By Staff Correspondent
Go First, a carrier owned by Wadia, has announced plans to take legal action against US aerospace major Raytheon Technologies, the maker of Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines. The airline has been grappling with reduced service reliability of PW-1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines, leading to almost half of its fleet being grounded. Sources say that while Go First has sought compensation for lost business, PW has refused to pay, violating a contractual agreement.
In 2019, Go First signed a billion-dollar deal to purchase PW engines for its 72 A320neo aircraft, along with a comprehensive service agreement mandating compensation from the engine maker for any maintenance issues. However, over the past two years, all engines had to be removed from the wing before an average of 7,000 hours, significantly lower than the projected life of 12,000 hours. According to a person involved in Go First’s business, problems have repeatedly arisen, resulting in unscheduled engine removal, causing significant disruption to operations and business.
While Go First declined to comment on the issue, a PW spokesperson claimed that supply chain pressures would ease later this year. However, they refused to comment on compensation to airlines due to confidentiality. The spokesperson added that engine availability is under pressure across the industry, mainly due to hardware unavailability for engine upgrades and overhauls. They also noted that mitigation strategies have been developed to counteract these supply chain disruptions.
IndiGo, the only other airline operating GTF engines, also has approximately 35 grounded aircraft but is being compensated for the same. CFO Gaurav Negi noted that the airline is working with engine manufacturers to obtain relief, and some compensation has already been received this quarter. He also mentioned that the airline has shifted away from PW, opting for CFM International’s engines for its subsequent aircraft.
Adding to the challenges is the global supply chain crisis, which has impacted engine makers’ service capability, resulting in aircraft taking more time to come out of maintenance. Industry sources noted that some of Go First’s aircraft have been parked for over seven months, while some develop snags within two months of maintenance. As a result, the airline will be losing the third peak period of traffic, which makes business unsustainable, the source said.
The April-June period is a high-traffic period, and industry sources predict that Go First will operate at 40% capacity this year due to engine issues. However, they also pointed out that the airline’s engine problems are due to financial constraints, which led to deferred maintenance work during COVID. Unpaid dues piled up, and the airline did not pay them. Now, as demand has picked up, there is a shortage of maintenance capability, and engine makers are giving priority to airlines that paid on time, an engine manufacturer executive said.
The executive also cited India’s humid and dusty environment as contributing factors to the faster degradation of the combustion chamber. The Pratt geared turbofan engines, which lead to a fuel efficiency of over 15%, have faced technical issues since entering service in 2016, resulting in numerous in-flight shutdowns. In 2019, the repeated snags forced the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to mandate that airlines replace faulty engines before inducting new aircraft.
“The geared turbofan used in these engines is a revolutionary new technology that reduces fuel efficiency by 15%, but it will take some more time to mature. By the end of 2024, I expect the GTF engine to be fault-free and the most popular,” said the executive.
