JanetFlight
3rd May 2023, 03:50
India GoFirst (GoAir), third India largest operator stopped all ops...it seems "the root of all evil" »»» New 320NEO P&W engines issues...sad to see this :(
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/go-first-airline-cancels-all-flights-on-may-3-4/article66803367.ece
zerograv
19th May 2023, 10:10
Looks like that it's not only GoFirst that is being left to 'dry' on the ground by the P&W availability problems.
KLM is tweaking its summer schedule and is holding on to several Embraer 190s that were due to be returned to lessors in a bid to overcome a capacity shortage caused by technical challenges affecting its Pratt & Whitney-powered E195-E2s.
While KLM does not specify the technical issues impacting the regional jet’s deployment, it appears to mark a spreading to the Embraer aircraft of the wider challenges P&W has been facing with its GTF engines.
P&W is working to tackle durability issues with the PW1100G (https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transport/pandw-only-at-halfway-point-of-pw1100g-durability-upgrade-programme/153024.article) that powers some Airbus A320neos - an issue compounded by maintenance delays amid supply chain and labour shortages – while A220 operators have flagged lengthy maintenance delays impacting the aircraft’s PW1500G (https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/a220-engine-in-maintenance-for-386-days-but-air-baltic-chief-foresees-improvement/152783.article) powerplant.
by Graham Dunn, 1 May 2023, in FlightGlobal
A220 engine ‘in maintenance for 386 days’ but Air Baltic chief foresees improvement
Air Baltic has seen maintenance of the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofans (GTFs) that power its Airbus A220-300s take months longer than expected as supply-chain and labour challenges (https://www.flightglobal.com/mro/global-shortage-of-aircraft-parts-and-mechanics-hampers-airline-recovery/152281.article) weigh on the MRO sector, but the airline expects the situation to improve.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Aviation Summit in Brussels in late March, Air Baltic chief executive Martin Gauss sang the praises of the GTF - when it is on the aircraft wing - but said availability of spare engines continues to be an issue that creates daily challenges for the airline.
Gauss expresses particular frustration that having secured its summer capacity after agreeing to wet-lease four A320s from Avion Express (https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/air-baltic-leasing-a320s-to-protect-schedule-from-supply-chain-snags/152332.article) - a deal made in response to the MRO delays - Air Baltic had to announce the short-term wet-leasing of four more aircraft (https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/engine-mro-delays-prompt-air-baltic-to-wet-lease-four-more-aircraft/152630.article) barely two weeks later, when a fresh forecast on spare engine deliveries showed a deterioration in availability.
“The engine itself is performing even above expectations if it’s about the fuel burn, reliability and so on,” Gauss states. “The only problem for us is to get the engine on the wing.”
In one case, Air Baltic had an engine “that was away for 386 days”, he states.
by Lewis Harper, 4 April 2023, in FlightGlobal