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  • If a plane gets sick,

  • it might end up here,

  • at Delta Technical Operations in Atlanta.

  • At nearly 3 million square feet,

  • it's the biggest aircraft repair shop in North America.

  • Here, mechanics, technicians, and engineers

  • fix nearly 1,000 planes a year,

  • with all kinds of issues,

  • from a loose screw to an engine failure.

  • But it takes a lot more than elbow grease

  • to get a plane back in the air.

  • This is a bustling, and expensive, 24-hour operation.

  • Cedric Morris: The work never stops

  • because the planes never stop.

  • Narrator: That's Cedric.

  • Back in February, before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic,

  • he took us behind the scenes

  • of Delta's massive airplane hospital.

  • Morris: Let me put my bump cap on.

  • I look like somebody.

  • Narrator: Delta TechOps is a maintenance, repair,

  • and overhaul, or MRO, business.

  • Morris: We do everything that you see on that aircraft.

  • We have component maintenance,

  • engine maintenance, and aircraft maintenance.

  • Narrator: 6,000 technicians can fix every inch

  • of pretty much any commercial jet on the planet,

  • from 150 other airlines, government organizations,

  • and even military branches.

  • Morris: Our job is basically

  • just to maintain the aircraft, keep them safe.

  • Narrator: An aircraft ends up here

  • if it's scheduled for maintenance or if something is wrong.

  • And one of the biggest issues the team deals with

  • is engine repairs.

  • When that happens, there's $32 million on the line.

  • First, a plane is grounded

  • and then tugged into this giant hangar.

  • Morris: We can have six wide bodies

  • and six narrow bodies in simultaneously.

  • So that's a lot of work

  • that can be done in here at the same time.

  • Narrator: Technicians run a diagnosis

  • for an engine problem.

  • If they determine it needs fixing,

  • it heads to the engine shop.

  • This division of TechOps started in 1961,

  • at the beginning of the jet age.

  • Today, engine repair is the most expensive section

  • of TechOps, with $100 million

  • in new facilities just in the last two years.

  • Ray Romesburg: So, the engines come into our shop,

  • and we take the engines apart completely.

  • We inspect the parts,

  • and anything that we find wrong with them,

  • we are able to repair those things

  • before putting them back into the engine.

  • These are very high-valued parts,

  • so repairing them is the most economical way

  • to keep our engines flying.

  • Narrator: Before parts can be fixed up,

  • they get a chemical bath.

  • Morris: So, most of the engine parts

  • are cleaned in this area.

  • If there's any contaminants on the blades

  • or any of the parts of the aircraft,

  • you want to make sure that's removed

  • so you can get maximum performance of the engine

  • because of the airflow.

  • I used to work back here many years ago.

  • I started back here.

  • Narrator: Next, the engine heads to one of seven bays

  • in the engine shop.

  • Morris: What's going on?

  • How you doing?

  • Why's everybody got a smile on their face?

  • That's what I wanna know.

  • Y'all act like y'all happy.

  • Technician: Look where we at, man!

  • Morris: How you doing?

  • Technician: Hey, how's it going, buddy? You doing OK?

  • Narrator: Here, FAA-licensed technicians

  • work on and reassemble the engine.

  • Matthew Jackson: We have approximately 900 engines a year

  • come through for various levels of maintenance.

  • Narrator: Those cover 14 different kinds of engines.

  • Jackson: I want to show everybody a BR715 engine.

  • So, this engine in particular

  • is undergoing light maintenance,

  • where it doesn't get fully disassembled.

  • Narrator: Light maintenance takes anywhere

  • from 15 to 35 days.

  • Heavy maintenance, on the other hand...

  • Jackson: That's where we'd fully disassemble the engine,

  • go into the internal areas of the engine,

  • and basically refurbish the entire components

  • associated with the engine.

  • Narrator: That can take over two months.

  • Jackson: 2,000-piece parts that have to be

  • individually inspected and maintained.

  • This engine is flying approximately five times a day.

  • An engine remains on wing from anywhere

  • from a few years to, some of our engine types,

  • as many as seven, eight, or nine years.

  • So we want to take the opportunity while they're here

  • to do everything that we can

  • to ensure that they're reliable for the fleet.

  • Narrator: If an engine can stay in the air longer,

  • it saves Delta and its customers money.

  • Remember, these things are expensive,

  • and so are all the parts that go into them.

  • This part costs $12,000.

  • Jackson: And there's 80 of them.

  • Narrator: Add in price of the surrounding parts, and...

  • Jackson: We're looking at about $2.2 million

  • sitting on the table.

