Every airline wants to ensure that its operations are reliable and cost-effective, with engine availability and overhaul costs prime concerns. As a part of KLM's Engineering and Maintenance division, CF6 Powerplant Services provides solutions to allay these concerns. CF6 Powerplant Services has met the specific needs of international customers, through tailor-made services designed to exceed their expectations.

CF6 Powerplant Services specialises in reducing airline operating costs; even airlines that have already made arrangements to secure their operations and minimise expenditure on engine maintenance. The company offers engine, module and parts maintenance, tuned to customised work-scope planning guides and within very short turn-around times. It also guarantees the availability of engines, modules and parts, at any time or place, to ensure that operations can be maintained reliably. Even airlines establishing their own engine facilities can benefit from the company's extensive, step-by-step technology transfer programme.

CF6 Powerplant Services has processed over 5,000 shop visits during the past two decades and its extensive operations are approved by national and international authorities, such as the FAA, CAA, JAA, RLD and General Electric. Information from the company's monitoring and work-scope systems enable CF6 Powerplant Services to calculate the ideal balance between maintenance costs, EGT margins and specific fuel consumption, leading to cost reductions and improvements in operating performance.

Financing arrangements can be tailored to meet customers' specific requirements and CF6 Powerplant Services has developed a system of combining stocks of engines and parts for its clients, producing economies of scale which benefit everyone involved.

As the name suggests, CF6 Powerplant Services' employees are experts on the CF6-50 and CF6-80 engines, modules, parts and accessories. However, as a part of KLM Engineering and Maintenance, the company also provides services and components for all series of the Boeing 767, 747 and 737, Douglas DC-10, Airbus A310 and the MD 11.

CF6 Powerplant Services continually invests in the knowledge, equipment and facilities to meet its clients' needs. At Schiphol Airport, for example, these currently include: 700 skilled employees; a 25,000-square-metre overhaul centre; an automated test-cell facility (up to 100,000 lbs); high-speed grinding equipment; plasma spray applications; ultrasonic immersion testing; Dabbertig and SWET welding; an environmentally-clean coating strip facility; and an environmental treatment plant.

For prospective customers, KLM Engineering & Maintenance and CF6 Powerplant Services are pleased to develop customised proposals to match specific maintenance needs.