Rolls-Royce Celebrates 60 Million Flight Hours For AE Civil Engines
Rolls-Royce AE civil engines have powered Embraer ERJ series of regional jets, Embraer Legacy 600 and 650 corporate jets, Saab 2000, and Cessna Citation X series of corporate jets over the past 20 years.
Rolls-Royce AE civil engines have powered Embraer ERJ series of regional jets, Embraer Legacy 600 and 650 corporate jets, Saab 2000, and Cessna Citation X series of corporate jets over the past 20 years. To date, nearly 3,500 AE civil engines have been manufactured in Indianapolis. These Rolls-Royce AE civil engine products recently surpassed 60 million flight hours of operation, commemorating one of the most successful programs in the company's history.
The "common core" gas turbine engine has been a key ingredient in the program's success, allowing the engine to be modified throughout the years for both civil and defense aerospace markets. The "AE" engine line began development in the mid-1980s and continued with significant research and development investments after Rolls-Royce acquired Allison in 1995.
"This amazing milestone, 60 million hours of civil flight, is a reflection of our employees' innovation and commitment to our customers," said Barb Stratton, Senior Vice President, Regional Programs, Rolls-Royce. "In the regional aircraft market alone, our AE engines transported 1 billion people to destinations around the world. This legacy of success is testimony that we live up to our values, 'trusted to deliver excellence.'" The Rolls-Royce AE civil engine portfolio includes: the AE 2100A, powering the Saab 2000; the AE 3007A, powering over 5 variants of Embraer ERJ regional jets and Embraer Legacy corporate jets; and the AE 3007C series, powering the Cessna Citation X and X+.
The AE civil engine program supports operators ranging from single aircraft charter operations to airlines. "Nineteen years of partnership and joint efforts to increase product support to the highest level of industry excellence has led to exceeding customer expectations," said Johann Bordais, Vice President, Services & Support Commercial Aviation at Embraer. "Embraer is proud that Rolls-Royce is part of the success of nearly 1,200 ERJ and Legacy aircraft in operation, and we continue to work together to ensure that our products remain competitive for the future."
To help operators continue to keep the engines flying and increasing hours of flight, Rolls-Royce offers a TotalCare(R) service program, used by over 80-percent of our customers as the most cost effective way to maintain their engines. The AE "common core" is not exclusively used by civil markets. In defense aerospace, variants of the AE engine family has logged more than 6 million flight hours, powering a variety of defense aircraft, including C-130J Super Hercules, V-22 Osprey, Alenia C-27J Spartan, and Northrup Grumman Global Hawk and Triton.