Good airlines ‘should not be made to suffer due to financial mismanagement’ of Go First, says Pratt

NEW DELHI: The war of words between Go First and Pratt & Whitney has escalated sharply with the US aerospace major accusing the erstwhile Wadia Group airline of “financial mismanagement.” Go First has blamed the grounding of half of its fleet of Airbus A320neo for months due to PW’s inability to supply replacement engines as the reason for its cancelling all flights since May 3.
“Currently, Go First is seeking to jump the line for engines over other customers worldwide. Airline customers, who have been in good financial standing and compliant with contracts, should not be made to suffer due to the financial mismanagement and contractual violations of one particular airline,” say PW sources.
A PW spokesperson said: “Go First’s allegations that Pratt & Whitney is responsible for its financial condition are without merit. PW will vigorously defend itself against Go’s claims, and is pursuing its own legal recourse.”
Over 50 A320neos of IndiGo and Go First have been grounded for months as PW has been unable to supply replacement engines and spares. Asked when will planes awaiting engines get the same, the American major said: “The stress on the supply chain has hindered broad industry recovery, but PW expects the supply chain to stabilise throughout 2023.
In case of Go First, which is in fact a business dispute and involves litigation, PW is complying with the arbitration order, which asks PW to take all reasonable steps to dispatch engines to GoFirst. We are invested in ALL our customers’ success.”
However, now PW is clearly worried about the reputation hit that its GTF engines that power the A320neo family of planes — the best-selling single aisle globally — are getting following Go Air episode.
The last 5-6 years first saw the GTF engines constantly develop snags with inflight shutdowns being commonly experienced by both IndiGo and Go First. Then PW came with an engine upgrade that claimed to tackle the issues leading to the constant snags. But getting these upgraded engines was not easy. Only when the Indian DGCA ordered that Airbus A320neos with older version of GTF engines won’t fly did PW expedite delivery of the same to IndiGo — the world’s biggest customer of this aircraft.
However by then IndiGo was also tired of PW GTF engine’s snags. In 2021 IndiGo ordered PW rival CFM LEAP-1A engines for 310 A320neo family of planes and is supposed to start getting them from later this year. Before 2021, the biggest Indian budget airline had only PW GTF engines on order for its Airbus fleet of neos. CFM International is a 50:50 Franco-American joint venture between GE Aviation and Safran Aircraft Engines.
PW has now hit back at Go First and reiterated the efficiency of its GTF engines at a time when Tatas are to decide between CFM and PW for the 210 Airbus A320neos ordered by them this February. Also PW has to defend GTF engines for the sake of its customer airlines.
“It is important to understand that current supply chain issues, durability enhancements, the earlier upgrades made to the GTF, and a business dispute with GoFirst are separate. The GTF engine has 1,600 aircraft with 60 airline customers, and continues to deliver its promised fuel efficiency and emissions reductions, as we work to improve durability,” the PW spokesperson said.
A senior official of an Indian carrier said: “PW promised to save fuel and the environment, but now it should promise to save customer airlines also from going Go First way.”
PW spokesperson said: “GTF is the most efficient engine in the market and allows customers to enjoy fuel savings of 16% and 50% lower emissions. The fleet currently has a world-class engine dispatch reliability of 99.98% globally – and has given savings of more than $500 million to Indian carriers ($1 billion at current ATF prices).”
PW, however, admits problems remain. “We have improved time on wing since program inception, but we are not yet at the level we expected to achieve… As with any engine development program, especially with new technology, we continue develop solutions to improve engine durability,” the engine-maker said.