India's largest airline, IndiGo, remains committed to its capacity growth projections for the year, even as it anticipates grounding of over 30 planes in the fourth quarter due to ongoing concerns with its Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines, a Reuters report said on Tuesday.
The carrier successfully increased its capacity by 25 per cent over recent quarters as a part of its aggressive expansion to meet surging air travel demand. These efforts have helped alleviate capacity constraints resulting from the grounding of around 40 aircraft, mainly due to earlier engine-related problems.
IndiGo's strategy for mitigating these challenges includes leasing new planes and extending existing agreements, especially to counteract disruptions caused by new engine issues.
Currently, the airline operates a fleet of 334 planes, retaining 14 older Airbus A320ceo aircraft and extending leases on 36 others. Additionally, they will take delivery of 11 more leased aircraft starting in November.
Beginning in January, IndiGo plans to lease 12 additional A320ceos from the secondary market, according to Gaurav Negi, the airline's Chief Financial Officer, during an earnings call last Friday.
The root of these troubles can be traced back to a rare powder metal defect identified by Pratt & Whitney's parent company, RTX, in July. This defect has the potential to lead to the cracking of certain engine components in twin-engine Airbus A320neo aircraft, prompting the need for expedited inspections.
The checks are expected to result in the grounding of 600-700 Airbus jets between 2023 and 2026, with the majority of engine removals planned for 2023 and early 2024.
While IndiGo is striving to address these challenges proactively, the airline is bracing for further disruptions in the first quarter of 2024. According to a report by Mint, the carrier anticipates grounding at least 35 planes during this period due to the ongoing powder metal issue associated with P&W engines.
Mint quoted the airline as saying in a statement, "We have recently received additional information on the powder metal issue from Pratt & Whitney and based on our preliminary assessment of this, we anticipate Aircraft on Ground (AOG) in the range of mid-thirties in the fourth quarter (Jan-Mar 2024) due to accelerated engine removals. These groundings will be incremental to the current AOGs."
(With inputs from agencies)