Pratt & Whitney’s (P&W) Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine troubles are becoming a real headache for the manufacturer, the $ 67 billion American aerospace and defence giant RTX.
Earlier this month, RTX announced that the recent issues afflicting GTF engines would impact its pre-tax operating profit by $3 billion to $3.5 billion over several years. Its fleet inspection and management plan for the engine related issues will result in a gross financial impact of $ 6-7 billion to the company.
'We are focused on addressing the challenges arising from the powder metal manufacturing issue,' said RTX Chairman and CEO Greg Hayes. He said the P&W team was working diligently to develop its fleet management plan and that the company was proactively taking steps to support and mitigate the operational impact on its customers.
It will have to compensate its customers for their fleet disruption and changes to their long-term maintenance costs. It holds a 51% net programme share in the PW1100 programme. RTX had acquired P&W in 2020.
Indian Impact
The recent troubles related to a rare condition in the powder metal used to manufacture certain engine parts emerged this July. The issues relate to its PW1100G-JM GTF engines, an engine option on the A320neo single-aisle jetliner.
The Indian carriers affected by the engine issues are IndiGo and the now-grounded Go First. Approximately 70 A320neos powered by these engines have been grounded, which include 27 belonging to Go First. For IndiGo, the reduction in capacity by removal of GTF-powered A320neos is a blow to its efforts to add capacity in a booming market. It is reportedly trying to lease 22 A320s to avoid disrupting its flight schedules. It recently received approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to wet-lease 11 A320 jetliners. Aircraft taken on wet lease include the crew, cabin attendants and maintenance, enabling the aircraft to enter revenue service quickly. IndiGo is scouting the market for older A320ceos powered by IAE V2500 engines that are less fuel-efficient.
Extended Troubles
Releasing a GTF fleet update in September, RTX stated that globally, approximately 600 to 700 engines would need to be removed for MRO shop visits between 2023 and 2026. This exceeded its shop visit forecast at the start of the year.
The accelerated removals and incremental shop visits will result in higher aircraft on the ground, which means increased expenses for airlines operating these aircraft as they will still have to pay for staff salaries and maintenance costs, which are not generating revenue.
Worryingly for the GTF engine family, which also powers Airbus’ A220 and Embraer’s E-Jets E2 family, including E190-E2 and E195-E2 model aircraft, P&W is analysing the impact of powder metal on other engine models within its fleet, though it says that the other engine models currently are expected to be far less impacted.
The company is now working on adding maintenance capacity and increasing part output to mitigate the impact on global PW1100 GTF fleets. Currently, 13 GTF MRO engine centres are active worldwide, with six slated to be online by 2025.
Problem Solving
P&W issued a special instruction to GTF-powered A320 aircraft operators this August for accelerated inspections and engine removals covering the initial tranche of operational engines. This work was to have been completed by September 15, 2023. It has continued to deliver new engines and spare parts for the PW1100 GTF and its other engine models.
The engine maker has said that the ultimate operational impact of the powder metal issue is subject to various data-driven assumptions, which it continues to refine, including, among other items, shop visit quantity, work scope, turnaround time, and part availability.
P&W's fleet management plan for the remaining affected PW1100 GTF engines requires a combination of a repetitive inspection protocol at an interval of 2,800 and 3,800 cycles (one cycle equals one take-off and landing of an aircraft). It has also put part life limits of 5,000 and 7,000 cycles for high-pressure turbine and compressor disks. These actions are anticipated to result in up to 700 incremental shop visits between now and the end of 2026. There will be a significant burden on the company's MRO facilities and partners as these shop visits will primarily be heavy in the work scope.
Most incremental engine removals will occur in 2023 and early 2024, and the turnaround times wing-to-wing will be between 250 and 300 days. This will result in an average of 350 Aircraft on Ground (AoG) between 2024 and 2026; as a result, P&W expects a significant increase in AoG levels for the GTF-powered A320 fleet throughout these years.
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