NEW DELHI: IndiGo, India’s leading airline, is likely to ground about 35 aircraft due to the powder metal issue on its Pratt & Whitney-powered fleet. IndiGo said they have received additional information on the issue from the US-based aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney and based on the preliminary assessment of this, they anticipate Aircraft on Ground (AOG) in the range of mid-thirties in the fourth quarter (Jan-Mar2024) due to accelerated engine removals.
Groundings will be incremental to the current AOGs. The airline had recently informed out of its fleet of 334 planes, grounded PW-powered aircraft stands at over 40. IndiGo said they continue to work with PW on more information and implementing measures to minimise impact of these AOGs on their capacity in Q4FY24 and beyond.
Earlier this year, PW highlighted the impact of the issue that has affected its GTF aircraft engine. Globally, 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.