A quality mistake by a supplier will delay deliveries of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines to Airbus for up to three weeks, but the powerplant manufacturer remains committed to delivering 350-400 geared turbofans by the end of the year.
A small number of production engines for the A320neo family require a 1h test to identify the quality problem from an unidentified supplier, P&W says.
"The issue does not affect the current fleet in service and there is no anticipated impact to full-year 2017 engine deliveries," P&W says. "The design of the geared turbofan is sound and remains the architecture of choice."
Airbus confirms that it is aware of the latest issue to arise in the geared turbofan programme.
"We are fully focused on minimising operational implications for our customers," Airbus says. "We have the clear commitment from P&W to support our end-year delivery target, which is to nearly triple [A320neo] deliveries in 2017."
P&W's supplier problem arises only weeks after a similar issue within CFM International's Leap-1B supply chain prompted Boeing to ground the 737 Max 8 fleet for one week as a precautionary move. CFM identified about 30 Leap-1Bs that could be affected by the supplier's mistake and is in the process of repairing them.
P&W has been working to recover from a series of production delays and durability problems in the fleet. The engine maker is targeting the roll-out by September of an upgraded combustor material that meets the company's durability targets.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
