Mint Turbines End of Year Recap
Wow! What a great year 2022 was for Mint Turbines! With the world fully opened back up, we were able to attend shows again and, most importantly, we embraced the opportunity to get out and see our customers. We enjoyed attending HAI and AAAA in 2022 because we were able to see all of our old and new customers. We’re looking forward to 2023 and all of the exciting events to come.
Mint Turbines experienced strong growth on T53 and PT6A, while T700 engine shop visits started. We witnessed old customers come back to us while gaining several new customers. Our team expanded with the hiring of several new employees. Additionally, we purchased new equipment that allows us to grow our offerings while starting various construction projects.
On T53, we started the year off with engine work from the Air Force contract we won at the end of 2021 and ended the year by winning the INL T53 contract. Not often do you experience two big wins on the same product line within the same year. In addition to our two big wins on the T53 product line, we also welcomed big wins on the PT6A product line. More success came with the signing of a 70-engine MRO support deal with a local operator/FBO, and we signed a large international contract to support an overseas customer. On the T700 front, we spent the first few months in the field and during the last half, we started to see shop visits.
Mint Turbines is in growth mode which allowed us to add several new people to the organization this year. We welcomed back two employees who had previously left us for other roles in Oklahoma and wanted to return to the Mint family. We started an apprentice program this year and are excited to add two new employees from the program to the Mint headcount. The additional position of a Latin America Sales Manager has yielded great rewards. We also promoted one of our mechanics to a PT6 Field Service Engineer position, giving us two fulltime service engineers for PT6. It’s always rewarding to watch team members develop.
We witnessed the T700 test cell being poured for its completion in early 2023. We expect the T700 test cell to be fully operational by the end of May. Mint also placed bids on three test cells out of Fort Rucker and won all three. This allows us to continue growing our offerings. Finally, Mint Turbines broke ground on a new four-test complex that should be completed in early 2023. Stay tuned for more information on these projects through the year.
All of this exciting news is not possible without our customers and employees. We want to thank our customers for allowing us to work on your engines. And to our employees, thank you for everything you do to take care of our valued customers.