Name: 美航等航空公司為何拼命延長髮動機壽命 (Why Airlines Like American Are Scrambling To Make Engines Last Longer)
Uploaded: 2024-09-04T12:34:47.000Z
Duration: 11 min 33 s

分詞構句

A jet engine is the most important part of a commercial airplane, and repairing them has become a $58 billion business.

噴氣發動機是商用飛機最重要的部件，維修噴氣發動機已成為一項價值 580 億美元的業務。

進階形容詞比較級句型

A typical overhaul, it could be $4 or $5 million at the lower end, but at the upper end, it could be north of $10 million, maybe as much as $15.

一般的大修，低端的可能需要 400 萬或 500 萬美元，高端的可能需要 1000 萬美元以上，甚至高達 1500 萬美元。

A commercial jet engine is a complex, expensive machine made up of thousands of parts.

商用噴氣發動機是由數千個零件組成的複雜而昂貴的機器。

The process of overhauling one means disassembling it and replacing all the worn or damaged parts, like blades, which can cost up to $30,000 a piece.

大修的過程意味著要將其拆卸並更換所有磨損或損壞的部件，如葉片，單個部件的費用可達 3 萬美元。

An engine could have, you know, 40, 50, 60 blades in it.

一臺發動機可能有 40、50 或 60 個葉片。

Engines typically stay in service for about 30 years and need to be taken off wing and overhauled roughly every five to eight years.

發動機的使用壽命通常為 30 年左右，大約每隔五到八年就需要拆下機翼進行大修。

While passengers are flying in record numbers, manufacturing and supply chain problems have persisted post-pandemic.

雖然乘客人數創下新高，但大流行後的製造和供應鏈問題依然存在。

Boeing and Airbus delays on new aircraft have forced some airlines to fly older planes longer to keep up with demand.

波音和空客新飛機的延誤迫使一些航空公司延長舊飛機的飛行時間，以滿足需求。

They're keeping these older aircraft in service longer, and the maintenance costs tend to go up considerably on aircraft when they get into their 20s.

他們讓這些老舊飛機服役的時間更長，而當飛機進入 20 多歲時，維護成本往往會大幅上升。

So what it means is that the overhaul market, or what they call the aftermarket, has been booming for older engines.

是以，這意味著大修市場，也就是所謂的售後市場，已經在蓬勃發展。

Demand for old engines coupled with an engine recall has led to long delays in maintenance shops.

對舊發動機的需求加上發動機召回，導致維修車間長期拖延。

Before the supply chain issues, a typical narrowbody engine took 60 to 75 days to overhaul.

在出現供應鏈問題之前，一臺典型的窄體發動機大修需要 60 至 75 天。

That time has gone up, in some cases, to over 200 days.

在某些情況下，這一時間已增加到 200 多天。

It's not sufficient spare parts, no labor.

To do this in the normal time, you cannot predict today how many days this engine would be in the shop before it returns.

要在正常時間內完成這項工作，你今天無法預測這臺發動機要在修理廠呆多少天才能回來。

While hundreds of airlines use outside companies, legacy carriers like Delta and American perform engine maintenance in-house.

雖然有數百家航空公司使用外部公司，但達美航空公司和美利堅航空公司等傳統航空公司則在內部進行發動機維護。

It really helps us give control over our maintenance opportunities, ensuring that we have enough capacity to provide engines that lift, if you will, for the airline.

這確實有助於我們控制維修機會，確保我們有足夠的能力為航空公司提供升力引擎。

CNBC traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to get an inside look at how American Airlines maintains its engines and explores the outlook for the market.

CNBC 前往俄克拉荷馬州塔爾薩，瞭解美國航空公司如何維護其發動機，並探討市場前景。

Most of today's airliners are powered by turbo fans.

如今，大多數客機都由渦輪風扇提供動力。

To understand what goes into maintaining one, let's take a look at how it works.

要了解如何維護，讓我們來看看它是如何工作的。

Air is sucked through the large fan at the front. 80 percent bypasses the engine's core and flows out the back.

空氣通過前部的大風扇吸入。80% 的空氣繞過發動機核心，從後面流出。

It is compressed through a series of blades, then combined with jet fuel and ignited, reaching up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

它通過一系列葉片進行壓縮，然後與噴氣燃料結合並點燃，溫度最高可達華氏 3000 度。

The hot air pushes through the turbine, making it turn, which supplies power to the compressor and the fan.

熱空氣推動渦輪轉動，為壓縮機和風扇提供動力。

All the air forced out of the back pushes the plane forward, providing thrust.

從後面擠出的空氣推動飛機前進，提供推力。

The engine has parts which are life-limited, so the safe operation of the engine is guaranteed up to 25,000, 30,000 cycles.

發動機上的部件是有壽命限制的，是以可以保證發動機安全運行達 25000 或 30000 次。

And then by law and by the certification rules, you simply have to exchange the parts in order to guarantee a safe, continued operation of the engine.

然後，根據法律和認證規則，您必須更換部件，以保證發動機的安全和持續運行。

One flight cycle is starting the engine, taking off, landing and turning the engine off.

