In the last 2.5 years, IndiGo Airbus A320 Neos have on an average seen one faulty Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines powering these planes being changed every week. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has in a RTI reply said 126 PW engines on IndiGo Neos have been replaced from 2016 to June 30, 2019. The almost once-a-week average of faulty engine replacement comes with 46 engines being replaced in calendar years 2017, 2018 each and 27 in the first six months of this year (remaining 7 in 2016). The reply details how some engines had to be taken off wings for replacement after flying for as less as 37, 59 and 69 hours.
With 430 A320/21 Neos on order, IndiGo is the world’s largest customer for this aircraft. The airline inducted its first PW-powered A320 Neo on March 11, 2016, and at present has 92 of these planes. GoAir, which has 144 A320 Neos on order, currently has 35 PW-powered Neos. The DGCA RTI reply is for IndiGo Pratt engine replacements alone and does not include figures for GoAir.
The PW engines for A320 Neos have been snag-ridden from 2016 itself. Possibly for this reason IndiGo recently opted for engines from PW competitor, CFM, for 280 Neos. Recurring snags along with the fact that India is home to the largest customer airline for the Neo – IndiGo – meant that DGCA had to prescribe more stringent checks of these engines to ensure safety.
“The high number of engine replacement is due to India’s prescribing thorough (borospic) checks of Neos’ PW engines. It is not all these 126 engines were replaced after developing snags inflight or when preparing for a flight. Many snags that led to engine replacement were revealed during checks on ground,” said a senior DGCA official. The regulator says in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (up to August), IndiGo and GoAir have seen 19 PW engine snags like in-flight shut down, air turn back, rejected take off on their Neos caused by faulty main gear box and low pressure turbine.
“Pratt-powered A320 Neos are being flown globally and not just in India. They have so far not been en masse grounded by US, European or any other aviation regulator. It is a fact 127 of the 436 PW-powered A320/21 Neos flying globally – nearly one-third – are with IndiGo and GoAir and we will not hesitate to take the harshest step of grounding them the moment it is felt that is needed to be done for safety reasons,” the official added.
In fact, in a statement issued Friday the DGCA said: “We are keeping a close watch and shall act when warranted. We also submit that we are responsible and accountable for our risk assessment and are open to all scrutiny and action.”
Comments from IndiGo and PW have been sought on the issue and are awaited.
A technical team from PW recently told DGCA it has found a software update and other modifications for the resolving the technical issues being faced by the engines currently. As reported by on August 19, India told PW that from September onwards its airlines will be allowed to accept deliveries of new A320/21 Neos only with engines that have updated software and other modifications. Similarly when PW engines on IndiGo and GoAir’s existing fleet of Neos go for servicing, they will be allowed to be fitted back on wings only if they get these updated. And finally, GoAir and IndiGo will not lease old A320/21 Neos that don’t have modified PW engines.
