Travel Disruption Likely As Airbus Jets Undergo Engine Inspection

• 1,200 Pratt & Whitney engines on Airbus A320neo jets will need to be removed for inspection.
• The engine manufacturer said Tuesday it discovered an issue with its powder metal.
• JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, and Wizz Air are among the airlines to be impacted.

There’s likely to be more air travel disruption on its way because hundreds of Airbus planes will have to undergo engine inspections.

Aerospace and defense conglomerate RTX, announced Tuesday that its subsidiary Pratt & Whitney, which makes aircraft engines, had discovered an issue in some of its engines — which sent its stock down 10% on Tuesday, per Markets Insider data.

The company said a “rare condition” contaminated the powder metal used to make “certain engine parts” and it could cause cracks to form on critical engine parts, per The Wall Street Journal. More than 1,000 engines will need to be inspected sooner than scheduled.

RTX CEO Greg Hayes told Reuters that it could take up to 60 days to inspect and fix each engine.

Those Pratt & Whitney engines are used on about 40% of the twin-engine Airbus A320neo jets, per the Journal.

And at least 1,200 engines will need to be removed for “enhanced inspection” of the high-pressure turbine disc, said Chris Calio, RTX chief operating officer, in the Q2 earnings call.

200 inspections should take place by mid-September, with a further 1,000 in the next nine-to-twelve months, Calio added.

It doesn’t impact those currently in production, and Pratt & Whitney will continue to deliver new engines. 

But it will cause disruption for airlines using the parts built between 2015 and 2021. 

JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, and Wizz Air are among those affected, Reuters reported. A spokesperson for Wizz Air told Insider that 12 out of the more than 400 engines in its fleet will be replaced as part of the first round of inspections.

The other airlines impacted did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment, sent outside US working hours.

An Airbus spokesperson said the company is working with its customers and Pratt & Whitney to minimize the disruption and implement the required inspection plans. 

The A320neo is a narrow-body airliner that competes with the Boeing 737 MAX.

It was first launched in 2010, and helped Airbus break order records at the following Paris Air Show, France24 reported.

That’s because the engines are more fuel-efficient and provided an increased range, allowing more options for transatlantic flights without having to rely on the higher-capacity wide-bodies.