Pratt & Whitney Acquires Aiir Innovations to Bring AI Borescope Inspection Into Its MRO Network

Pratt & Whitney has acquired Aiir Innovations, a Netherlands-based company whose software uses artificial intelligence to streamline engine borescope inspections. Rob Griffiths, senior vice president for commercial engines operations at Pratt & Whitney, told Aviation Week the purchase is part of wider investment in AI, automation and digital tools across its MRO business, aimed at improving turnaround times, increasing time on wing and reducing operational disruption for customers.

Griffiths said the software's maturity and its use with commercial customers and MRO providers drove the decision. It has significantly reduced inspection times on V2500 engines, and pilots on GTF and F135 engines have recently been completed. Pratt & Whitney's Netherlands-based European Technology and Innovation Center, which opened last year, serves as a local hub for members of the Aiir team.

Aiir Innovations has previously said its technology analyzes borescope video 75% faster than manual reviews and delivers analysis that is correct the first time 50% more often than traditional inspections. Griffiths said time savings vary by application: lessors have recorded up to 75% faster analysis of borescope videos, while MROs have seen overall inspection time cut by more than 30%, including report-generation time falling from hours to minutes. He added that there have been cases where the software helped avoid quality escapes that could have cost operators significantly.

Pratt & Whitney plans to keep offering the Aiir Innovations inspection tools to the wider industry, including MROs, lessors and operators across various engine models, while also rolling the tool out across Pratt & Whitney and using it in GTF MRO network shops.

The company said the technology will form a key part of its AI ecosystem, which already includes Percept, an AI tool developed with Indian startup Awiros. Percept uses computer vision to let users capture images and video of engines on mobile devices and receive real-time information on parts availability, and Pratt & Whitney says it cuts inspection time by nearly 90%.

Griffiths said Pratt & Whitney expects to extend AI-assisted visual inspection to other inspection processes. Over the next decade, he sees AI becoming more fully embedded across global MRO operations.

Borescope inspection is one of the recurring, labor-heavy steps in engine shop visits, and the figures cited here are about time: faster video analysis for lessors, shorter overall inspections and report generation at MROs. When an engine manufacturer buys the software rather than licensing it, it gains direct visibility into how inspection findings are produced and documented across the engines it supports. That is the structural shift in this deal, more than any single speed figure.

The decision to keep offering the tools to MROs, lessors and operators across various engine models matters for third-party shops. A tool tied to one OEM's network would sit differently in an independent MRO's workflow than one sold across engine types, and Pratt & Whitney's stated plan points to the second model alongside internal rollout.

The performance numbers come from the company's own statements and customer experience, and they differ by user type: 75% faster analysis for lessors against more than 30% shorter overall inspection time at MROs. The GTF and F135 pilots have recently been completed, so how the tool performs in the GTF MRO network shops it is being rolled into is the next real test of those claims.