Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC, Booth C10807) announced a new Eagle Service Plan (ESP) maintenance support program for the PW800 turbofan that powers Gulfstream’s new G500/G600 next-gen large-cabin jets.

“We see the PW800 as a premium engine serving a premium market,” said Mike Perodeau, v-p of marketing for business aviation and military programs. “The ESP is more than a maintenance program. It is about ensuring the most trouble-free levels of operation and reliability while enhancing the value of the owner’s asset. We will have the program finalized well before the engine’s entry into service on the G500.”

The 16,000-pound thrust PW800 was certified earlier this year. The G500 is fitted with the PW814GA and the G600 with the PW815GA. “The G500 is in a very active flight test program, and by all accounts the engines are performing flawlessly,” Perodeau said. PWC has logged more than 4,000 hours on the PW800, including more than 600 flying on the company’s 747SP test bed. “The PW800 engine uses a common core with the engines powering the Bombardier C-Series,” he said. “When you look at all the testing that has been done on our geared turbofan engine cores, it’s over 22,000 hours.”

For P&WC, 2015 has been a great year, according to Perodeau. A highlight was the certification of the PW306D1-pwoered Citation Latitude, which has enjoyed a strong entry into service. “Other programs of note are the ongoing flight-testing of the new Dassault Falcon 8X, which is powered by the PW307D,” he said. “And the outstanding performance of our PW535E on the Embraer Phenom 300. Its reliability is very, very good in the fractional market.

“We’re also seeing the VLJ market remaining relatively soft,” Perodeau said. “All of our engines in that category–the PW617 on the Phenom 100, the PW615 on the Mustang and the PW610 on the Eclipse–are all proving to be reliable and fuel-efficient.”

He said that even with the current challenges facing all of business aviation, P&WC continues its commitment to a robust continuous improvement programs across its entire line of turbofan and turboprop engines. “Even on legacy products, Pratt & Whitney Canada continues to invest in improving overall reliability rates and minimizing downtime for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance,” Perodeau said. “Customers pay a lot of money for their aircraft and they don’t want that asset out of service for any reason. We are extremely mindful of the need to get better and better.”