Rolls Royce Lag On Trent Engine To Hit Boeing Dreamliner Flying Plans

The announcement by British aircraft engine maker Rolls Royce that it would need more time to fix problems with Trent 1000 engine will hurt the flying plans of grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Many airlines are facing losses after grounding their Boeing 787s Dreamliners following an engine glitch.

Rolls Royce makes engines for most civil and military planes. The engine issues stemmed from the poor durability of components and faster corrosion and alienated customers. The engine issue forced the company to raise 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) in extra costs.

On Friday the company said: “We regret the additional disruption caused to our customers and we continue to work closely with them to minimize the impact on their operations.”

Turbine blade replacement is in progress

As of February, 35 Dreamliners or 787s are grounded globally due to engine blades corroding or cracking prematurely, per data with Rolls Royce.

The company accelerated the turbine blade replacement work for some models to reduce the number of grounded aircraft to single digits by the second quarter of 2020.

Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said in August that the target of fewer than 10 aircraft on the ground at the end of the year looks hard to achieve. This is because the repair load is increasing from faster deterioration of a blade on the Trent 1000 Ten.

The engine issue is also affecting the British company’s shares. The Rolls Royce stock was down 2.6 percent at the FTSE London on Friday.

The problems with the Trent 1000 hurt the company financially and strained relations with airline customers including British Airways, which are facing disrupted flight schedules. Rolls-Royce’s customers include 400 airlines, 160 armed forces, and 70 navies.

Singapore Airlines has also grounded two 787-10 jets fitted with the Trent 1000 TEN engines.

According to Rolls Royce news, the positive part is that the guidance for the cash costs of the in-service issues in 2019 and 2020 will remain the same as announced in August.

Rolls Royce had said it would spend 100 million pounds (US$125 million) to fix the Trent 1000 engine issue.

In March, it withdrew from the race to power Boeing’s planned mid-market aircraft to avoid further problems.

Rolls-Royce Trent is a three spool, high bypass turbofan engine. Trent engines are used by the Airbus A330, A340, A350, A380, Boeing 777, and 787.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars set sales a record last year with sales led by the eighth-generation Roll -Royce Phantom. The sales grew in all regions. Roll-Royce exports more than 90 percent of its production.

However, car sales in the U.K. were lower in 2018 according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Rolls Royce Motor Cars are the subsidiary of the German carmaker BMW.