April 8 (Reuters) - RTX said on Tuesday its

engine making subsidiary Pratt & Whitney has developed an

additive manufacturing repair process for its geared turbofan

(GTF) engine components, which would reduce process time by more

than 60%.

The unit is currently navigating an issue with the GTF

engines and is conducting an inspection drive for potentially

flawed components, which has led to the grounding of hundreds of

planes in recent months.

Kevin Kirkpatrick, vice president of aftermarket operations

at Pratt & Whitney, said the additive repair process would help

improve turnaround time and bring down tooling costs. "At the

same time, it reduces our dependency on current material supply

constraints."

The unit expects to recover $100 million worth of parts over

five years through additive manufacturing implementation in its

entire maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) process.

RTX, which is set to report results on April 22, has said it

expects compensation impacts from the GTF engine issue to be

between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion for 2025.

Separately, the company announced agreements with MTU Aero

Engines and Delta Tech Ops to increase capacity in

its MRO services.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank

Dhaniwala)