Lufthansa Group has temporarily grounded a portion of its Swiss subsidiary's Airbus A220 fleet at Zurich Airport due to issues with Pratt & Whitney engines, reports Bloomberg.
This move highlights the challenges airlines face in dealing with defects as the critical summer travel season approaches. Lufthansa's decision to ground the narrow-body aircraft comes after three other brand-new aircraft fitted with Pratt engines were also grounded.
The company operates 30 A220s, which suggests that approximately 10 planes are currently grounded. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr attributes the problem to a lack of supply chain elements, stating that companies need to rebuild their production facilities.
As Lufthansa seeks to upgrade its regional jet fleet, it is considering a significant increase in A220 orders. This issue is part of a global problem as airlines struggle with engine and spare parts shortages, particularly for newer aircraft models.
Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, is facing challenges as its suppliers grapple with a backlog of subcomponent orders.
Go Airlines
The Wadia owned budget carrier Go Airlines, formerly known as GoAir,, has filed for insolvency due to the increasing number of failing engines provided by Pratt & Whitney's International Aero Engines. The airline had to ground 25 aircraft, equivalent to around 50% of its Airbus A320neo aircraft fleet as of May 1, 2023, due to the faulty engines, despite repeated assurances from Pratt & Whitney. The percentage of grounded aircraft due to engine failure increased from 7% in December 2019 to 31% in December 2020 to 50% in December 2022.
Pratt & Whitney, the exclusive engine supplier for Go First's Airbus A320neo fleet, refused to comply with an award issued by an emergency arbitrator appointed in accordance with the 2016 Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). The order directed Pratt & Whitney to release and dispatch without delay at least 10 serviceable spare leased engines by April 27, 2023, and a further 10 spare leased engines per month until December 2023.
The airline infused substantial funds of Rs 3,200 crores by the promoters into the airline in the last three years, with Rs 2400 crores injected in the last 24 months and Rs 290 crores in April 2023 alone. Go First has also received significant support from the Government of India's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.
"Pratt & Whitney has failed to provide any further serviceable spare leased engines at all, and has stated that there are no further spare leased engines available for it comply with the emergency arbitrator’s award," said Go Airlines in a statement.
Supply chain constraints
Airlines worldwide are struggling with engine and spare parts shortages, particularly for their latest-generation narrowbody jets.
Raytheon Technologies and its subsidiary Pratt & Whitney are facing supply chain constraints and labour shortages that are limiting their ability to deliver aerospace products, including aircraft engines, accordiing to media reports. The shortage of skilled labour is a particular challenge for the aerospace industry, with only 25% of laid-off employees returning after previous downturns. Furthermore, sanctions against Russia have caused a shortage of titanium, impacting Pratt & Whitney Canada's production goals.
Despite these challenges, Raytheon turned a $1.3 billion profit in the second quarter of 2022, up 25% YoY, thanks to strong demand for commercial aviation aftermarket services. However, supply issues remain, with shortages of metal castings for aircraft engines hindering production for both Pratt & Whitney and CFM International, their prime competitor. This has made it challenging for them to meet airframers' production targets, particularly for Airbus, which plans to increase production of its A320neo-family jets in the coming years.
While Go First has sought compensation for the loss in business, Pratt & Whitney has refused to pay, resulting in a violation of the contractual agreement. Pratt & Whitney might face legal trouble, as Go First plans to sue the company for diminished service reliability of its PW-1100G geared turbofan engines, resulting in grounding of nearly half of its fleet.
