Summary
- Volaris reached an agreement with Pratt & Whitney for compensation related to the removal of GTF engines from its fleet.
- Volaris has implemented several mitigation initiatives to handle the impact of the engine inspections, including optimizing its network and negotiating lease extensions.
- Pratt & Whitney’s engine issues have affected over 40 airlines, with the corporate urging accelerated inspections and facing financial challenges.
The Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Volaris announced it reached an agreement with Pratt & Whitney, contemplating compensation for every GTF engine that has been faraway from the airline’s fleet. Per ch-aviation, Volaris currently has 15 Airbus A320neo and two A321neo inactive.
Reaching an agreement with Pratt & Whitney
On Tuesday, Volaris, the Mexican leading carrier by the variety of carried passengers in 2023, announced an agreement with Pratt & Whitney. In an announcement sent to the Mexican stock exchange, the corporate’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Enrique Beltranena, said,
Volaris didn’t disclose the quantity each parties agreed for the compensation. Easy Flying reached out to the airline for clarification on the quantity; the corporate didn’t respond. Earlier this 12 months, Volaris reduced its workforce by shedding 200 employees resulting from the Pratt & Whitney engine issues.
Volaris’ mitigation initiatives
Over 40 airlines and leasing firms have been impacted by the preventive accelerated inspections of GTF engines manufactured between October 2015 and September 2021.
To handle these inspections, Volaris developed a mitigation plan to partially offset the impact, as the corporate is
Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock.
Volaris’ mitigation initiatives have five pillars, as defined by the corporate’s financial presentation of its third quarter results. These initiatives are:
- Optimizing its network, making the most of the recovery of Mexico’s Category 1 status, and reducing capability in underperforming routes.
- Maintaining strategies to stimulate demand and enhance ancillary penetration to drive unit revenues.
- Negotiating lease extensions for several Airbus A320ceo redeliveries.
- Maintaining the airline’s current delivery schedule with Airbus for 2024 and 2025, which incorporates 24 already financed aircraft.
- Implement additional cost-efficiency initiatives.
Unlike the opposite Mexican airline currently facing groundings of its fleet (Viva Aerobus), Volaris will not be all in favour of wet leasing aircraft. Viva Aerobus is now wet leasing three A320ceos from Avion Express Malta and employing them on domestic routes, angering pilot unions within the country.
A fast overlook on the P&W issues
In July 2023, Pratt & Whitney announced it had found a rare condition within the powder metal used to fabricate certain engine parts. This condition, which is best described as impurities within the parent material of the high-pressure turbine (HPT) stage 1 and a pair of disks, may lead to premature cracks that would cause uncontained disk failures. To handle the problem, Pratt & Whitney urged an accelerated inspection of the PW1100G-JM (GTF) fleet, which powers the A320neo. Over 3,000 engines are possibly impacted and could have to be removed for shop visits between 2023 and 2026.
Photo: Pratt & Whitney.
Pratt & Whitney’s parent company, RTX, reported a $5.4 billion charge in addition to a 21% decrease in third quarter sales resulting from the problem. Greg Hayes, RTX Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said, “
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