80 IndiGo aircraft will be grounded between January-March
IndiGo on Tuesday said that around 80 of its aircraft could be grounded between January to March to next year due to ongoing issues with Pratt & Whitney engines that is used in Airbus A320 and 321 aircraft. The airline, however said that it remains confident in meeting its long-term capacity guidance which it said will be north of mid-teens.
“We have recently received additional information from Pratt & Whitney and based on our preliminary assessment of this, we anticipate Aircraft on Ground in the range of mid-thirties in the fourth quarter Jan-Mar2024 due to accelerated engine removals.
These groundings will be incremental to the current ones,” IndiGo said in a late night statement on Tuesday. The airline already has 45 planes on ground due to the engine issue.
US-based aerospace major RTX, which manufactures the P&W engines, in August had said it would have to recall 600-700 engines between 2023 and 2026, leading to the grounding of about 350 aircraft a year.
A large number of incremental engines ranging between 600-700 are being removed for accelerated inspections and shop visits between 2023 and 2026 and two thirds of these engine removals are planned for 2023 and early 2024.
With 135 planes running on such engines, IndiGo has among the largest affected fleet due to the safety inspection.
The airline has taken multiple steps to bridge the gap in capacity due to these groundings.It has retained lease period of 14 aircraft beyond their lease period, extended lease tenure for 36 planes and is looking to induct up to 23 aircraft from the secondary lease market.
Out of the 23 Airbus A320 planes, 11 will be on short term wet lease while the rest will be on dry lease.
