IndiGo, India’s largest airline in market share and fleet size, said it is bracing for a “high number of groundings” beginning next year due to Pratt and Whitney’s latest manufacturing flaw from a rare powder metal defect that could cause cracks in engine components.
“Globally, we understand that a large number of incremental engines are being removed for shop visits between 2023 and 2026,” said Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Negi.
‘A majority of incremental engine removals are planned for 2023 and early 2024,” he said.
“Our current estimate is that these accelerated inspections and incremental shop visits will further adversely impact our operational fleet Q4 onwards, which is post January 2024, and will lead to a higher number of groundings,” Mr. Negi said about Pratt and Whitney’s Gear Turbo Fan (GTF) engines during an earnings call for the second quarter results.
The airline reported a profit of ₹617 crore in the second quarter of financial year 2024 as compared with a loss of ₹1,583 crore in the same period last fiscal. Engine maker PW plans to pull out 600-700 GTF engines over the next three years. IndiGo already has 40-50 aircraft grounded due to older PW engine issues. The airline’s CEO, Pieter Elbers, however sought to underline that mitigating measures were in place to navigate these challenges. “We are confident of meeting our capacity guidance of [percentage fleet growth of] north of mid-teens by the end of this fiscal and doubling our fleet by 2030,” Mr. Elbers said.
The airline has 334 aircraft in its fleet. The CFO said that IndiGo had decided to retain 14 A320 CEOs which had their leases expiring, extended leases of 36 aircraft, and taken two Boeing 777 aircraft on damp leases. The airline would also accept delivery of 12 A320 CEOs from January apart from another 11 A320 NEOs on lease to protect itself from the impact of aircraft groundings.
