Rolls-Royce Triples Capacity to Fix Trent 1000 Engine Issues

British auto firm Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc tripled its capacity to patch up problems with the Trent 1000 engine that interrupted flight operations of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jets.

Rolls-Royce stated on Wednesday that it could check the engines without having to remove them from the wings, which will help it meet aviation safety authorities’ inspection deadline of June 9. 

The UK-based company was also using its full resources to deal with the problem, which involved reassigning its engineers and other experts, as well as expanding the team by more than 200 people.

Financial implications of the issue were unchanged from April, according to Rolls-Royce.

The firm has estimated the financial impact from the Trent problems should peak at £340 million ($450 million) this year before declining in 2019, with the cost of additional checks covered by Rolls-Royce, eliminating discretionary expenses elsewhere.     

Shares of Rolls-Royce last fell by 0.7 percent to £821.00 on Wednesday.

Customers in Dismay after Trent 1000 Engine Problems

Turbine blades and compressors in the Trent 1000 package C engines that power the 787 Dreamliner planes weakened more quickly than anticipated, which resulted to further examinations and airlines to ground aircraft while the inspections are being conducted.

The announcement left some of the UK aero-engine group’s airline customers in dismay, as they needed to lease alternative planes to fly in the key summer holiday period, putting more pressure on the engineer to get a move on the process.   

Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace President Chris Cholerton said they fully recognize the unacceptable degree of disruption their customers are facing and they have given their teams the duty to do everything they can to recover their customers’ operations as quickly as possible.  

These issues are in addition to similar problems with the turbine blades elsewhere in the engines. Rolls-Royce has also had a hard time maintaining its pace, due to the lack of spare engines and parts.

The company said operations of about 30 of the affected aircraft flow by airlines, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand Ltd. have been halted at any one time for inspections, and is expected to peak at around 50 as the checks intensify.

Beyond examining the affected engines, Rolls-Royce is also working to make a replacement part available to provide a permanent fix. The replacement part is expected to be tested in early June and should be ready to install by later this year, bring forward the date from 2019.

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