Summary
- Spirit Airlines has postponed its recent services to Tulum resulting from engine issues with their aircraft, specifically the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines.
- The engine manufacturer found impurities within the raw materials of the engine’s high-pressure turbine disks, which might result in premature cracks and failures.
- The airline is working on refunding or providing alternate flight options for travelers who’ve already purchased tickets for the Tulum routes. They expect to share an updated schedule in the long run.
On Wednesday, February 14, it was revealed that Spirit Airlines had removed its services to Tulum International Airport (TQO) from its schedule, per Ishrion Aviation on X. The airline previously had recent services set to start to Tulum from two different airports in Florida. The Tulum airport is opening to international carriers starting on March 28, even though it has been operating domestic flights through Mexico since December.
Postponing operations
Starting on March 28, Spirit Airlines had plans to start recent services to Tulum from two of its major focus cities in Florida. These two airports were Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). These two recent routes have been completely faraway from its on-sale schedule.
The brand new airport in Tulum first opened in December, with services operated by Aeromexico and Viva Aerobus. Viva Aerobus began operating from Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU), and Aeromexico began operating a flight from Mexico City International Airport (MEX). 4 United States-based carriers were set to start on March 28. These 4 airlines were Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Spirit Airlines until it revealed it might not begin this service on March 28.
The airline can be working towards refunding or providing alternate flight operations for travelers who’ve already purchased flights on either of those routes. Spirit Airlines confirmed the route was canceled, stating,
“We’re postponing the beginning date of our Tulum (TQO) service as we proceed to administer operational constraints related to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine availability. We apologize to our Guests for any inconvenience, and we’re reaching out to those with impacted travel plans to supply alternate flight options or a refund. We look ahead to the chance to serve Tulum in the long run and can share more once we’ve an updated schedule.”
Engine issues
The explanation for Spirit Airlines postponing the beginning of its Tulum operations is due to the continuing issue with the airline’s Pratt & Whitney GTF engines. The engine manufacturer identified problems with its PW1100G engines. The PW1100G engines are utilized on the Airbus A320neo family of aircraft. Pratt & Whitney found impurities within the raw material of the engine’s high-pressure turbine disks. The impurities can result in premature cracks that will result in contained disk failures.
Photo: Don Mammoser | Shutterstock
Many airlines are grounding their fleet of A320neos that use the PW1100G engine to finish the FAA-mandated inspections. These inspections can take as much as eight weeks to make sure the engines are still airworthy. For this reason, Spirit Airlines has grounded several of its aircraft to finish its inspections.
In January, the airline had 13 aircraft grounded, nevertheless it expects that number to leap to 25 grounded A320neos by the top of the 12 months. This lack of lively aircraft in its fleet has prevented Spirit Airlines from expanding its route network, including its route offerings set to start in Tulum. Recently, Spirit Airlines revealed its capability would almost certainly stay flat or grow by mid-single digits in 2024 compared to 2023.