Pratt Is Said to Find Temporary Fix for Airbus Engine Issue
Pratt will replace a new engine seal with an older one in Airbus SE A320neo jets.
(Bloomberg) -- Pratt & Whitney has proposed dropping an engine modification that grounded almost a dozen Airbus SE A320neo jets as it works to fix the latest glitch plaguing the program, according to people familiar with the plan.
The move involves replacing a new engine seal with an older one that had durability issues, the people said, asking not to be named because the details haven’t been made public. That should prevent delivery delays and limit the cost to Pratt and Airbus, though a permanent fix will still be required.
The engine maker said it has “released a revised configuration” but didn’t specify the nature of the change. “The solution is based on a design with which the company has significant experience, and this solution has received all necessary regulatory approvals,” Pratt said in a statement Wednesday. Engines incorporating the change will be delivered beginning next month.
Pratt, part of United Technologies Corp., spent $10 billion developing its fuel-efficient geared turbofan model for short-haul jets, only for the engines to suffer setbacks that marred their commercial introduction and led to delivery delays. While the fix should help persuade investors that the turbine -- and the A320neo -- isn’t about to suffer a major crisis, reverting to the original component, itself flawed, may not be sufficient in the longer term.
Pratt competes with a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA to power the Airbus narrow-body plane, with the ground-up GTF development having sought to cement its status as a supplier of choice on the most widely flown type of aircraft.
Pratt has developed “an interim short-term solution” to return the planes to operation, European Aviation Safety Agency spokesman Dominique Fouda said by email. He referred further questions to Pratt, as did an Airbus representative.
The latest issue, which involves the so-called knife-edge compressor seal, led regulators to ground aircraft that have two affected engines. Three such planes were operated by IndiGo, India’s largest airline and the biggest A320neo customer.
In order to get planes flying again, all aircraft have now been fitted with at least one unmodified engine, making them compliant with an EASA airworthiness directive, one of the people said. Extended operations over water won’t be permitted for those aircraft.
United Technologies Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes is set to detail the seal issue later Wednesday, according to the people.
Airbus shares advanced less than 1 percent to 97.26 euros at 3:32 p.m. in Paris. United Technologies was little changed in New York.
‘Annoying’ Issue
Almost a third of the 113 Pratt-powered A320neos in operation are equipped with one or two of the engines with the latest flaw, Toulouse, France-based Airbus said last week.
Germany’s MTU Aero Engines AG, a partner with Pratt on the GTF, played down the seal issue, labeling it “annoying” but unlikely to affect long-term demand it puts at 15,000 units. While the A320neo will be the turbine’s biggest market, the model will also power the Bombardier Inc. C Series, Mitsubishi Regional Jet and Embraer SA’s new-generation models. The engine versions for non-Airbus planes aren’t affected by the seal issue.
“The engine will be a success,” MTU Chief Executive Officer Reiner Winkler told analysts in Munich on Wednesday. “Airlines won’t be discouraged by such short-term issues to change an investment decisions that will have an effect for 20 to 25 years.”
Winkler said GTF production should double this year from 374 engines in 2017, suggesting that 2018 output may come close to the 800 units targeted.
--With assistance from Richard Clough
To contact the reporters on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.net, Richard Weiss in Frankfurt at rweiss5@bloomberg.net, Benjamin Katz in London at bkatz38@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net, Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Sam Nagarajan, Christopher Jasper
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