In a bid to expand its capabilities to service larger turbine engines, Standard Aero has purchased turbine engine component overhauler TSS Aviation of Cincinnati, Ohio, for $65 million. Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation were purchased by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) from private-equity firm Carlyle Group last month for $1.9 billion.

The TSS Aviation acquisition plays a key role in the growth of DAE Engineering’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) strategy, according to Paul Soubry, president and CEO of Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation, both of which are now part of DAE Engineering.

While Standard Aero has long specialized in component repair and overhaul at its Winnipeg, Canada headquarters, this deal is for engines that Standard Aero already specializes in, ranging from the Rolls-Royce 250 to the GE CF34.

Adding TSS Aviation helps Standard Aero by adding more component repair and overhaul capability so fewer components need to be sent to third parties and also is a first step in growing DAE Engineering’s capability to service larger engines.
TSS Aviation currently works on components for the GE CF6, CFM International CFM56 and IAE V2500.

Moving up in the turbine engine service food chain by starting with component repair and overhaul is a classic way for a company to expand and eventually transition into more significant workscopes on large engines. In any case, the Winnipeg component facility doesn’t have the equipment to handle components from larger engines.
Soubry also announced that Standard Aero is starting a $5.5 million expansion of its Maryville, Tenn. facility to prepare to provide MRO services for the PW600-series engines that power new very light jets.

Pratt & Whitney Canada awarded PW600 designated overhaul facility status to Standard Aero earlier this year.

The expansion includes a new 25,000-pound-thrust-capable engine test cell. Although that level of thrust is much more than is needed to test the PW600, Soubry said it would have been foolish to spend so much money and limit the capability of the test cell to small engines. The new test cell should be qualified to test PW600s by the end of March.

Celebrating the P&WC Agreements

Paul Soubry, president and CEO of Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation, and Eva Azoulay, commercial services director of Pratt & Whitney Canada, toast recent agreements. Standard Aero is extending its offerings in the P&WC PT6 replacement and upgrade engine market. The company was recently awarded a number of new FAA supplemental type certificates for re-engining the Piper Cheyenne family and Hawker Beechcraft King Air F90. The STCs replace the original P&WC PT6A engines with more powerful models, increasing the airplanes’ true airspeed capability at the limiting Vmo speed.

Standard Aero, which is owned by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Engineering, has also signed a five-year agreement with P&WC to buy 531 new PT6A-series engines under P&WC’s converter enhancement program. This program allows companies to buy new engines and make them available to customers who opt for modification programs like the Cheyenne and King Air STCs.