Rolls-Royce to perform additional inspection on Trent XWB engines

Aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has decided to perform additional inspections on some of its Trent XWB engines.

The decision to carry out further inspections came after the firm identified indications of wear on an average of only one or two of the Intermediate Pressure Compressor (IPC) blades that are inspected.

The issue not expected to cause significant customer disruption or material annual cost.

The engine that powers the Airbus A350 airliner has been in service for four to five years and is approaching their first overhaul.

None of these engines has experienced any abnormal in-flight operation, however, we are inspecting all other Trent XWB-84 engines with a similar service life as a precaution.

Rolls-Royce civil aerospace president Chris Cholerton said: “The Trent XWB-84 has experienced the smoothest entry into service of any widebody engine we have developed. It is the most efficient in-service large civil aero-engine in the world, with unequalled on-wing reliability.

“Engines now coming in for overhaul have travelled the equivalent of 350 times around the world, with no unplanned maintenance. It is reassuring to see that our proactive inspection regime has enabled us to identify and swiftly address this issue and minimise any potential impact on our customers.”

Roll Royce currently has more than 100 Trent XWB-84s that have been in service for four to five years.

The engine is set to be subject to an Airworthiness Directive from regulator EASA.

Last November, Rolls-Royce saw its Trent 1000 engine fixing bill increased by another £800m, taking the cost of the engine to £2.4bn for 2017-2023.

In May, Rolls-Royce revealed plans to axe 9,000 jobs from its global workforce to deal with the reduction in engine and service demand due to Covid-19.