BackPratt engine issue delays Airbus plane deliveries to IndiGo, GoAir
Jayant Sinha says IndiGo and GoAir are facing delays in receiving planes from Airbus due to ongoing problems with engines developed by Pratt & Whitney
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New Delhi: Domestic airlines IndiGo and GoAir are facing delays in receiving planes from Airbus due to ongoing problems with engines developed by Pratt & Whitney, the minister of state for civil aviation said on Thursday.
The carriers “have confirmed that these issues have impacted the delivery of aircraft," Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to lawmakers.
State-owned carrier Air India has also experienced some delay in getting deliveries of some A320neo aircraft fitted with engines made by rival CFM International, he said.
Airbus, which reported a drop in mid-year profits earlier on Thursday, has turned up the heat on Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies, asking it to “work harder" to fix reliability problems that have disrupted its biggest production line and caused delays in deliveries to customers.
The world’s second-largest planemaker aims to deliver some 200 A320neo-family jets in 2017. In the first half, it delivered just 16 Pratt-powered A320neo jets, barely a third of the 43 powered by competing CFM engines, officials have told Reuters.
Technical issues with Pratt & Whitney engines have forced IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, to ground seven of the narrow-body jets, while, according to The Times of India, GoAir has started cancelling flights. India’s aviation regulator is investigating the issue.
Pratt & Whitney has told the regulator it will address the problems, Sinha said. Reuters
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