“We asked PW to have an MRO in India. They need to give due importance to Indian carriers given the size of the fleet, which is just too big,” said a DGCA source. A team of PWs had met DGCA officials last week.
While the new-generation PW engines for the Airbus A320neo planes — used by IndiGo and formerly GoAir — have been facing a series of problems over the past 5-6 years, the worst impact is likely to be felt soon, with hundreds of engines leaning against checks worldwide. On Friday, IndiGo – which already has about 50 planes waiting for replacement PW engines – said it expects a large number of planes to be grounded from early next year. GoAir, which collapsed this summer, had squarely blamed PW for its shutdown. Asked if PW will open MRO facilities in India, president and country head Ashmita Sethi told TOI, “India is a priority country for us. We are investing heavily and growing our footprint here. This is where we will determine the most effective way to support our customers. Yes, we are open to exploring MRO interest in India and this will be based on many factors including business case, competitive workforce and spare parts imports.”
However, things could get a lot worse before they get better. The engine maker recently warned that “600 to 700 engines will be removed for shop visits between 2023 and 2026 (and) accelerated removals and phased shop visits will result in higher aircraft on the ground.”
The “expedited removals” became necessary as PW detected “powdered metal contamination” that can lead to cracking of some engine components.
As the world’s largest customer for the A320 family jets, IndiGo could be badly hit. A capacity crunch in the skies will mean prices skyrocket — something seen this summer when GoAir collapsed.
Clearly, Indian authorities are now running out of patience with the jet engine maker. “Things just don’t get better at the end of PW. They said visibility on the impact of their latest issue will be given in the coming days. There is simply too much uncertainty. PW needs to act fast and show some visible improvement on the ground,” said a source.
function loadSurvicateJs(allowedSurvicateSections = []){ const section = window.location.pathname.split('/')[1] const isHomePageAllowed = window.location.pathname === '/' && allowedSurvicateSections.includes('homepage')
if(allowedSurvicateSections.includes(section) || isHomePageAllowed){ (function(w) { var s = document.createElement('script'); s.src="https://survey.survicate.com/workspaces/0be6ae9845d14a7c8ff08a7a00bd9b21/web_surveys.js"; s.async = true; var e = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; e.parentNode.insertBefore(s, e); })(window); }
}
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {}; var TimesApps = window.TimesApps; TimesApps.toiPlusEvents = function(config) { var isConfigAvailable = "toiplus_site_settings" in f && "isFBCampaignActive" in f.toiplus_site_settings && "isGoogleCampaignActive" in f.toiplus_site_settings; var isPrimeUser = window.isPrime; if (isConfigAvailable && !isPrimeUser) { loadGtagEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isGoogleCampaignActive); loadFBEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isFBCampaignActive); loadSurvicateJs(f.toiplus_site_settings.allowedSurvicateSections); } else { var JarvisUrl="https://jarvis.indiatimes.com/v1/feeds/toi_plus/site_settings/643526e21443833f0c454615?db_env=published"; window.getFromClient(JarvisUrl, function(config){ if (config) { loadGtagEvents(config?.isGoogleCampaignActive); loadFBEvents(config?.isFBCampaignActive); loadSurvicateJs(config?.allowedSurvicateSections); } }) } }; })( window, document, 'script', );
