Russia’s S7 Airlines to cut staff over P&W engine issues

S7 Airlines is having to downsize its employee and flight-crew headcount in Moscow due to frequency cuts and route changes forced on it by a fifth of its aircraft being grounded over problems with their A320/1neo fleet's Pratt & Whitney engines, Kommersant reported. The engine issues are exacerbated because international sanctions against Russia make scheduling repairs on them impossible. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Russia’s biggest privately-owned airline by fleet size operates a total of 99 aircraft. Of these, 25 are currently inactive including fifteen A320neo and A321neo jets with PW1000G engines: seven of its thirty-one A320-200Ns, all four of its A321-200Ns, and all four of its A321-200NX. S7 Airlines had already said in October that its winter schedules would be cut by 10-15% compared to the previous year to account for the grounded Airbus narrowbodies. In December, S7 Group’s chairman of the board, Evgeny Elin, warned of a looming engine crunch in Russia. Sources told Kommersant that the decision to cut staff numbers in Moscow is also linked to S7’s plans to expand its presence in Russia’s regions as well as bolster its main hub at Novosibirsk, where there is less competition with other major players. S7 Group has its headquarters in Ob, Novosibirsk Oblast, in southwestern Russia. Some employees have been offered the opportunity to work at the company’s offices there or in Irkutsk, while pilots have reportedly been offered the chance to retrain with different aircraft types.<br/>