More than a third of aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney’s high-efficiency geared turbofan engines are grounded as they wait for inspections and maintenance. AeroXplorer reported that figures released last week showed 835 aircraft, mostly new Airbus A320neos and A220s, are AOG because of the issue. The engines are also used in the Embraer E-Jet E2. Some of the engines were built with contaminated powdered metal and repairs take up to a year to complete. Pratt & Whitney has struggled to speed up the repairs, and the number of grounded aircraft grew from 748 to 835 in the last three months of the year, the sharpest increase to date.
The engines have a gear between the front fan and the low-pressure core that allows those components to spin at their optimal speeds, and the efficiency increase is considerable. It’s estimated they use 16% less fuel and make 75% less noise than conventional jets. The durability issues arose in 2020 when cracks were found in high-pressure turbine discs. The problem was traced to iron particle contamination of the powdered metal used to make the disks from 2015 to 2021. The engine issue has distorted the market for the affected aircraft, and some are being scrapped just for their engines if they are not caught up in the reliability issues. Some airlines have had to lease replacement aircraft while they wait for theirs to be fixed. Pratt & Whitney has developed a more durable replacement core for the engines that will be ready in 2026.
