The executive in charge of Pratt & Whitney's Global Material Solutions (GMS) program is "disappointed" launch customer United Airlines has decided to get rid of its fleet of CFM56-powered Boeing 737 Classics, but says Pratt is committed to the CFM56-3 spares market and sees MRO providers as an outlet for Pratt-made parts.

Just weeks after FAA granted Pratt & Whitney supplemental type certificates on the last of 19 CFM56-3 life limited parts, United announced plans to retire the 94 737s in its fleet that are powered by the -3, essentially leaving Pratt with two airline customers, Jet2.com in the U.K. and an unidentified Asia-Pacific operator. Matthew Bromberg, VP and general manager of GMS, said Tuesday that the "transactional" nature of the CFM56-3 overhaul market presents an opportunity for Pratt and its parts.

According to Bromberg, about half of the 1,000 -3 overhauls performed each year are transactional, meaning that the operator doesn't have long-term contracts in place covering the overhaul. Instead, an operator will have master service agreements with a handful of overhaul providers and about six months before a planned overhaul will go to those providers looking for availability. It is for those overhauls that Bromberg says he believes there is an opportunity for Pratt to supply the LLPs and PMA hot section parts it has been working more than two years to develop.

Pratt has GMS agreements in place with three CFM56-3 overhaulers, JAT Technica, United Services and an unidentified Asia-Pacific facility and also does a lot of -3 overhauls within its own repair network.