Premier Turbines Aids TFE731 With Rapid Response Team

As Honeywell prepares to deliver its 10,000th TFE731 engine--underscoring its title of the most popular bizjet powerplant in the world--others such as Premier Turbines strive to look after the growing fleet.

Crucial to its customer support is Premier Turbines' "731 Response Team," according to John Jelovic, director of engine sales and service.

As one of only two independent North American companies factory-authorized to conduct heavy maintenance and the regularly scheduled Core Zone Inspection, Premier Turbines accomplished more than 120 of the heavy maintenance inspections in its last fiscal year.

The heavy maintenance is conducted at the company's operation in Neosho, MO. Premier's parent company, Sabreliner Corp. conducted Major Periodic Inspections for more than 15 years at its Perryville, MO. operation, but moved the capabilities to its Midcoast Aviation operation at St.Louis Downtown Airport in 1998 as part of a company-wide effort to devote additional focus on the TFE731 engine.

"Three years ago we made a commitment to become leaders in the TFE731 field and we've done that," said Jelovic. "Central to the new level of Premier Turbines service is a network of A&P licensed Service and Support Managers who respond to operators around the nation. They are the first line of the 731 Response Team," Jelovic said. "This means they can roll up their sleeves and do on-site troubleshooting when it's needed," he said. The SSMs are on call around the clock.