一個飛行週期是啟動發動機、起飛、著陸和關閉發動機。

If it's a single aisle, it's probably going to be in the four to five year range.

如果是單通道，可能需要四到五年的時間。

But for a twin-aisle aircraft, you fly these really long flights, but you do not have as many starts and stops on the engine.

但對於雙通道飛機來說，雖然飛行時間很長，但發動機的起停次數並不多。

You might be looking at six, seven years, maybe eight years between overhauls.

兩次大修之間的間隔可能是六、七年，甚至八年。

When it comes to jet engine manufacturing, the market is dominated by a few key players, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.

在噴氣發動機製造領域，市場主要由通用電氣航空航天公司、普惠公司和勞斯萊斯公司等少數幾家公司主導。

GE dominates the space when combined with its joint venture with Safran, CFM International.

通用電氣與賽峰集團的合資公司 CFM 國際公司在該領域佔據主導地位。

Engines generally have a much longer lifespan than a commercial aircraft, mainly as engines can be replaced.

發動機的使用壽命一般比商用飛機要長得多，這主要是因為發動機可以更換。

They can switch and go to different aircraft.

他們可以切換到不同的飛機上。

然後就可以將它們放在備件處。

It's difficult in that you have to invest several billion dollars in a new engine and the payback on a brand new jet engine to get the break-even point, 15 to 20 years is a pretty good rule of thumb these days.

這很困難，因為你必須投資幾十億美元購買一臺新發動機，而一臺全新噴氣發動機的投資回報率要達到盈虧平衡點，15 到 20 年是目前相當不錯的經驗法則。

Engine manufacturers also provide maintenance to customers.

發動機製造商還為客戶提供維修服務。

More than 70 percent of GE's commercial engine revenue comes from parts and services.

通用電氣商用發動機收入的 70% 以上來自零部件和服務。

GE said in July it's investing $1 billion on upgrades for its engine repair shops.

通用電氣今年 7 月表示，將投資 10 億美元用於發動機維修車間的升級改造。

In the first two quarters of 2024, GE reported over $15 billion in MRO revenue versus $8 billion for new engines.

在 2024 年的前兩個季度，通用電氣報告的 MRO 收入超過 150 億美元，而新發動機的收入為 80 億美元。

Supply chain issues are also affecting new engine maintenance.

供應鏈問題也影響著新發動機的維護。

It's been very, very difficult to get parts.

Number two is there have been configuration issues with new generation engines, which are running at these higher temperatures and pressures and have new configurations in them and have had quality problems.

其次，新一代發動機在更高的溫度和壓力下運行，並採用了新的配置，是以出現了品質問題。

Despite these issues and delays getting into repair shops, stock prices for engine makers have been faring much better than Boeing and Airbus so far this year.

儘管存在這些問題，而且進入修理廠的時間也有所延遲，但今年到目前為止，發動機製造商的股價表現要比波音和空客好得多。

Now the market is back and everyone is screaming for capacity and competence.

現在，市場又回來了，每個人都在為產能和能力叫好。

In the U.S. alone, there are over 3,000 aircraft repair shops, an increase of 2.8 percent since 2022.

僅在美國，就有 3000 多家飛機維修店，自 2022 年以來增長了 2.8%。

We see growth rates in the engine service business of about 2.7 percent year over year.

我們認為發動機服務業務的同比增長率約為 2.7%。

So currently this year we will see in the market about 10,000 shop visits in 2024.

是以，今年我們將在市場上看到約 10,000 次商店訪問，到 2024 年將達到 10,000 次。

Overflowing repair shops have left airlines like American to take matters into its own hands.

維修店人滿為患，使得美航等航空公司不得不自力更生。

It said it's on track to increase engine overhauls by 60 percent compared to last year.

該公司表示，與去年相比，發動機大修的數量有望增加 60%。

American Airlines has over 950 planes in its fleet and 400 of them come through this facility for maintenance and engine overhauls.

美國航空公司的機隊有 950 多架飛機，其中 400 架飛機通過該設施進行維護和發動機大修。

When you factor in, you know, two engines per airplane, along with spare engines that we need to support as we manage through a normal cycle of engines.

如果考慮到每架飛機需要兩個發動機，以及在正常的發動機週期內我們需要支持的備用發動機。

So it's probably north of 2,100, 2,200 total engines.

是以，發動機總數可能在 2100 至 2200 臺之間。

The facility is one of the biggest of its kind in the world at 3.3 million square feet.

該設施佔地 330 萬平方英尺，是世界上同類設施中最大的之一。

At that time, engine manufacturers weren't big into actually doing the work.

當時，發動機製造商並不熱衷於實際操作。

But it's something that we've kept core in certain fleet types to be able to do that business.

但是，為了開展這項業務，我們在某些機隊類型中保留了核心技術。

Many planes in its fleet use a variant of the CFM-56, one of the world's most commonly flown engines.

該公司機隊中的許多飛機使用的是 CFM-56 發動機的變體，這是世界上最常用的發動機之一。

What we found is we had almost 80, 85 percent part commonality between both of those engine variants.

