No matter what type of aircraft they own, every business jet operator considers one thing to be non-negotiable: they want to be able to fly wherever and whenever they want. Anything less than 100% aircraft availability is unacceptable.
Well, at least, that’s the message the Rolls-Royce Business Aviation team members received loud and clear during the 2017 meeting of its Corporate Customer Council (C3).
“Our customers told us they liked our original Corporate Care program, but there were gaps and coverage inconsistencies between different engine types, and they wanted it fixed,” explains Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s senior vice president of customers and services, Andy Robinson. “From that input, we created our CorporateCare Enhanced offering, which provides comprehensive care for everything made by Rolls-Royce from the engine to the nacelle.”
“Another unique aspect of CorporateCare Enhanced is its unlimited corrosion and erosion damage coverage. No one else offers that,” he continues. “Once customers enroll in the program, they won’t have to pay for any covered item again.”
Robinson adds that, for BR700- and Pearl-series operators, CorporateCare Enhanced takes it to an even higher level by providing complete coverage of the nacelle, inlet, thrust reverser, et cetera—all of the engine’s Rolls-Royce-supplied components—against any wear or damage other than foreign object debris/damage (FOD), accidents, and neglect.
100% aircraft availability from a 100% business aviation company
Obviously, the company has made a massive commitment to creating a coverage plan as comprehensive as CorporateCare Enhanced. However, we are talking about Rolls-Royce, a name synonymous with excellent quality, performance, and value, and with doing whatever it takes to meet its customers’ expectations.
That level of performance-based dedication starts with the simple fact that Rolls-Royce is currently the only major engine manufacturer with an organization dedicated to the unique needs of business aviation.
“No other engine manufacturer does what we do. Being 100% focused on business aviation, we don’t share our people or resources with airlines or other businesses,” Robinson explains. “We are focused on the needs of the top end of the business aviation market and have built our global support network and service offerings around delivering what those customers expect from Rolls-Royce.”
And one of those things they want is not to deal with any issues associated with keeping their aircraft flying. To that end, Rolls-Royce’s CorporateCare and CorporateCare Enhanced are just two of the company’s broad portfolio of services, which supports its goal of delivering 100% aircraft availability.
Achieving that goal means having the people and parts needed to respond to AOG situations in 24 hours or less anywhere in the world. Robinson says that at the heart of meeting this ambitious undertaking is Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s state-of-the-art Aircraft Availability Center (AAC), located at its headquarters in Dahlewitz, Germany, just outside of Berlin.
“The Aircraft Availability Center is empowered to do whatever needs to be done to deliver the services required to ensure the customer’s trip is uninterrupted by an AOG,” Robinson continues. “It’s a very complex thing to achieve. We now have 85 Authorized Service Centers and 78 on-wing service technicians that can be sent anywhere to get their aircraft back I the air within 24 hours.”
You can’t let a missing part AOG a $50 million business jet.
Of course, having the right people in the right place to solve an AOG is just a piece of the puzzle. You need the spare parts to complete the job. And that’s where many other OEM support efforts run into lengthy delays.
“One of the things that we really work hard to do is use our fleet experience and collected data to ensure we have the right parts in the store’s location that is close to wherever the AOG is located,” explains Jens Geserick, vice president of parts and availability for Rolls-Royce Business Aviation. “We have a billion dollars of spare parts, engines, and thrust reversers, and we continue to invest in growing that inventory so the right part is available where we need it.”
While that may not seem like a significant accomplishment, consider the post-COVID supply-chain issues that have hampered all kinds of industries. Geserick says that staying ahead of the parts ordering cycle takes robust planning, especially when supporting a wide range of engine models, from the decades-old Tay series to the new-generation BR and Pearl series.
“In some instances, we may need only a few of a particular legacy part in a year,” he says. “Because ramping up production for these low-volume parts is not cost-effective, we have adopted an active program to “refurbish” many of these types of parts.”
“We are actively buying our legacy engines from operators and then parting them out,” Geserick continues. “We then disassemble these units and refurbish and reuse components to repair in-service engines. It’s become a critical, cost-effective solution for supporting our legacy engines.”
“As the original engine manufacturer we can ensure that every refurbished part returns to service in ‘as good as new’ condition,” Robinson adds. “They are treated and covered by our support programs just like any brand-new part, with absolutely no limitations.”
“Having our extensive stores of parts, lease engines, and components enables our customers to fly when they need to,” he continues. “We have not had an AOG issue due to the lack of parts for as long as I can remember. Not everyone can say that today.”
100% aircraft availability means you go wherever and do whatever.
If there’s one thing that Rolls-Royce’s Aircraft Availability Center knows better than anyone in business aviation, it’s that when it comes to AOGs, you need to expect the unexpected—and prepare for it.
“We have a customer who flies charters to Antarctica, and we have preparations in place if we have an AOG in that location,” Robinson says. “We have built a portable, self-contained igloo-type structure that can be inflated to house the tail section of a business jet. It’s powered to be able to be heated and cooled and is big enough for two engines and all the required equipment to change the engine in any environment.”
His point was that the company made that significant investment without knowing if or when the “igloo” would ever be needed. But it’s just one more example of how far the company will go to ensure that Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s CorporateCare Enhanced program customers will have access to their aircraft.
Robinson admits that while Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s ultimate goal is 100% aircraft availability, it is not quite there yet. But it is really close.
“We’re currently operating at 99% averted missed trips, and our AOG response time is just under 24 hours. It’s not where we ultimately want to be, but it’s an excellent level of service,” he says. “Our customers can fly where they need to go, knowing that the help they may need is always available from our global support network.”