What is the average cost of a Hot Section Inspection or Overhaul on a turboprop engine? Unless you ask an owner or operator who has recently experienced such a maintenance event, you are probably not going to get a very accurate answer.
In the last five to seven years OEMs have raised the price of new parts due to the cost of raw materials, labor, and the push for increased profitability. This has also affected the cost of overhauled and serviceable parts due to the increase in market value, which is typically based on a percentage of list prices and parts availability. Targeted list price increases on critical components have made this even worse. Some of these parts have increased in list price by 400%. As a result, we have seen the high average costs of a TPE331-10 overhaul go from $294K in 2018 to $487K this year. In some cases, we have heard of overhauls exceeding $700K. Hot Section Inspections for a -10 have also followed suit with an average in 2018 of $75K to an average of over $100K in the last year. There are many factors influencing these numbers, such as Service Bulletin compliance and whether the aircraft is Part 91 versus Part 135. Some engines requiring certain bulletins can exceed $200K just for a Hot Section Inspection.
This is a lot of information here to digest and can be very alarming. Operators and owners need to be well informed and confident going into a major maintenance event on their engine and there are a few things they can do to achieve peace of mind and confidence in what to expect.
Once that information has been relayed to the owner or operator, they can make an informed decision on where to send their engine for work. Understanding what to expect from your engine shop will also help with the process of completing a major maintenance event.
After the inspection is completed, an owner or operator should expect to see a detailed report listing what discrepancies were found along with pictures of major parts that have failed inspection. Along with the shop report they should receive a shop quote that lists all the pricing, including labor, test, consumables, and parts including part numbers of all the parts being replaced.
Now that the engine is overhauled or the Hot Section Inspection is complete, an owner or operator should receive a final invoice that matches the shop quote. If there are discrepancies, they should be thoroughly explained by the engine shop and in most cases the overage should be pre-approved by the owner or operator prior to additional costs being incurred.
There are some alternatives to overhauling your engine or performing a Hot Section Inspection that have set fixed pricing. There are times that exchanging an engine for your core could be beneficial and provide a quicker timeline for getting your aircraft back into operation at a known fixed price. Also, there are long-term engine leasing options such as Time Flies Aviation that offer blocks of time at a set price. This option includes all scheduled maintenance for the engine and minimizes the cost of operation, especially for low utilization owners and operators.
The bottom line is that there are ways to avoid the surprise of an extremely expensive shop visit and there are always options to keep you flying.
Joe Price
CD Aviation Services