Airbus A320neos may get upgraded Pratt & Whitney engines starting this summer: CEO
Airbus expects to start getting the upgraded engines from Pratt & Whitney in for its A320neo planes this ‘summer’, its chief operating officer Tom Williams said Monday.
Williams was speaking at the Airbus Innovation Days 2016.
Williams didn’t immediately specify a month for the start of delivery of the upgraded engines. An airline executive in India said they should start coming in to airline customers by July.
IndiGo, India’s biggest local airline by market share, has ordered 430 of the Neos, the upgraded version of the most popular passenger aircraft in the world. It has opted for Pratt & Whitney engines only on the first 180. IndiGo has started getting deliveries of the aircraft. Rival budget carrier Go Air has ordered 72 of the planes.
Airbus last December informed its customers that there would be a delay in deliveries in the Neo or New Engine Option.
The main glitch was in the geared turbofan engine which takes some time to cool off before it restarts. Customers have been pushing Pratt & Whitney to speed up the start time to 90 seconds from 180 seconds.
