How Will The P&W Issues Affect The Industry?

Is history repeating itself with the PW1000G? In 2017, the Rolls Royce Trent1000 issue grounded around 100 aircraft. In a safety-conscious sector we’re all about flagging problems early and derisking them.

What is new with Pratt & Whitney is the scale. It’s estimated that around six times as many aircraft are affected this year. @abhijeetdey posted about @seanbroderick’s piece in @AviationWeekNetwork recently. In it, he cites the high numbers of aircraft on the ground. As Broderick notes, not all the side-lined aircraft are due to engine checks, but there is an upward trend in parked aircraft.

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Of course, P&W is working to get more capacity available quickly. They have a solution in full-life parts for the time being. But longer term this is an issue that they will have to design their way out of. As Rolls Royce experienced, this can be a time-consuming process.

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So how does this affect the industry this year? It depends where you are in the market. Airlines that rely on market share need more aircraft to fill passenger demand. For those airlines this will be a difficult moment. It’s important for them to be able to take advantage of a good summer. For bigger players, they can rotate their stock, or fly others harder. They may find it easier to ride this out.

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It's another moment of uncertainty for our sector. Aircraft on the ground is fine if you have the land to put them on and the passenger demand (or lack of) allows you to take them out. We’re all hoping that passenger capacity remains steady and that P&W can resolve this issue soon.