IndiGo Will Send 13 Engines To US-Based Pratt & Whitney For Inspection: Report

IndiGo, country’s largest domestic airline, will send 13 engines for inspection to the manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. Last month, the US-based company had said that 1,200 engines across the world would need inspection. According to a Mint report, out of the 13 engines, two are still operational and remaining 11 are from grounded aircraft. 

Pratt & Whitney has been in news for a while as it also used to supply aircraft engines to insolvency hit airline GoFirst.  The company had stated that around 1,200 PW1100G engines will be removed from operating aircraft globally for inspection. According to the manufacturer, it is to be done in the next 9 to 12 weeks. 

IndiGo and GoFirst are only the Indian companies using PW1100-run A320neo engines in their aircraft. In 2019, the Indian Civil Aviation regulator DGCA ordered GoFirst and IndiGo to make some modifications in their A320neo aircraft fitted with P&W engines.  

IndiGo has 312 aircraft in its fleet and out of those, approximately 45 aircraft are grounded due to some maintenance work and shortage of engines and spare parts. In 2012, IndiGo had signed a definitive pact with P&W for PurePower PW1100G-JM engines for 150 A320neo family aircraft. The airline then shifted to another US engine making company CFM for LEAP-1A for a total of 590 IndiGo A320neo family aircraft.  

The recent issue is related to the metal used in PW1100G engines. The inspection of engines has become crucial as Pratt&Whitney detected a rare situation in which the powdered metal which is used to make certain engine parts may reduce the life of the engines.