Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo is still unhappy about the continued problems with its fleet of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-powered Airbus A320neos.
"We continue to have a high number of engine removals and sufficient spare engines have not been available. Regrettably, there have been days when we have had to ground as many as nine A320neos due to lack of spare engines," IndiGo’s president Aditya Ghosh said during an analyst call on 31 July.
IndiGo is receiving compensation from P&W for the aircraft groundings, but he describes the operational disruptions as "quite challenging", and that the carrier "is not happy" with the situation.
Despite the challenges with the engines, IndiGo reported fleet-wide dispatch reliability of 99.85% for the quarter ended 30 June.
Among the known issues with IndiGo's PW1100Gs have been premature degradation of the combustor chamber lining, and premature wear of the number 3 bearing seal. IndiGo expects that it may take another year before design changes aimed at addressing the problems are fully implemented by P&W.
Nonetheless, Ghosh expects that securing more spare parts will allow the reliability of the A320neos to improve in the short term.
"Under the assumption that we receive sufficient number of spares, we hope to see significantly reduced operational disruptions within the next few months," he says.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