  • This is the highest technology portion of the engine.

  • These blades operate at very high temperatures

  • and very high stresses.

  • Narrator: These fan blades...

  • Jackson: Out of the latest generation

  • Rolls-Royce Trent engines.

  • Narrator: Are made of precious metals and alloys

  • and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

  • Jackson: So, a modern jet engine

  • is worth several million dollars.

  • The maintenance of those is very, very important

  • to maintaining the value of that asset.

  • Narrator: Only about 20%

  • of all the engines fixed here are Delta's.

  • The rest are for customers.

  • Jackson: That's probably UPS right there.

  • We have Azure, Gol,

  • Brazil, and Virgin Australia engines.

  • Narrator: Repairing all these flying beasts

  • takes a lot of skill and caution.

  • Morris: Anything can kill you that we touch.

  • Everything is stronger than us.

  • Everything is heavier than us.

  • You have to have your head in the game.

  • Narrator: You're looking at a 13,000-pound engine.

  • Morris: Lifting something that heavy,

  • it requires a lot of safety, coordination,

  • teamwork, and attention to detail.

  • Narrator: But an engine that runs smoothly

  • is just as important.

  • There's no pulling over on the side of the road

  • if there's a problem.

  • They're 40,000 feet in the air, so nothing can go wrong.

  • Jackson: But it's an example of the precision

  • and the very close tolerances

  • that everything has to be built to,

  • because of how fast it all spins and how hot it all gets.

  • Morris: We want you to get to your destination safely.

  • And that's what this is all about.

  • Narrator: To keep track of the thousands

  • of repairs and checks, technicians record

  • every step of the disassembly, assembly,

  • and inspection process on work cards.

  • They also rely on fancy gear,

  • from the laser welding equipment to the turbine grinder.

  • Jackson: That precision is necessary

  • to ensure the efficiency of the engine

  • when we return it to service.

  • Narrator: All this new equipment also means

  • Delta can repair some of the most technologically advanced

  • commercial engines in the world.

  • That happens out in the newer facility, opened in 2018.

  • Once technicians have restored all the parts,

  • they converge back into one of the engine bays.

  • Here, they flip the engine vertically

  • and start reassembling it.

  • Jackson: The core engine is complete at this point,

  • and they're putting on all of those

  • accessories and harnesses

  • and piping on the outside of the engine.

  • Narrator: But before an engine can go back on a wing,

  • there's one more step.

  • Quality testing.

  • That happens at the world's largest engine test cell,

  • a short drive or a bike ride from the engine shops.

  • Ken Edwards: You don't want to encounter problems

  • while you're installing an engine on-wing.

  • So it comes to us, and we make sure everything's

  • passed off and clear.

  • This part of the building is where the engines come in.

  • We install and rig the engine.

  • So, basically, we put the test equipment on the engine

  • and get it ready for it to run.

  • And then this part of the engine

  • is your actual test chamber.

  • Narrator: The test chamber is the newest addition

  • to TechOps and where the engines are test run.

  • It can handle 150,000 pounds of thrust,

  • even though no engine actually has that kind of power.

  • Engineers run tests 24/7,

  • monitoring engine performance from the control room.

  • Edwards: The reason we need 24/7

  • is because of the production coming out of the shops.

  • So, I can have three engines prepped and ready,

  • but I got one test chamber.

  • So, you know, we want to keep that test chamber running

  • and keep it moving.

  • So you want to get it in there, get it run,

  • get it back out so we can move our next engine in.

  • Narrator: Once Ken's team signs off on the new engine,

  • it's carted back to the hangar,

  • secured on the wing, and tugged out for takeoff.

  • Morris: As you see, there's a lot of things going on

  • behind the scenes at the maintenance program.

  • We're always constantly trying to work

  • to make sure we're safe, effective,

  • and proficient at what we do.

  • That means once we get an aircraft in here,

  • we're trying to make sure that we take care

  • of everything that we need to take care of

  • while it's down, so it can get out and fly.

  • And when it comes back, we'll do it all over again.

  • Abby Narishkin: Hey, guys, my name's Abby.

  • I'm the producer on this video.

  • Since we visited TechOps back in February,

  • obviously things have changed a lot,

  • and TechOps has been operating this whole time,

  • but things look a little different.

  • Mandatory temperature checks, PPE,

  • and social distancing on the floor.

  • But I know a lot of big businesses

  • are changing with the times.

  • So let me know what you want to see

  • in the next episode of "Big Business,"

  • and make sure to hit the subscribe button

  • so you don't miss out.

If a plane gets sick,

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