UPDATED: Pratt & Whitney GTF engines on Airbus jets being recalled for inspections

Updates with Pratt & Whitney statement Pratt & Whitney is facing another problem with its GTF engine after it disclosed that hundreds of Airbus jets using the engines will require inspections after a new problem was discovered. Pratt parent RTX (formerly Raytheon) said recently discovered contamination in the metal used to make some engine parts required the planes to be inspected to check on whether repairs were required. The contamination could cause cracks to form in critical engine parts. The new problem exacerbates the shortage of new, fuel-efficient engines that has sidelined dozens of Airbus and Boeing jetliners worldwide after parts wore out faster than expected. RTX had hoped by the end of the year to more than halve the 8% of the A320neo fleet that is grounded by existing durability problems. “This is going to throw that out the window,” said RTX Chief Executive Greg Hayes, according to US media reports. Hayes said he learned of the new problem on 14 July and the decision to accelerate inspections was made on 18 July, triggering calls to customers. “If we didn’t address this, there was risk out there,” he said. “You can imagine what the calls were like.” Major customers that bought Airbus A320neo jets with GTF include Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Wizz Air, according to Cirium data. Airbus said there was no impact expected to A320neo deliveries and it would continue to work with airlines to minimise the disruption to their fleets. Replacing the discs requires removing the engine, disassembling and reassembling it – a process Hayes said could take 60 days. Jet-engine manufacturers have faced years of pressure to improve fuel efficiency and emissions and are striving to achieve net-zero in 2035. “The powder issue highlights the extreme engineering developed into next-generation engines which has come with unexpected maintenance,” Benchmark analysts wrote. Pratt and to some extent other suppliers have also faced issues related to wear and tear in hot and dusty climates. Low-cost Indian carrier Go First, which plunged into financial crisis this year, blamed “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its 54 Airbus A320neos. Pratt has said the dispute masks Go’s own financial problems. Statement from Pratt & Whitney “At Pratt & Whitney, we have determined that a rare condition in powder metal used to manufacture certain engine parts will require accelerated fleet inspection. This condition was present in rare instances in powdered metal produced from approximately Q4 2015 into Q3 2021. The PW1100 engine fleet, which powers the A320neo, will experience the most significant impact due to production volumes during this period. Based on the current assessment, Pratt & Whitney anticipates by mid-September that approximately 200 PW1100G engines will be removed for enhanced inspection. Beyond the initial 200 engines, Pratt & Whitney also anticipates that approximately 1,000 additional PW1100 engines will need to be removed from the operating fleet for this inspection within the next 9 to 12 months. However, the exact number of engines and the timing of those removals are yet to be finalised. It’s important to note that some of the engines that must be removed for inspection in 2023 and 2024 are already forecasted for a regular shop visit during this time period. As such, the incremental impact of the fleet is still under evaluation. Pratt & Whitney is also analysing any potential impact to other parts of its fleet, but the current expectation is that they will be less impacted based upon existing inspections, utilisation profiles and maintenance intervals. We proactively monitor the performance of our engines throughout their life cycle. It’s foundational to how we maintain and manage the safe operation of our fleet, and we do this in a number of ways: analysing large amounts of data generated during operation, inspecting parts and MRO, destructively testing certain parts to analyse their material properties and characterising what we observe. We use learnings from this proactive monitoring to inform our predictive models, so we can address any issues before they appear on our fleet. In this case, as Pratt & Whitney analysed some recent inspection findings, it determined the need for an accelerated inspection plan, even though the fallout rate from these inspections is expected to be very low. The next step is for Pratt & Whitney to publish a service bulletin describing the inspections, then the FAA will likely follow up with an airworthiness directive. This situation does not impact engines currently being produced, and Pratt & Whitney will continue to deliver both new engines and new spare parts across all product lines. This is a result of the combination of extensive improvements that were made to our powder processing to remove possible contamination sources and the deployment of enhanced inspections for improved detection. Pratt & Whitney is working to minimise operational impacts and support our customers. This is obviously a difficult situation for our customers, especially given the strong demand for travel. We’re truly sorry for the impact of this disruption, and we will do all we can to support our customers. Safety always has been and always will be our #1 priority, and we will never compromise on ensuring the safe operation of our fleet.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]