BARCELONA—Vueling is seeing a variety of measurable benefits from its joint venture with maintenance provider Nayak, including an unexpected but now useful expertise in changing engines efficiently, one of the airline’s top executives shared.
Speaking to delegates at Aviation Week’s MRO Europe event in Barcelona, Vueling COO Oliver Iffert said the venture, launched in late 2021 and dubbed Yellow Technic (YT), has helped the Barcelona-based airline cut line and light maintenance costs 25% and reduce maintenance-related delays 40%. “These results are even more positive if we consider the challenging supply chain environment and major issues on our Pratt & Whitney-powered fleet,” Iffert said.
Vueling operates an all-Airbus narrowbody fleet, though it has Boeing 737 MAXs on order. The Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows 29 of its 138 in-service aircraft are Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neos and are affected by the engine-maker’s inspection plan to weed out parts made with contaminated powder metal.
Part of YT’s evolving work scope is removing and reinstalling engines at Vueling’s Barcelona overnight maintenance operation.
“We used to take around 48 hr. to change an engine,” Iffert said. “We’re now down to [about] 24 and this is a capability that has really given us a lot of advantages.”
YT was set up as part of Vueling’s post-downturn, two-pillar strategy to “survive and transform,” Iffert said. Nayak, already a line maintenance provider at several Vueling stations, was chosen in a competition against other providers. The two formed YT with a focus on both line maintenance and overnight work at the airline’s home base, where it has about 60 aircraft stationed.
The venture started with 220 employees and is now up to about 300.
“We have challenges in terms of staffing, like everybody else,” Iffert said. “Barcelona is an attractive place. Vueling is a good airline to work for, and I have no doubt that we can [both] keep up the staffing and the [maintenance] capabilities there and further develop them.”