A Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G-JM engine in Singapore on February 15, 2012 (AFP/Archives/ROSLAN RAHMAN)
“Microscopic contaminants” in the engines of the manufacturer Pratt & Whitney risk seizing up the schedules of many airlines in the coming months, which were already struggling to respond to the post-Covid recovery.
“A significant portion” of the PW1100G-JM engines — powering the Airbus 320neo — will have to undergo an early inspection within nine to twelve months due to a defect in a metal powder made within RTX (ex- Raytheon), parent company of Pratt&Whitney, and used to manufacture high-pressure turbine disks.
No immediate danger, simply a risk of early wear and tear, assured the group on July 25.
This contamination potentially affects 1,200 engines produced between the fourth quarter of 2015 and the third quarter of 2021, out of the approximately 3,000 manufactured in all.
“We will work with Pratt & Whitney and our customers to implement all required inspection plans,” said European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
The US Aviation Authority (FAA) told AFP this week that it is “aware of the issue and is in contact with Pratt & Whitney and affected US operators”, saying it will “ensure that all appropriate measures will be taken”.
But almost no details have leaked out and the airlines were still, three weeks after the announcement, waiting for the time to finalize their winter rotations, already complicated by shortages at their suppliers and by problems linked to under-supply. workforce in the airline industry.
An Airbus A320 from the American company Spirit, in Baltimore (United States) on November 30, 2019 (AFP/Archives/Daniel SLIM)
The inspection of some 200 engines should be launched from mid-September, for a period of immobilization not specified at this stage.
“The downtime will mainly depend on the availability of the maintenance bays and they are not very available at the moment”, explained to AFP Michel Merluzeau, of the specialized firm AIR.
– Barter –
To hasten the return to service, according to him, it would be possible to replace the engines likely to present this anomaly with new engines but “the production rate is already very, very, tense” because of supply problems.
A plane from the American company JetBlue in Fort Lauderdale (United States), May 16, 2022 (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives/JOE RAEDLE)
In the batch recalled in September, there are up to thirteen engines from the American low-cost company Spirit Airlines.
Result? “Seven Neo planes will be withdrawn from service,” warned its boss Ted Christie.
“The plan is to start removing them after Labor Day”, equivalent to Labor Day, celebrated on September 4 this year in the United States and Canada, he added, specifying that the company would as a precaution consider these devices unavailable until the end of the year.
Spirit has the largest number of aircraft equipped with this engine in the United States, and the largest number of engines manufactured between 2015 and 2021. Its A320neo fleet is currently around 80 aircraft, according to its website.
“This is a frustrating and disappointing new development,” Mr. Christie lamented, recalling that several planes had already had to stay in hangars for separate mechanical problems.
“We are going to have the equivalent of at least ten aircraft out of service for most of 2024,” he said.
On the Airbus assembly line in Blagnac (France) on July 10, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Charly TRIBALLEAU)
And although Pratt has pledged to compensate in “full”, “we have no details or timetable for these reimbursements”.
The eighteen planes of the regional company Hawaiian Airlines were all delivered in the critical period, worried its boss Peter Ingram, recalling recent prolonged immobilizations due to shortages of spare parts of engines.
With the announcement of RTX, parent company of Pratt & Whitney, “we will see if we need to take measures in our schedules to reduce the impact of the shortage of planes”, he noted, while showing optimism as many parts have been changed over the years during successive maintenances.
An engine from the American company Pratt & Whitney presented on July 19, 2017 in Washington (AFP/Archives/PAUL J. RICHARDS)
The company JetBlue was warned that it was also part of the batch of September, without further details, indicated its chief financial officer Ursula Hurley, specifying that the projections of the group for the year did not include the impact of these fixed assets.
According to several media, the German companies Lufthansa, American Delta, Indian Indigo, New Zealand Air New Zealand, Hungarian Wizz Air and Mexican Volaris are also concerned, on a lesser scale.
For Mr. Merluzeau, this problem should not, however, encourage Airbus – which also obtains engines from the consortium for its A320neo – to break with Pratt because it “seems very isolated”.
© 2023 AFP
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