150 planes stopped, 3,000 flights canceled in Europe – Corriere.it

«New generation aircraft are efficient because they consume less fuel, but they have engines that require more frequent maintenance than older ones». Topi Manner, managing director of the Finnish company Finnair, explained this last February on the sidelines of the interview with the Courier because he had not yet decided how, when and with which specimens to “rejuvenate” his single-aisle fleet. Four months after that chat, a significant part of the most modern engines — made by one of the industry giants, Pratt & Whitney — has become one of the main problems of air transport: hundreds of planes are waiting for repairs, airlines are canceling routes or reducing frequencies (at least 2,500 during the summer). The Indian low-cost Go First stopped operations in early May, blaming problems with the engines.

Purchases

Step back first. When a company buys an aircraft — be it Airbus or Boeing or Embraer — it decides which type of engines, made by third-party companies, to install among those available for the specific model. The thrusters after a certain number of hours of service (at least 850) must be inspected, even if they are in perfect condition. But those manufactured by Pratt & Whitney are currently experiencing problems before minimum hours of operation, with extended maintenance times, shortages of stock material (both due to a shortage of workforce and supply chain issues) and more frequent visits to maintenance centers. They are installed on 1,228 Airbus A319neo, A320neo and A321neo, all A220 (226) and Embraer E2 (70).

Park yourself

In a report released a few days ago, the specialized company Iba calculated that 12% of the A320neo and A321neo with PW1100G engines (about 150 jets) are not flying. Apart from those parked for scheduled maintenance, at least a hundred remain on the ground because the engines require assistance ahead of schedule. The specific problem is confirmed by the fact that the A319-320-321neo (1,473) with other engines, the Leap-1A of Cfm International, are recording a blockage rate of 4%, considered “physiological”. Pratt&Whitney’s problems can also be seen on the A220 (where 14% are stationary) and on the Embraer E2 (11%).

The airlines involved

There are about fifteen airlines involved, several of which are European. Latvian Air Baltic has 11 A220s (out of 40) in storage. And since he usually charters some of these to Swiss, of the Lufthansa group, in order to honor the contract he in turn had to lease aircraft from other companies to continue to guarantee operations. Swiss itself has about a third of its A220s (9 out of 30) parked in hangars. Problems also for Airbus with Pratt & Whitney engines for Turkish Airlines, Spirit Airlines, All Nippon Airlines, Hong Kong Express Airlines, JetBlue, Air Tanzania, Air Senegal, IndiGo, Air Asia, Air India, Batik Air, Iraqi Airways.

“A year for the engine”

Last March, during an event in Brussels, the managing director of Air Baltic Martin Gauss explained that “the extension of the delivery times of the engines after maintenance by Pratt & Whitney is causing us operational interruptions”. That is forcing to cancel flights or routes. Gauss then added that «in normal situations an engine sent in for repair may not be available for 60-90 days. But in this period we are talking about a year ». “One engine in particular – he recalled – was returned to us after 386 days”.

“No security issues”

Problems also for the new Embraer, Brazilian jets used for short flights. KLM confirmed in a statement that “it will make small adjustments to its summer timetable” explicitly mentioning the “technical problems” of its regional subsidiary Cityhopper and the “difficulties in fully implementing E2”. “We are consulting with Embraer and the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney to seek a solution to these problems which have no impact on flight safety,” specifies the Dutch airline. According to the latest data, four out of 15 KLM E2s are not operational.

The timings

“The engine market is under pressure across the industry, particularly due to the availability of upgrade and overhaul hardware,” explains Pratt & Whitney. “We expect supply chain pressures to ease over the course of the year, driving increased engine production and reducing the impact on airlines.” A timing that does not convince Gauss, the number one of Air Baltic: according to him the problems with the P&W engines should be resolved in 2025.