Airbus to resume Pratt-powered A320neo deliveries by May or June
Airbus now aims to resume deliveries of Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neos within the next two months, later than a previous April goal.
The company says deliveries of aircraft with PW1100G geared turbofans will likely resume in the “May/June timeframe”, ending a several-month delivery hiatus spurred by engine troubles.
“We are feeling this is pretty much on schedule,” Airbus tells FlightGlobal.
News broke in February that some A320neo-family aircraft had been grounded due to inflight and at-takeoff failures of several PW1100G powerplants.
P&W has said the issue affected 98 PW1100G engines. Of those, 43 had been installed on 32 aircraft delivered to airlines, and 55 had been delivered to Airbus but not to airline customers.
The problem stemmed from a modification P&W made in mid-2017 to a component of the engines’ high-pressure compressor. That modification was supposed to increase durability.
In February, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said Airbus expected to receive modified PW1100G engines by April, and resume A320neo deliveries that month.
Airbus confirms to FlightGlobal that PW1100G deliveries will, indeed, resume in April.
