Why have 626 domestic flights been cancelled this month?
On March 12, India’s air safety regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), grounded 11 Airbus A320neo aircraft — eight from IndiGo and three from GoAir. All these aircraft were fitted with a faulty engine manufactured by Pratt and Whitney (P&W). This has triggered a large number of cancellations by the two airlines — Indigo has cancelled 488 flights while GoAir has cancelled 138.
What is the problem with these engines?
In the case of the A320neo, Pratt & Whitney, an American engine-maker, developed a new engine, the PW1100G, based on a new technology called a Geared Turbofan Engine. The newer engines promised to be 16% more fuel efficient and 75% less noisy on the ground, compared to the old ones. However, this new technology appears to have teething troubles. Initially, the problems included longer start-up times as well as premature wear and tear of two components of the engine, especially noticeable in India’s tropical conditions.
For instance, last year, GoAir and IndiGo had to fly these planes at lower altitudes of 30,000 ft as against the more economical 36,000 ft to ensure the engines did not get strained. Some planes also had to be grounded due to reliability issues, leading to the cancellation of 84 flights on August 18, 2017. While the problem was fixed, fresh trouble emerged last month.
On February 11, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency order, mandating that no plane with both engines affected be operated. Planes with one affected engine were deemed unfit for extended-range flying. In India, the DGCA cracked the whip on March 12, grounding 11 Indigo and GoAir A320neo aircraft fitted with the faulty engine, following three incidents of in-flight shutdown being reported within a fortnight.
What is the outlook for A320neos in India?
The A320neo, when launched in 2014, was fast adopted by Indian carriers and Air India, Vistara, IndiGo and GoAir all have them in their fleet. Air India and Vistara continue to operate their aircraft without issues as they have a different engine manufactured by another vendor CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aviation and Safran Aircraft Engines of France. For now, their rival P&W is carrying out a root cause analysis for these travails, while trying to rectify the problem by supplying a spare engine for the 11 affected planes. Within India, there is at least a 70% chance you will be on an Airbus plane.