FTAI ‘At Least’ Four Years From New-Gen Transition

Module exchange specialist FTAI Aviation has no plans to enter the new-generation engine maintenance market in the next few years, citing sustained demand to support prior-generation models like the CFM56.

Alun Roberts, head of FTAI’s engine leasing business, also sees a lack of repair opportunities on newer engines like the CFM Leap.

“Eventually everybody will have to transition ... but it’s at least four or five years away until we really get into that market,” Roberts tells Aviation Week. “There’s nothing we from a value-added perspective can add at this stage—no repairs until the aftermarket grows.”

Earlier this year, the company indicated it was seeking more vertical integration by adding additional repair capabilities to its roster.

It claimed to have repair capabilities on 70% of CFM56 piece parts out of its Montreal facility, and aimed to address the remainder through acquisitions like Pacific Aerodynamic, the Californian blade and vane repair specialist.

“We still see the potential and a huge future in the older mature fleet that is going to be around for a long time,” Roberts says. “So we really believe in supporting the airlines in this transition phase to newer technology, providing them with the flexibility to do that with shop avoidance, with aircraft leases.”
FTAI Aviation now owns or partly owns three engine MRO shops—in Miami, Montreal and Rome.
Roberts remarks that another MRO acquisition could be in the cards.
“We’re kind of at our maximum capacity [in Miami] and, you never know, we’ve got to keep growing so maybe we’ll increase with another MRO at some point,” he says.