By Tim Hepher and Rajesh Kumar Singh
SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Reuters) – GE Aerospace technician Suresh Sinnaiyan has spent more than a decade repairing jet‑engine compressor blades by guiding them across a sanding belt with practised precision.
Now, at the aerospace giant’s new automation lab in Singapore, he is teaching a robot to do the same job.
The switch is part of GE’s push to prepare the next wave of industrial development and ease one of aviation’s biggest bottlenecks: overloaded repair shops and scarce parts.
Unexpected wear and tear in the latest generation of jet engines across the industry has idled many jets and led airlines to keep older jets flying longer, stretching maintenance lines into months as engines wait their turn in repair queues.
That pressure has turned into a public fight. Airlines have complained that engine makers are benefiting from shortages by raising prices, while manufacturers say they are pouring money into expanding support after shouldering huge development costs.
Tony Fernandes, the co-founder of Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia, put it candidly: “They have got to remember airlines are their future and treat us as partners,” he told Reuters, referring to the industry overall.
SINGAPORE AS THE PRESSURE VALVE
GE says Singapore is a key piece of its answer.
The company’s 2,000-employee repair hub is being upgraded with more automation, digital tools and AI as part of a plan that GE has said could total up to $300 million in investment.
The company aims to lift repair volume in Singapore by 33% without expanding the site’s footprint — by reorganising work, reshaping floor space and automating tasks where it is efficient.
The plant is at the forefront of efforts to roll out “Flight Deck,” GE’s version of the “Lean” manufacturing recipe of continuous improvement and eliminating waste pioneered by Japanese carmakers and championed by CEO Larry Culp.
“It’s not about sprinting at quarter’s end to make a Wall Street guide. It is making every hour and every day count,” Culp told Reuters in an interview.
GE and rivals such as Pratt & Whitney have been trying to balance feeding new-airplane assembly lines with engines and parts while keeping the existing fleet flying.
Repairing more used parts can ease pressure by safely reducing the need to replace worn components with newly manufactured ones — leaving more available for new engines.
And GE says repairs can halve the time needed for key processes as well as halve the cost to airlines.
FASTER TURNS, TIGHTER FLOOR SPACE
“Repair can really improve turnaround time … the less time the engine is off the wing, the better,” Iain Rodger, head of GE Aerospace Component Repair Singapore, told Reuters during a visit to the facility.
One example is a reorganised repair area overhauling used and scorched CFM56 turbine nozzles — parts that endure extreme heat inside one of the world’s most widely used engines.
Workers say turnaround time there has improved since 2021, when it was 40 days, and GE is targeting 21 days by 2028.
The area is giving up roughly a third of its floor space to prepare for the next challenge: developing repair capability for newer LEAP engines that are beginning to enter overhaul cycles.
Without approved repairs, airlines may need to replace worn parts with new ones, which are typically more expensive and in limited supply.
“Now we can see problems and identify where issues are,” said Nozzles Business Leader Han Hui Min of the new layout.
TEACHING ROBOTS THE HUMAN TOUCH
The most compelling work is also among the hardest to automate: repairs that depend on a technician’s touch.
Take those compressor blades from a CFM56 engine.
As air rushes into the core of the engine, spinning blades squeeze it to build pressure. Over years of use, blade tips deform and must be restored in a process called blending — reshaping the metal so it meets tight tolerances.
“It’s really hard to do. (Until now) it is 100% manual,” said Sinnaiyan. Each blade has to be filed to within a few thousandths of an inch, relying on eye, feel and coordination.
GE’s bet is that if it can capture that skill in a repeatable robotic process, it can reduce dependence on scarce specialised labour and increase throughput at lower cost.
Analysts note that engine makers earn some of their biggest profits from servicing used parts and from licensing certain repairs to other shops in return for lucrative royalties.
That means the process for each repair is considered the secret sauce for an increasingly crucial part of the business.
Even so, scaling repairs has limits. Work must follow approved procedures and strict quality controls.
And a slowdown in new plane production which boosted the demand for old jets – and in turn demand for repairs – is coming towards an end, Agency Partners analyst Nick Cunningham said.
If GE’s changes in Singapore deliver, they could help the industry work through its bottlenecks and ease fares.
But airline executives and others have cautioned that the underlying supply squeeze is unlikely to vanish quickly.
“It is about moving away from fire fighting and heroics to a different type of preferred performance,” Culp said.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher in Singapore and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Editing by Joe Brock and Matthew Lewis)
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