Rolls-Royce to increase inspections of Trent 1000 engines

LONDON: Britain's Rolls-Royce needs to increase the number of inspections on its problematic Trent 1000 engines, it said on Friday, leading to additional disruption for customers and higher costs.

One of the biggest names in British manufacturing, Rolls-Royce is in the midst of a restructuring by CEO Warren East but its turnaround has been hampered by problems with some turbine blades that have worn out more quickly than expected.

The company said in March that it would take a hit of about 340 million pounds ($480 million) to cover the cost of repairing engines, primarily the Trent 1000, which is installed on Boeing 787s.

On Friday Rolls said it had decided to increase the number of inspections after the implications of another problem, this time with the compressor, became clear.

The company will shift spending priorities to mitigate the incremental cash costs, it said, adding that guidance for free cash flow remains unchanged.

"We sincerely regret the disruption this will cause to our customers," CEO East said in a statement. "Our team of technical experts and service engineers is working around the clock to ensure we return them to full service as soon as possible.

"We will be working closely with Boeing and affected airlines to minimise disruption wherever possible."