Nearly 20% of A220s are Grounded, Many Airlines are Moving to Retire Them

The A220, once marketed for its profitability and efficiency, seems to be spending a lot more time parked than planned… and operators are starting to lose patience. Nearly 20% of the global fleet is grounded due to ongoing issues with Pratt & Whitney’s PW1500G geared turbofan engines.

The problem is that the PW1500Gs are wearing out much faster than they should due to contamination and corrosion in the metal used during manufacturing, or in simpler terms, they need more maintenance. That means airlines need spare engines that do not currently exist to keep planes flying while the bad ones are repaired. This leaves the aircraft grounded as parts pile up and operators scramble to fill schedules with whatever can still move.

Pratt & Whitney has promised for years that the issue is under control, but every new grounding makes that promise sound a little thinner. As of November, data shows 76 of 451 A220s worldwide sitting idle. SWISS is grounding its nine-jet A220-100 fleet just to scavenge engines for its larger -300 models. Delta, Air France, airBaltic, and JetBlue have also seen multiple aircraft sidelined, and smaller operators like Air Austral and Bulgaria Air have taken heavier hits relative to their fleet size.

The ripple effect extends far beyond maintenance hangars. Airlines are losing revenue, passengers are losing confidence, and Airbus is finally beginning to notice. The plane maker recently announced that it would be revising its A220-family production target for next year, citing “the current balance between supply and demand.”

Even Embraer’s E2 jets, which use a variant of the same Pratt & Whitney engine family, are feeling the strain… though not quite to this extent. Their PW1900G engines have also experienced durability and corrosion issues due to corrosion in the high-pressure compressor, leading to shortened life limits and a need for more frequent inspections.

FMI: www.prattwhitney.com