Embraer believes its E-Jet E2 will be unaffected by issues related to the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engine family, when the aircraft enters into service in 2018.
“We don’t expect the issues from the [A320]neo engine to transfer over and impact the GTF on the E2,” Embraer commercial aviation president and chief executive John Slattery tells FlightGlobal in an interview.
He adds: “It’s important to highlight… that the architecture of the neo engine is somewhat different from the architecture of the GTF on the E2.”
Slattery, however, says Embraer is working very closely with Pratt & Whitney and monitoring the performance of the engine, especially on its rival Bombardier’s CSeries.
The E190-E2 will enter into revenue service in the first half of 2018.
Saying that Embraer has the advantage of being the “second mover” in operating the engine, Slattery says: “We don’t expect the teething problems of the experience on the neo.”
Earlier this month, new problems related to the engine surfaced when Indian civil aviation regulators identified a gearbox issue on the PW1100G, one of two engine choices for the A320neo. An in-flight shutdown of a GoAir A320neo in February had prompted engine inspections of the A320neo fleets of GoAir and IndiGo.
Slattery says Embraer is following closely the developments out of India, adding that the airframer is being “updated on a daily basis” by Pratt & Whitney on issues related to the A320neo engine.
He is also confident that the engine manufacturer will resolve a production short-fall by the time the E2 debuts. After falling short of engine delivery targets in 2016, Pratt & Whitney has said it plans to exceed its engine delivery goal this year as new facilities come online.
“We believe that the manufacturing capacity that Pratt & Whitney has around the world will address those shortfalls,” says Slattery. “We don’t expect those manufacturing capacity issues will exist by early 2018 when the E190-E2 enters into service.”
Source: Cirium Dashboard
