Shortages of cast metallic parts and other components continue hindering Pratt & Whitney’s (P&W) ability to produce new engines and to ramp up maintenance work needed to address its recall of PW1000G geared turbofans.
RTX, parent of the Connecticut-based engine maker, also says on 25 July that its PW1000G-related customer compensations came to $200 million in the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, about one-third of the global fleet of jets with those engines are parked.
Speaking during RTX’s second-quarter earnings call, chief executive Christopher Calio says “structural castings” remain in short supply, noting that output of those parts increased about 5% from the first to second quarters.
“It needs to be higher than that in order to continue to meet the demands of… [new-engine deliveries] to the airframers, spare engines and [maintenance work],” Calio tells investors during RTX’s earnings call. On the bright side, he adds that availability of some forged engine components nearly doubled year on year in the second quarter.
The shortages make clear P&W, like other aerospace companies, remains significantly hindered by lingering supply chain troubles. Similar shortages contributed to CFM International delivering only 297 of its competing Leap turbofans in the second quarter, down 29% year on year, CFM part-owner GE Aerospace reported on 23 July.
P&W actually managed to increase engine deliveries in the second quarter, handing over 236 large commercial aircraft engines, including PW1000Gs, up 24% year on year. P&W’s second-quarter operating profit more than doubled year on year to $542 million, with sales up 19% in one year, to $6.8 billion.
P&W is trying to boost production as it orchestrates massive recalls of its best-selling PW1000Gs for inspections and replacement parts. The recalls are needed because the engines might contain defective parts due to a manufacturing issue involving powdered metal, RTX has said. Affected components include high-pressure turbine and compressor disks, compressor hubs and air seals.
The issue continues disrupting the world’s airlines.
On 25 July, 653 PW1000G-powered aircraft were in storage – about 31% of the global fleet, according to Cirium data. The vast majority of those are A320neo-family aircraft – 555 jets in total, or 34% of that fleet. Another 78 are A220s with PW1500Gs (22% of that fleet), and 20 are Embraer E-Jet E2s with PW1900Gs (15%), data shows.
Cirium does not specify that the jets are stored due to the recall, meaning at least some are likely grounded for other reasons.
The latest Cirium figures are up slightly up from 1 April, when 637 PW1000G-powered aircraft were grounded.
“[Aircraft on the ground]… have levelled out over the past few months and remain in line with our expectations,” says Calio. “As of the end of Q2, we have inspected over 6,000 powder-metal parts that are in the field across all programmes, and the associated fallout rate remains below the 1% we had assumed.”
“The findings are consistent with the assumptions that underpin our fleet management plan,” he adds.
P&W has said the recall will leave an average of 350 A320neo-family jets out of service at any given time between 2024 and 2026.
In a 25 July securities filing, RTX said it ended June holding $2.6 billion in liabilities largely related to compensation owed customers affected by the recalls. That figure was down from $2.8 billion at the end of 2023.
RTX notes that P&W’s liabilities account for only 51% of total, with the balance attributed to other owners of International Aero Engines, the entity that assembles PW1000Gs. Those other partners include Japan Aero Engines and MTU Aero Engines.
