Manage engine maintenance cost with P&WC ESP

September 6, 2024

With the Pratt & Whitney Canada Eagle Service^TM Plan (ESP^TM), customers can benefit from proactive maintenance scheduling and timely repairs, all while expecting a 15-30% cost savings when compared with a time and material approach.

A technician performs a boroscope on a PT6A engine while mounted on the aircraft. Hot Section Inspections on the PT6A can also be conducted while on-wing.

“Our Eagle Service™ Plan (ESP™) gives the customer peace of mind that scheduled and unscheduled engine maintenance is covered,” says Delray Dobbins, who oversees sales and global strategy for P&WC’s ESP program. “Our ESP program has no annual flying minimums and is transferable if the customer decides to sell the aircraft.”

He says that basic ESP coverage includes scheduled maintenance such as hot section inspections and overhauls, plus other benefits such as basic unplanned engine or accessory removal, the incorporation of service bulletins, and trend monitoring. Gold-level coverage adds additional benefits such as trouble-shooting labor, engine removal and installation, mobile repair team support for an aircraft on ground (AOG) situation, and freight. A Platinum level of coverage is available for some P&WC engines that further adds routine periodic inspections and environmental damage repair.

ESP aims to provide customers with cost benefits, as opposed to paying for engine maintenance on an as-needed basis – known as "time and material.".

The PT6A-140 is the most recent addition to the PT6A engine family. It powers the Cessna Caravan from Textron Aviation.

“A typical OEM engine plan should save 15-30 percent when compared with a time and material approach to events like hot section inspections and overhauls, when calculated over one overhaul cycle,” says Dobbins.

These savings typically increase if the engine encounters an AOG or an unscheduled event that is covered by the program, since these would otherwise be expensive unplanned events. “If an ESP customer encounters an AOG, the situation will often be resolved faster,” Dobbins says. “And of course, when the engines are due for an overhaul, that is covered as well.”

Additionally, one underrecognized item in recent years is the value of having a leased engine. Industry-wide supply chain issues have affected the turnaround times for overhauls on many engine models. This means a leased engine may be installed for noticeably longer than pre-COVID times. The cost of having that leased engine installed for a longer period of time is picked up by ESP.

The all new PT6A-52 powered Piper M700 Fury

P&WC offers a special incentive for owners of new PT6A-powered aircraft whereby the first 400 hours of coverage is on the company. This represents a value of approximately $70,000.

“Additionally, after the initial no-charge period, customers will also benefit from a discounted ESP rate until the first overhaul based on the engine model,” says Dobbins. “It’s our way of thanking customers for becoming a new PT6A operator.”

“There are no enrollment administrative fees, no monthly management fees, and no variable and unpredictable pro-rata charges,” says Dobbins. “ESP customers can also take comfort from the fact that all work is conducted within the P&WC Global Service Network and is fully backed by P&WC.”

Find more information on the ESP Program here.