Airbus A320neo fleet faces inspections due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues
Airbus planes, Pratt & Whitney engines face inspections over contamination concerns
In the midst of a busy summer season, characterised by rising demand for air travel, labour shortages, and supply chain disruptions, commercial airlines face another hurdle, this time of a technical nature. A subset of Airbus planes equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines demand new inspections due to potential microscopic contamination concerns in the metals used in the manufacturing process.
On the 25th of July, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, previously known as Raytheon and now rebranded as RTX, shed light on the issue. The firm specified that a large fraction of the Airbus A320neo fleet will necessitate expedited removals and evaluations within the approaching nine to twelfth months.
Executives at the company located the problem in the quality control department, emphasising that there is no immediate threat to aviation safety. The anamoly, described as a rare situation in powder metal used in constructing particular engine parts, could potentially impact 1,200 Pratt engines created from late 2015 until mid-2021. Out of a total of 3,000 engines manufactured by the company, this is a significant portion.
In a statement, Airbus professed awareness of the issue, promising cooperation with Pratt & Whitney and their clients to execute all necessary inspection initiatives. An agency representative of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the body’s knowledge of the predicament, stating it stays in contact with Pratt & Whitney and the affected US carriers to ensure appropriate measures are taken in due course.
This announcement by RTX however, leaves airlines seeking further particulars on the inspection process, as they are already grappling with a strenuous operating climate. The FAA, earlier in August, validated its decision to permit airlines to decrease flights at New York airports in response to an insufficient number of air traffic controllers. This has led to fewer but larger airplanes in the skies.
RTX plans to commence inspections of roughly 200 jets by mid-September but remains silent on the duration needed for the evaluations. Michel Merluzeau of AIR consultancy underlined that the length of grounding depends on the availability of maintenance personnel, which he claimed there currently aren’t many of.
In a bid to expedite the procedure, Pratt may choose to substitute the engines with newer models, although current supply-chain bottlenecks have curtailed the company’s productivity, said Merluzeau. Discount American carrier, Spirit Airlines acknowledged that 13 of its engines would need assessing, leading to the grounding of seven aircraft post Labor Day.
Amid US carriers, Spirit owns the majority of Airbus planes impacted by the inspections. Its fleet holds nearly 80 Airbus A320neo aircraft. As CEO Ted Christie announced, the ensuing repair work will result in around 10 aircraft being out of service throughout most of 2024.
Other carriers likely to experience these complications include Germany’s Lufthansa, Delta from the US, India’s Indigo, Air New Zealand, Wizz Air from Hungary, and Mexico’s Volaris, according to media reports. Even so, Merluzeau believes Airbus will not drop Pratt as a supplier, considering this problem seems to be an isolated occurrence.
