Marketing & Client Services Director

lvalladares@ainonline.com

Rolls-Royce is the world’s leading engine supplier in business aviation, powering some of the largest, fastest, and longest-range business jets available. Rolls-Royce powers aircraft built by Bombardier, Cessna, Embraer and Gulfstream. Our products and services include the Pearl, BR725, BR710, AE3007, Tay, Spey, MR&O, and CorporateCare® Enhanced, the leading solution for engine care. This maintenance program offers increased asset liquidity, nacelle coverage and complete engine management, from line maintenance to shop visits. CorporateCare Enhanced, the comprehensive, fixed-cost engine maintenance management plan, provides customers with a global support infrastructure which includes: Engine Health Monitoring, a worldwide network of Authorised Service Centres and globally distributed spare parts and engines, all managed by our dedicated 24/7 Business Aircraft Availability Centre.

<h2>THE ROLLS-ROYCE BRAND HAS BEEN SYNONYMOUS WITH UNPARALLELED QUALITY FOR NEARLY 120 YEARS. TODAY, ROLLS-ROYCE BUSINESS AVIATION FOCUSES ON DELIVERING THE BEST-PERFORMING ENGINES AND PROVIDING ONGOING SUPPORT THAT EXCEEDS EACH CUSTOMER’S EXPECTATIONS.</h2>
While there are many reasons for entrepreneurs and corporations to own business jets, the biggest is flexibility. And that benefit is more important today than ever before. That sharpened focus on flexibility also puts increased pressure on flight departments to ensure that the airplane is ready to go whenever and wherever the principal needs to travel.
Telling the owner that the company’s business aircraft can’t make a trip has been the death knell for many a flight operation. Aircraft availability is especially critical if the flight department has only one aircraft, which, according to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), is the situation with over 75 percent of its member companies.
Knowing that business aviation operations with one or two aircraft usually don’t have the benefits of full-time maintainers, Rolls-Royce created its Business Aviation unit, which is single-mindedly dedicated to helping customers of all sizes meet their individual needs.
“Our business aviation organization is stand-alone and focused on what is important to these smaller operators,” explains Andrew “Andy” Robinson, SVP, Customers and Services, Rolls-Royce Business Aviation. “All of our customers rely on having their aircraft available when it’s needed. The airplane is a vital tool for their success.
“However, when that aircraft is grounded for maintenance, this freedom to travel is quashed, and time is lost,” he adds. “Our business aviation organization is aiming for 100 percent ‘averted missed trips’—meaning no aircraft running on Rolls-Royce engines and covered by our CorporateCare or CorporateCare Enhanced agreement is grounded long enough to miss a flight.”
<h2>PIONEERING COMPREHENSIVE AND INNOVATIVE CARE</h2>
Rolls-Royce turboprop and turbine engines have been powering the biggest names in business aviation since 1958. In fact, today, there are over 3,500 Rolls-Royce-powered business jets in service worldwide.
“We learned early on that the needs of the business aircraft operator differ greatly from those of our airline&nbsp;customers,” Robinson says. “About 10 years ago, we decided to take a fresh look at the needs of these operators. We talked to airframe manufacturers, and we also sought out several operators of those aircraft who are quite influential in the marketplace.
“We wanted to learn what was important to them,” Robinson continues. “What were their unique needs? Why did they buy the aircraft they have? Most of all, how can Rolls-Royce best serve their particular needs? Businesses and individuals buy aircraft as a productivity tool. Any time it’s not available, there’s a great cost.”
Robinson explains that Rolls-Royce Business Aviation created its original CorporateCare program based on what it learned from those OEMs and operators. At its core, the program provides customers with the support and technical expertise they need to achieve their goal of 100 percent aircraft availability while controlling engine maintenance costs.
While CorporateCare has been an unqualified success, Rolls-Royce responded to customer requests for even more coverage and introduced CorporateCare Enhanced in 2018.
“CorporateCare Enhanced was developed with the mindset of, ‘If we provide it, we cover it,’” Robinson says, “and our customers simply love that.”
Through its many enhancements, the comprehensive, fixed-cost engine maintenance management plan responds to customer requests, including increased asset liquidity, nacelle coverage, and complete engine management, from line maintenance to shop visits.
In addition to expanded hardware coverages, CorporateCare Enhanced provides customers with a global support infrastructure that provides engine health monitoring and offers a worldwide network of authorized service centers and globally distributed spare parts and engines. And it’s all managed by Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s dedicated 24/7 Business Aircraft Availability Center.
“By protecting customers from unforeseen costs and providing rapid access to any needed parts, anywhere in the world, the program plays a big role in assuring aircraft availability,” Robinson says. “For example, if an owner needs to overhaul an engine, we provide a lease engine so they can keep flying.”
Of course, customer needs don’t begin and end with spare parts and engines. Rolls-Royce Business Aviation has built its organization around caring for its customers’ needs, whether that be through delivering spare parts or providing situational-specific technical expertise and support.
At the heart of the organization’s commitment to&nbsp;unparalleled one-to-one customer care are the company’s front-line support and service teams, including its 24/7 Operational Service Desk, On-Wing Service Mobile Repair Team, Regional Customer Managers, Technical Help Desk, and Spare Parts Administrators.
