May this year and has - as you know - been selected by Eclipse Aviation to power the twin-engine Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet (VLJ). It will be certified early in 2006. Another engine in this family, the PW615, first flew on a Citation test bed in April and this will be certified on the Cessna Mustang at the end of 2005. And we mustn't forget the PW306C which will enter service on the Cessna Sovereign in the third quarter of this year and the PW307A for the Dassault Falcon 7X for which we sent the first shipset to Dassault in June.
Q: What are the highlights in the helicopter market?
A: Undoubtedly our PW200 family of engines for the light twin market. We have more than 70% market share in this sector with AgustaWestland, Eurocopter and Kazan and anticipate that this will grow even further over the coming months and years. We now have more than 1,000 engines running reliably in light twin helicopters with more than one million flight hours and it's a big platform for growth in sales. We're also incorporating technology and aerodynamics from the from the PW600 family of engines, resulting in lighter structures and better fuel burn.
Q: With ever-growing government - and consumer - interest in the environment, how important is this to P&W Canada?
A: It's impossible to overstate how important it is. All our engines have to be as 'green' as possible, taking into consideration fuel burn, weight and overall cost, both of manufacture and operation. This is another area where our R&D people are doing so well which is why we are gaining market share and enhancing our performance overall.
Q: And what of new product lines in the future?
A: We have a business model showing that the 50-seater regional market has now matured and that for future growth we will require new 70-100-seater aircraft and therefore we are looking at a new family of engines in the 20,000-25,000lb thrust category. Here, again, our skills with technology will assist us.
Source: Flight Daily News
