Credit: Airbus / Hervé GoussIndiGo will bring in more leased aircraft to offset an expected rise in Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neo groundings and keep its near-term capacity guidance within reach.
The Indian LCC plans to add 12 more A320ceos on wet leases starting in January, the carrier confirmed. These join a temporary fleet of 11 wet-leased A320ceo-family aircraft that will start flying in November and two Boeing 777s brought in earlier in 2023. The widebodies have been dedicated to the carrier’s Delhi-Istanbul route. Indigo has also extended leases or delayed phase-outs of 36 more narrowbodies.
IndiGo’s leases will offset groundings that could see 70-80 Pratt-powered A320neos out of service during first part of 2024.
Factoring in both the groundings and supplemental lift, IndiGo expects year-over-year capacity to be up 25% in the current quarter, which ends Dec. 31. For its full fiscal 2023-24 year, which runs through March 31, 2024, it is holding firm on its most recent capacity growth projection of 15-20%.
The capacity back-filling is tied to Pratt’s PW1000G fleet management plan that calls for engines to be inspected for parts with contaminated powder metal. The off-wing inspections will exacerbate an already challenging situation for IndiGo, which already has dozens of Pratt-powered A320neos out of service due to long-running engine durability issues unrelated to the new inspection requirements.
“As things stand today, the amount of grounding is in the 40s,” CFO Gaurav Negi said on the carrier’s Nov. 3 fiscal third quarter (Q3) earnings call. “That’s the extent of grounding with the older issue. The powder metal issue, which is the new development that has happened related to which we are still awaiting the service bulletin, that’s going to be an incremental number to the 40s that we have today.”
Pratt is finalizing service information that breaks down which engines must be removed from service for inspections, and when. Based on the manufacturer’s latest information, IndiGo expects to see another 35 aircraft grounded for engine inspections in early 2024.
“We have recently received additional information on the powder metal issue from Pratt & Whitney and based on our preliminary assessment of this, we anticipate Aircraft on Ground (AOG) in the range of mid-thirties in the fourth quarter due to accelerated engine removals,” IndiGo said in a Nov. 7 update.
The airline, which switched its allegiance from the PW1100G to the CFM Leap-1A to power its A320neos, is expected to be among the hardest hit by the inspections. Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows it operates 136 Pratt-powered A320neo-family variants. As of Nov. 5, 46 of them were grounded. Meanwhile, two of its 136 Leap-powered A320s were shown as being parked.
Pratt has said that as many as 700 engines face inspections outside of their routine maintenance schedule by 2027. Two-thirds of these will take place by the middle of next year.
The initial set of about 140 engines was removed by the end of September. This next batch, set for removal in early 2024, is expected to be the most disruptive for fleets.
The flood of work and lack of both shop capacity and new replacement parts will drive groundings of Pratt-powered A320neo-family aircraft to a peak of 600-650 in the first half of 2024, the manufacturer projects.
Aviation Week Fleet Discovery’s latest figures show 355 Pratt-powered A320neos out of service, or about 25% of the delivered fleet. Both figures have steadily risen since August as the engine removal plan, mandated by regulators, ramps up.
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