Air New Zealand engine issues worse than feared: What’s behind the Pratt & Whitney problems?

Airline route planners around the world are working on new schedules as they face a year of disruption due to problems with new engines made by Pratt & Whitney.

Air New Zealand said in an NZX announcement that disruption to its schedule could be “significant” because of the engine problems for planes used mainly on transtasman and Pacific Island services and some domestic routes. It takes up to 10 months for engines to be removed, inspected and fitted to narrow-body A320-21 aircraft.

Pratt & Whitney (P&W) owner RTX Corp said overnight a “rare condition” in powdered metal meant 1200 of more than 3000 engines built for the twin-engined Airbus A320neo between 2015 and 2021 have to be taken off and inspected for micro-cracks that would point to fatigue.

Microscopic contaminants were found in a metal used in the engine’s high-pressure turbine discs - part of the engine core.

Of the 1200 engines, 200 must be checked by mid-September because of their time in service. The remainder will need inspection over the next year. More than 50 airlines will be hit at a time when continued post-pandemic strong demand for travel is already straining capacity and pushing up prices.

Air New Zealand has 16 A320/321NEO aircraft among its fleet of 106 aircraft. The issue will further reduce engine availability and is expected to have a significant impact on the airline’s schedule from January 2024, but the airline stresses it doesn’t present a safety issue.

“While there is no immediate impact to Air New Zealand’s flights, it is likely the airline will need to make adjustments to its schedule in coming months, some of which may be significant.”

In July the airline said that following an update from engine manufacturer P&W it thought only one of its engines would be affected by maintenance problems then. The engines are highly efficient but have been beset by problems, exacerbated by supply chain issues during the pandemic.

The Financial Times reports today that hundreds of aircraft worldwide will be grounded over the next few years owing to problems with P&W engines.

RTX said it would post a charge of up to about US$3.5 billion ($5.1b) in the third quarter, mostly owing to compensating its customers.

Shares in RTX, which have been declining since it disclosed the metal problem in July, were down almost 7 per cent in morning trading in New York.

The group said in July that contaminants in the powdered metal used to make its PW1100G-JM geared turbofan engines installed in Airbus aircraft meant that some of its engines would need to be inspected earlier than anticipated.

The problem could cause cracks in the high-pressure turbine discs during manufacture and the company “found cracks that were larger than we had anticipated”, Chris Calio, the chief operating officer, told analysts.

Greg Hayes, chief executive, described the disruption as “frustrating”, adding that it will “have a significant impact on our customers, on our partners and on RTX”, the Financial Times reported.

When each engine is removed from the wing of an A320neo, it will take an average of between 250 and 300 days for the aeroplane to be returned to its airline.

Calio warned that the engine inspections and any replacements “will create more congestion” in the company’s maintenance, repair and overhaul network, which have already delayed turnaround times because of problems getting materials.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.