Rolls-Royce is further expanding its network of authorized service centers with announcements this week covering three maintenance providers at five different locations. The number of service centers is set to grow to 76 with the appointment of Duncan Aviation (with facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska; Battle Creek, Michigan; and Provo, Utah), Embraer Executive Jets in Paris and ExecuJet Aviation Services China in Tianjin.

The expansion is in response to growing numbers of business aircraft operators signing up for coverage under the enginemaker’s CorporateCare fixed-cost engine maintenance management program. More than 100 additional aircraft have joined the program this year, taking the total to more than 2,000. Since 2005, the number of aircraft supported has almost quadrupled.

CorporateCare provides support for the following Rolls-Royce turbofans: BR725 (Gulfstream G650); BR710 (GV/GV-SP, and Bombardier Global Express and Global 5000 and 6000); Tay (GIV/GIV-SP, plus G350 and G450); and AE3007 (Embraer Legacy 600 and 650, plus Cessna Citation X). For some aircraft types, Rolls-Royce says that as many as 95 percent of jets in operation are covered by the program, and across the board, at least 70 percent of Rolls-powered aircraft are now included.

“This is designed to be a truly comprehensive program that transfers risk [away from the operator],” said Rolls-Royce sales and marketing vice president Stephen Friedrich. “We want to be sure that your support program covers factors such as corrosion. This enhances asset value and liquidity, covering both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance visits, loaner engines and spares-on-wing during line maintenance.”

For all turbofans apart from the AE3007 family, Rolls-Royce now has the ability to automatically download data from engines. This has significantly enhanced the manufacturer’s ability to trend their performance through engine health monitoring, with data compared to fleet averages and specific operating parameters. “We contact operators if trending flags up problems,” Friedrich explained. “We don’t want to have engines that have to be removed unexpectedly from the wing; we want to do it conveniently for the operator.”

Among the key focus points for Rolls-Royce customer services vice president Andy Robinson and his team have been improving performance in averting situations where engine problems result in missed trips and keeping aircraft-on-ground response times to less than 24 hours. For Rolls-Royce operators, CorporateCare support is now averting missed trips in 97 percent of cases.

Rolls-Royce (Booth 3300) achieved top ranking for AOG responsiveness in the latest AIN engine product support survey published in October. Part of the reason for improved AOG performance is the manufacturer’s investment in parts distribution centers in Dubai, Frankfurt and Singapore.