MTU Maintenance’s Head of Marketing, Katia Diebold-Widmer
MTU Maintenance is a global leader in MRO services for aero engines, specialising in customised solutions to optimise performance, cost-efficiency and asset value throughout their life cycle. Katia Diebold-Widmer, the company’s Head of Marketing, fields our questions.
This article was published in the August/September 2025 issue of LARA.
Is the demand for MRO services from low-fare airlines increasing and what are the factors driving demand?
The demand for expert MRO services is high, capacity is tight and there are persistent supply chain constraints. This naturally also affects low-fare airlines, which traditionally like to maximise their equipment usage and work according to very tight scheduling, especially during seasonal trave
What are MTU MRO’s current challenges in meeting the needs of their customers?
MTU Maintenance has all the wherewithal to conduct elite MRO work on pretty much every popular engine model in use today, including CFM56, GE90, LEAP, PW1100G-JM and the V2500.
The most pressing need is reliable planning and shorter turnaround times. MTU Maintenance has been setting up its operations for maximum flexibility to achieve this. We are expanding our footprint and adding much-needed shop capacity in North America and Asia.
We are also widening our parts supply network with well-stocked warehouses at our locations in Fort Worth and Zhuhai, as well as in the Netherlands, from where we supply our global MRO operations and customers when they need used serviceable material. We inspect and repair parts from tear-down engines in-house, reducing our reliance on the supply chain.
What key technological advancements or innovations has MTU MRO implemented in recent years?
At MTU Maintenance Hannover, we have split the production lines into narrowbody and widebody engine MRO, to optimise inductions and redeliveries. Another tech development is the expansion and evolution of the Fixed Overhaul System (FOS), a large T-shaped fixture used at MTU Maintenance in Zhuhai, Hannover and Berlin-Brandenburg, and EME Aero in Poland. MTU’s engineering department in Munich developed the FOS in-house ahead of EME’s entry-into-service. Since 2023, the FOSng, (next generation) has made engine docks a much more ergonomic working space. The ScanExpress system emerged from MTU’s Inno Lab and was developed in collaboration with 3D.aero. Our mechanics can detect surface damage on engine parts as small as 20 micrometres, using white light interferometry. This speeds up the inspection process compared to traditional lab analysis methods.
How is the company addressing the current workforce challenges within the industry?
MTU Maintenance is a secure and stable place to work, where people can continuously develop and evolve. MTU is employing over 13,000 engine experts, half of that figure working in the MRO segment, and we are a growing company that needs professionals across the board. We also offer comprehensive internal training and support initiatives to make the move from one technical profession to engine MRO as smooth as possible.
What are MTU MRO’s strategic priorities?
We have just acquired full MRO licences for LEAP and GEnx engines at Fort Worth, which will be a Premier MRO shop for LEAPs as one of only six providers worldwide to have that licence. In future, it will offer GBSA-licenced MRO for the GEnx, alongside the GTF program at MTU Maintenance Zhuhai’s secondary site in Jinwan. We are ramping up MTU Maintenance Serbia to meet its prime goal of 450,000 working hours by 2027 and we are boosting our engine MRO capabilities at MTU Maintenance do Brasil and MTU Maintenance Australia to support our ON-SITEPlus service in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.
