A220 engine ‘in maintenance for 386 days’ but Air Baltic chief foresees improvement
Air Baltic has seen maintenance of the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofans that power its Airbus A220-300s take months longer than expected as supply-chain and labour challenges weigh on the MRO sector, but the airline expects the situation to improve. Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Aviation Summit in Brussels in late March, Air Baltic CE Martin Gauss sang the praises of the GTF – when it is on the aircraft wing – but said availability of spare engines continues to be an issue that creates daily challenges for the airline. Gauss expresses particular frustration that having secured its summer capacity after agreeing to wet-lease four A320s from Avion Express – a deal made in response to the MRO delays – Air Baltic had to announce the short-term wet-leasing of four more aircraft barely two weeks later, when a fresh forecast on spare engine deliveries showed a deterioration in availability. “The engine itself is performing even above expectations if it’s about the fuel burn, reliability and so on,” Gauss states. “The only problem for us is to get the engine on the wing.” Amid the lack of spare engines, the airline is seeing some aircraft grounded for much longer than the 24-hour turnaround that would usually be expected when an engine is removed for maintenance, he says. Moreover, under normal circumstances, an engine would go for maintenance and be ready 60-90 days later, Gauss explains, “but that timescale can now be closer to one year”. In one case, Air Baltic had an engine “that was away for 386 days”, he states. The delays are being caused by “insufficient spare parts and insufficient labour” at the maintenance provider, the Air Baltic chief says, and says spare engines are few and far between. Despite the recent setbacks, however, Gauss believes the situation is getting “significantly better” and says Pratt & Whitney and Airbus have communicated well on the issue. “We had a forecast that showed a steep improvement,” he states of the coming months, but notes that he expects problems for Air Baltic to continue “into 2024”. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-04-10/unaligned/a220-engine-2018in-maintenance-for-386-days2019-but-air-baltic-chief-foresees-improvement
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A220 engine ‘in maintenance for 386 days’ but Air Baltic chief foresees improvement
Air Baltic has seen maintenance of the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofans that power its Airbus A220-300s take months longer than expected as supply-chain and labour challenges weigh on the MRO sector, but the airline expects the situation to improve. Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Aviation Summit in Brussels in late March, Air Baltic CE Martin Gauss sang the praises of the GTF – when it is on the aircraft wing – but said availability of spare engines continues to be an issue that creates daily challenges for the airline. Gauss expresses particular frustration that having secured its summer capacity after agreeing to wet-lease four A320s from Avion Express – a deal made in response to the MRO delays – Air Baltic had to announce the short-term wet-leasing of four more aircraft barely two weeks later, when a fresh forecast on spare engine deliveries showed a deterioration in availability. “The engine itself is performing even above expectations if it’s about the fuel burn, reliability and so on,” Gauss states. “The only problem for us is to get the engine on the wing.” Amid the lack of spare engines, the airline is seeing some aircraft grounded for much longer than the 24-hour turnaround that would usually be expected when an engine is removed for maintenance, he says. Moreover, under normal circumstances, an engine would go for maintenance and be ready 60-90 days later, Gauss explains, “but that timescale can now be closer to one year”. In one case, Air Baltic had an engine “that was away for 386 days”, he states. The delays are being caused by “insufficient spare parts and insufficient labour” at the maintenance provider, the Air Baltic chief says, and says spare engines are few and far between. Despite the recent setbacks, however, Gauss believes the situation is getting “significantly better” and says Pratt & Whitney and Airbus have communicated well on the issue. “We had a forecast that showed a steep improvement,” he states of the coming months, but notes that he expects problems for Air Baltic to continue “into 2024”. <br/>
