Cites 'Technical Problems' With Pratt & Whitney Engines

Lufthansa group airline Swiss has grounded its fleet of A220 short-haul airliners citing "technical irregularities" with the Pratt & Whitney engines powering the aircraft.

Business Traveler reports that the airline stated on Twitter that it had grounded the entire fleet of A220 airplanes, and that it is talking with regulators, the engine manufacturer and Airbus about the issues. It is the largest operator of the A220.

“Only after a faultless inspection will the aircraft return to regular flight operations,” Swiss said.

“The safety of our customers and crews is our top priority. We will do everything in our power to return our [A220] fleet to normal flight operations as quickly as possible and to continue to ensure safe flight operations.”

Swiss operates 20 A220-300 and nine A220-100 airplanes. They are based on the Bombardier C Series, in which Airbus acquired a majority stake in 2018.

Bloomberg reports that the carrier's A220s have experienced multiple incidents in recent months. On July 25, a Swiss A220 suffered an uncontained engine failure while flying over Paris. The most recent incident, which happened Tuesday, caused a flight from Geneva to London to divert to Paris.

The A220 is powered by Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine. Airbus had delivered fewer than 100 A220 airplanes worldwide, according to the Bloomberg report.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report
Source report