我們發現，這兩種發動機變體之間幾乎有 80% 至 85% 的零件通用性。

是以，我們有很大的重複使用能力。

And when you bring those two fleets together, it's about 960 engines that we could run out of the shop.

如果把這兩個機隊加在一起，我們可以在工廠中的房間外運行大約 960 臺發動機。

A repair shop that may be fixing the same type of engine for two different airlines can't mix and match parts.

可能為兩家不同航空公司修理同一類型發動機的修理廠不能混用和匹配零件。

And when you see the inner workings of these engines, you understand just how complex they are.

當你看到這些發動機的內部結構時，你就會明白它們有多麼複雜。

So an overhaul, I think we've counted them up one time, is like 1,200 parts.

是以，一次大修，我想我們計算過一次，大概有 1200 個零件。

On the day we visited, we saw the many stages of overhauling an engine.

參觀當天，我們看到了發動機大修的多個階段。

We'll break the major flange and it'll be separated into the cold and the hot section.

我們將打破主要法蘭，將其分為冷段和熱段。

From there, they're broken down into piece parts.

從這裡開始，它們被分解成各個部分。

Thousands of parts are cleaned and inspected.

數以千計的部件得到清潔和檢查。

The testing also sounds like a hospital visit, using ultrasound, X-ray, magnetic inspections and fluorescent penetrant.

檢測也像醫院就診一樣，使用超音波、X 光、磁力檢查和熒光滲透劑。

For fluorescent penetrant inspection, we spray these parts with a lime green fluorescent penetrant.

在進行熒光滲透檢測時，我們會在這些部件上噴塗石灰綠色熒光滲透劑。

And it seeps into the surface of the parts and any subsurface defects.

它還會滲入零件表面和任何表面下的缺陷。

They use a black light for the fluorescence to be a little more brilliant and help signify where some of those defects are located.

他們使用黑光燈使熒光更加明亮，並幫助確定一些缺陷的位置。

Parts are slowly moved around the facility, understandably, as some of the smallest parts come with very high price tags.

可以理解的是，零件在廠房內緩慢移動，因為一些最小的零件都標著很高的價格。

You could pay north of $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 a blade.

你可能需要支付 1 萬、2 萬或 3 萬美元的刀片費。

And some of these, you know, some of these blades, you know, an engine could have, you know, 40, 50 of these, 60 blades in it.

其中有些葉片，一臺發動機可能有 40、50 或 60 個葉片。

Some workers focus on smaller, more intricate sections, while others use big cranes to move the several thousand pound pieces together.

一些工人專注於更小、更復雜的部分，而另一些工人則使用大型起重機將幾千磅重的部件移動到一起。

And an engine, let's say, that has a list price of $10 million, it might cost you $5 or $6 million, possibly more for that overhaul.

比方說，一臺標價 1 000 萬美元的發動機，大修一次可能要花費五六百萬美元，甚至更多。

The majority of the cost of the engine overhaul is in its parts.

發動機大修的大部分費用都在零部件上。

But American says doing all this work in-house isn't necessarily cheaper.

但美國人說，在公司內部完成這些工作並不一定更便宜。

A lot of the value is not having to go out and lease or buy additional spare engines.

其價值主要體現在無需外出租賃或購買額外的備用發動機。

You know, as I've told CFM, while we don't contract with them to do our work, we're one of their biggest shops.

你知道，正如我告訴 CFM 的那樣，雖然我們沒有與他們簽訂合同，但我們是他們最大的商店之一。

We just have one customer and that's American Airlines doing our work.

我們只有一個客戶，那就是為我們工作的美國航空公司。

是以，我們向他們購買零部件。

So it's a it's a good offload of work that they don't have to do.

是以，這是一個很好的卸載工作，他們不必做。

But I can get these engines through the shop in less than 60 days versus shops nowadays are, you know, 120 to 150 days, in some cases north of 200 days, given some of the parts constraints that are out there in the industry.

但我可以在不到 60 天的時間內把這些發動機送到修理廠，而現在的修理廠則需要 120 到 150 天，在某些情況下甚至需要 200 天，因為行業內存在一些零部件限制。

This engine has been in the shop for roughly 53 days and is ready to head to the test cell.

這臺發動機已經在工廠中的房間裡停放了大約 53 天，隨時可以送往試驗室。

The engine will spend several days here, getting run through rigorous tests before it's approved to be sent back into service.

這臺發動機將在這裡停留數天，通過嚴格的測試，然後才能獲准重新投入使用。

Whether it's an airline manufacturer or an MRO shop working on engines, supply chain issues are expected to persist for years to come.

無論是航空公司製造商，還是從事發動機工作的 MRO 工廠中的房間，預計供應鏈問題在未來幾年都將持續存在。

What you were seeing is that the engine overhaul shops don't want to bring the engine into the facility until they know they have all the parts available to support the overhaul.

你所看到的是，發動機大修工廠中的房間在知道他們擁有支持大修的所有部件之前，不願意將發動機帶入設備中。