Delta’s new state-of-the-art engine repair shophit a major milestone Tuesday with its first engine induction — a Trent 1000 engine operated by Delta’s joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic.
"We are thrilled that our joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic is the first engine in Delta’s next generation engine shop," said Don Mitacek, S.V.P. — TechOps. "It’s a win-win for Virgin and Delta, and is a great example of partners helping each other."
The new shop enables Delta to perform maintenance on engines with the most sophisticated and advanced technologies — in particular, the next-generation powerplants featured on Delta’s Airbus A350s and forthcoming A330-900neo aircraft.
In October 2015, Delta and Rolls-Royce signed a formal agreement for Delta TechOps to become an Authorized Maintenance Center for Rolls-Royce engines. Under the agreement, the airline will provide engine services for the latest generation Trent XWB, Trent 1000 and Trent 7000, in addition to the BR715, which had already been added to engine capabilities.
To build the new engine shop, Delta converted several large hangar bays at the airline’s TechOps facility in Atlanta and created a workshop consisting of an engine assembly and disassembly area, a kitting parts area, engines work in progress area, shop materials and supplies (Kanban) area, life limited parts center of excellence, and repair and support area. The facility stands out from the adjacent aircraft hangar bays with a translucent wall consisting of over 2,000 pieces of glass and stands seven stories tall underneath the historic Fly Delta Jets sign.
The new capability also benefits the airline’s Maintenance Repair and Overhaul or MRO business as Delta will work on engines from other airlines and aircraft operators. Delta TechOps serves more than 150 aviation and airline customers from around the world through its MRO business, specializing in high-skill work such as engines, components, avionics, airframe and line maintenance.
Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines started their partnership in 2014 and operate the leading transatlantic network between the U.K. and U.S. Together the two airlines flew over 5 million customers last year, offering travelers a choice of 39 trans-Atlantic flights a day to 26 nonstop destinations, and one-stop connections to over 200 U.S. destinations.