“All together, we have, I believe, the most comprehensive support network in business aviation,” Robinson says.
“With our customers’ approval, our 24/7 Availability Center can continually monitor their aircraft through our Engine Health Monitoring System (EHMS). It’s one more way we can avert problems and make sure their aircraft is ready to fly when they need it.”
Along with monitoring the engine’s health, the EHMS data enables Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s Germany-based technical team to create a “digital twin” of a customer’s engine. With that capability, company engineers can examine the engine’s real-time performance to isolate any deterioration or emerging anomalies.
<h2>THE REAL BENEFIT OF VIRTUAL TRAINING</h2>
Armed with all this real-time information, Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s technical support team can help spot potential problems before they become an aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situation.
But spotting a problem is only the first step. To avoid an AOG, you need to have trained technicians on-site to make the needed repairs. For decades, technicians have traveled to Rolls-Royce Business Aviation’s training centers from around the world for that training.
Then COVID-19 happened. Overnight, these visits came to a stop. But, the need to provide training didn’t, so the company’s technical support team took the next great leap into the future. As part of the company’s IntelligentEngine Vision, Rolls-Royce Business Aviation introduced immersive, instructor-led virtual reality technology for customer training in early 2020. The first engine to benefit from the new virtual training is the BR725.
“The immersive Virtual Training tool is nothing short of a game-changer,” Robinson says. “It makes us the leader in technical training, allowing our customers to participate in the new training wherever they are in the world. In fact, the impact this training has on the industry is recognized by AIN, achieving the “Top Flight Award” of 2020.
“We ship them the VR equipment. All they need is an internet connection,” he adds. “The technicians then go through all of the processes with one of our live instructors. No matter where they are in the world, the technicians can get the training they need.”
As a complement to VR, Rolls-Royce Business Aviation has introduced its new-generation interactive 3D Technical Publications.
“The 3D Technical Publications platform is a big step into the future as we modernize and go beyond what our competition is doing,” states James Prater, VP Customer Support, Rolls-Royce Business Aviation. “We’re introducing 3D graphics and full interactivity with the text instructions. Improved integration of tasks and procedures makes any inspection or repair process easier to follow, reducing the potential for errors caused by jumping between various materials.”
“We now offer the capability to download the information onto a laptop or tablet, making it easy to take current technical information to the aircraft,” he adds. “We see it as a great benefit to operators in remote regions of the world. We’ve demonstrated it to a number of our customers and they’re very pleased with the direction our new 3D tech pubs are taking.”
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<h2>COMMITMENT TO ZERO EMISSIONS</h2>
While it’s clear that Rolls-Royce is on a continual path to provide services and capabilities that keep its current owner/operators happy, the company is equally committed to staying ahead when it comes to emerging “green” engine and operational technologies.
“Whether it’s reality or public perception, historically, corporate jets have had a big target painted on them when it comes to carbon footprints,” Prater says. “Rolls-Royce is committed to pioneering new technologies that will eliminate those issues.”
“As an organization, our goal is to be carbon neutral by 2050,” Robinson adds. “It’s an area we are taking very seriously. We’re investing in new-generation fuels and in electric and hybrid technologies. The first step in reducing a carbon footprint is reducing fuel use. Our latest engines are much more fuel-efficient than the competition. And our new Pearl 700 on the G700 has a combination of technologies that deliver a 5 percent boost in overall efficiency, and we have the lowest noise and emissions in the class.”
As you’d expect, the company has not turned its back on green solutions for its legacy fleet. All Rolls-Royce engines are approved to run on a 50/50 blend of standard Jet-A and sustainable fuels.
“What we are working towards now is to get approval for the use of 100 percent sustainable fuels in our engines,” Prater says. “We’re doing testing now with the Pearl family that power Bombardier and Gulfstream jets. “We also now have our own division dedicated to electric and hybrid technologies,” he continues. “That’s how committed we are to this goal. We’re planning on a world-record attempt in early 2021 to surpass 400 miles per hour with a zero-emission, fully electric airplane.”
Robinson adds that “Rolls-Royce is also partnering with&nbsp;APUS to develop and demonstrate a hybrid-electric propulsion system. The goal for the APUS i-5 aircraft is to demonstrate the practical application of hybrid technologies to lift a four-and-a-half-ton payload.”
<h2>A 99.1 PERCENT AVAILABILITY RATE IS GREAT, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH</h2>
While many might think the goal of 100 percent availability is a bit ambitious, the fact is Rolls-Royce Business Aviation has compiled an enviable record on fulfilling that goal. Over the past 10 or so years, the company has taken great steps in creating the tools, technologies, and training that will make missed trips a thing of the past.
“Today, we are at 99.1 percent, which is the best in the world,” Robinson says. “That’s something to be proud of, but it’s not where we want to be. We’re on the right road, but our pursuit of perfection continues.

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