While East Coast leisure carrier JetBlue Airways is already among the US airlines most hindered by Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF) engine recall, company executives warn that related aircraft groundings will get worse before they get better.
Ursula Hurley, JetBlue’s chief financial officer, said during New York-based JetBlue’s 28 January earnings call that the company anticipates “hitting peak AOG” [aircraft on ground] within the next “one to two years”.
JetBlue says it averaged 11 narrowbody Airbus jets – including A321neos and A220-300s – grounded for engine inspections and repairs throughout 2024.
The company expects its average number of grounded jets to rise into the “mid-to-high teens” this year, Hurley says. The outlook for 2026 is less clear.
“There are a lot of inputs that can materially impact the number of aircraft we have on the ground – everything from Pratt & Whitney supply chain to their shop capacity,” Hurley says. ”So it does continue to remain pretty fluid. But in the next year or two, we believe we’ll be approaching that peak.”
The aircraft on ground have been ”materially impacting” JetBlue’s financial performances.
“We believe the groundings had a direct negative impact on operating margin of approximately two-and-a-half points in 2024,” says chief executive Joanna Geraghty. “We estimate that direct impact will grow to three points in 2025 as AOGs are expected to increase.”
Currently, JetBlue has 14 aircraft listed as “in storage”, meaning they have been out of service for more than 30 days, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. That includes nine A321neos and five A220s.
Though aircraft could be in storage for other reasons, a large percentage of JetBlue’s grounded Airbus jets are likely out of service for P&W engine fixes.
Hundreds of Airbus jets have been out of service on a rolling basis for many months as P&W completes inspections, disrupting the networks, capacity plans and fleet strategies of A320neo, A220 and Embraer E190-E2 operators worldwide.
Cirium fleets data show about that about 3,100 PW1100G-powered A320neos and A321neos are in operation globally, while about 650 of the latest-generation Airbus narrowbodies are in storage.
Meanwhile, some 300 PW1500G-powered A220s are in service and nearly 100 are idled.
E190-E2-family jets, which are powered by PW1900G engines, are also affected by P&W’s recall. About 120 of those jets are in service, compared with about 40 on the ground.
While Pratt & Whitney has agreed to financial compensation packages with several airlines affected by GTF groundings – including US discounter Spirit Airlines and Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat – it has yet to do so with JetBlue.
“Settlement negotiations are taking a while,” Hurley says. “We want to ensure that we settle with something that is fair and acceptable. I don’t have any timing; that is a work in progress.”
JetBlue lost $44 million during the fourth quarter, compared with an $104 million loss during the final three month of 2023. The company says it made progress on its ”JetForward” financial turnaround plan, but expects year-on-year capacity as measured in available seat miles to be roughly flat for 2025.
