The Trent 7000 - advanced technology powering tomorrow.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 (Trent 7000) draws on the experience of the most advanced family of engines in the world, leading the Airbus engine space in performance, reliability, versatility and sustainability.

When it comes to the latter, the Trent 7000 minimizes its impact on the environment, using a reduced amount of fuel and lower fuel burn compared to any medium wide-body jet engine model that came before. As the latest member of the Trent family, the Trent 7000 boasts a 10 percent increase in fuel efficiency, while utilizing the best technology in the field, resulting in less carbon emissions and a bypass ratio of 10:1 and a core pressure ratio of 50:1. This makes it one of the most fuel-efficient of its kind, and the best solution for airlines when aiming to achieve net zero goals.

The Trent 7000 combats pollution in many forms; on top of its fuel efficiency, the model is cleaner and quieter than previous generation engines, exceeding all regulations regarding noise, CO, smoke, UHC, NOx, and nvPM, and is further future proofed against regulation changes.

Moreover, it is proven in the field. With more than 99.9 percent dispatch reliability, three years of passenger service experience, and over one-million engine flying hours, the Trent 7000 is shown beyond doubt its ability across a range of operations. The Trent 7000 is optimized for both the passenger and freighter versions of the Airbus A330neo, reinforcing its position as an engine fit to power the future of the freighter market. The mid-size wide-body that is a versatile platform that delivers highly efficient performance for airlines, from short-haul segments to long-range routes over distances of up to 7,200 nautical miles (nm).

Recognition of the model is continually building momentum in the market. Because of this performance, efficiency and versatility, the Trent 7000 is trusted by operators across the globe to deliver exceptional reliability, with 20 international operators already placing trust in the engine and Airbus A330neo to reliably streamline, enhance and power their operations. The Trent 7000 is proving itself in broad versatile operations today. The shortest route is less than one hour with the longest route approximately 10 hours, which demonstrates the versatility of the Trent 7000. With specific features that deliver benefits in short- and long-haul, and everything in between, the Trent 7000 is a reliable profit generator for any airline.

The Trent 7000’s unique three shaft architecture produces a lower idle thrust and lower fuel burn at low thrust settings, meaning during shorter haul operations the Trent 7000 reduces overall fuel burn. The unique three-shaft architecture delivers benefits for long-haul operations. With an efficient fan system that comes with its own dedicated turbine, engine turbine efficiency is better optimized, delivering efficient thrust from the fan. Making use of the three shaft architecture featuring shorter and stiffer shafts, the Trent 7000 sees better life fuel burn and reduced deterioration effects for a smarter future of airline transport.

Safety At The Fore

Air Transat has been a member airline of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since 2008. It holds an Enhanced IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) accreditation. The program comprises more than 900 internationally recognized standards applicable to management, flight operations, operational control, aircraft maintenance, cabin operations, ground handling, cargo operations, and security.

crew side of the new operational management software suite.

“In 2019, I got an offer from Virgin Atlantic that I could not refuse,” Lumpé muses. “It was the position of Senior Vice President of Airline Operations, and I came to the UK just as COVID-19 struck; the timing was certainly not ideal, but we made the best out of the situation and kept the airline alive throughout this most challenging period.

In 2022, Lumpé went on to accept a position at Air Transat where he is currently COO, an executive figure of the division responsible for the management of all operations areas, encompassing flight operations, maintenance, cabin services including catering, ground operations, and all related support areas such as safety and security, crew resource planning and operational control.

Improving Commercial Viability

Today, Air Transat’s fleet measures at 34 aircraft with a steep growth path foreseen in the years ahead. According to Lumpé, the company’s strategic plan encompasses increased fleet numbers and further expansion initiatives in the wake of the highly impactful COVID-19 pandemic.

“Like the rest of the industry, we had a very challenging year across 2022, as the traffic returned post-pandemic. It came back a lot quicker and more intensely than people thought; everyone assumed that it would occur in 2023, but it happened a year early,” Lumpé elaborates. “This of course put huge stress on all operational areas. The delays and service shortcomings passengers had to witness globally in 2022 were a direct consequence of this. Although the system has not fully stabilized, we do believe that this summer will be significantly better than last year.

“We are currently executing our strategic transformation plan which is focused on an increase in connecting traffic and both a widening and densification of the network. Also, we are actively developing strategic partnerships with airlines like Porter, a medium-sized player in Canadian aviation that recently purchased 100 Embraer jets to grow its fleet.”

All these developments mean that the requirements of the operations division are changing quite drastically.

To address these changing requirements and drive an increase in efficiency, a company-wide transformation program has been put in place.

“In reference to our geographic location and the guidance and inspiration of the North Star, we called it Polaris. The strategic goals of Polaris are an increase in aircraft utilization and an optimization of employee productivity while driving and enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction.

“One of the main enablers in this space is digitalization which has huge potential throughout the whole airline, but in particular in maintenance. Artificial intelligence (AI) is finally at a stage where it can be used to solve real-world problems and will be a game changer. Truly optimized preventive maintenance, for example, the holy grail in aircraft maintenance, is at our fingertips,” Lumpé explains.

“With this approach, it is possible to find the sweet spot where you change a part before it breaks without wasting any useful life of the part.

“Digitalization has a lot of potential in other parts of the company, too. Management of ground operations processes, disruption management and cockpit processes are just a few examples of the countless opportunities digitalization offers,” he continues. “Fully leveraging these opportunities is the key to unlocking our full potential.”

Implementing Initiatives

Moving ahead into a future centered around growth, Air Transat is focusing on this internal transformation for its airline operations activities. The transformation program was put in place at the beginning of 2023 and aims to span two years, driving more than 100 initiatives.

The program is set up to be very interactive between the company’s employees and management, setting up a back-and-forth between the two in order to create a continuous feedback loop from all levels of the business.

“What this means from an employee perspective is that you will always be able to see your initiatives coming in – you will always be prepared and most importantly, you can influence the program itself with your suggestions and feedback. This last point is crucial as it ensures that the program does not have any blind spots, a problem that you frequently encounter if programs of this magnitude are driven top down,” Lumpé tells us.

“Another very important point is that this approach ensures that employees are fully engaged as a huge part of the program is coming directly from themselves. Transformational change without full employee engagement invariably fails and will never achieve any long-lasting impact. It is also part of our DNA as employee satisfaction is always very much at the fore of our thoughts,” he says.

All these initiatives ensure that Air Transat will be uniquely positioned to fully leverage its strategic location as a hub between the Americas and Europe. “Building on our historic strength in the leisure travel market and developing into a true network carrier, Air Transat will offer travelers more choice and therefore contribute to a vibrant Canadian aviation market” Lumpé explains.

Financially, things are boding well for the company. With steady and strong demand, Air Transat is on an upward trajectory and is moving toward a return to profitability. To reduce the burden of its debt and improve its financial situation, Air Transat is also in the process of optimizing the capital structure of the company in several phases.