Designed to power all newly built ATR aircraft, the PW127XT-M regional turboprop engine from Pratt & Whitney Canada has obtained certification from Transport Canada. Unveiled at the Dubai Airshow in November 2021, Pratt and Whitney Canada has claimed that the PW127XT-M will deliver 40 percent extended time on wing, 20 percent lower maintenance costs, and 3 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the Pratt engines that power the existing ATR 42s and ATR72s. The PW127XT will require only two scheduled engine overhauls in a ten-year period compared to three for the PW127M.
The 40 percent extension of the engine maintenance interval (time-on-wing) means the overhaul interval will increase from 14,000 to 20,000 flight hours. The three percent improvement in fuel burn the XT offers over the M series extends the 40 percent fuel-burn advantage ATR holds over regional jets in the same seat category, according to Pratt & Whitney Canada. The PW127XT has also won a place on the D328eco under development by Deutsche Aircraft.
Commenting on the engine, Pratt & Whitney Regional Aviation vice president for product marketing and sales Timothy Swail said: “We worked closely with ATR earlier this year on the flight testing of our new PW127XT-M and the previous generation PW127M engines using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF),” adding: “Most notably, Braathens Regional Airlines flew one of its ATR 72-600 aircraft using 100 percent SAF in both its PW127M engines with excellent results.” Based in Longueuil, Quebec, Pratt & Whitney Canada is a division of US-based Pratt & Whitney, which itself is a business unit of Raytheon Technologies Corporation.
