The latest issue with Pratt & Whitney jet engines is driving up demand for older aircraft as airlines scour the global fleet for spare capacity, according to the world’s biggest aircraft lessor.
(Bloomberg) — The latest issue with Pratt & Whitney jet engines is driving up demand for older aircraft as airlines scour the global fleet for spare capacity, according to the world’s biggest aircraft lessor.
The defect disclosed last week by Pratt, a unit of RTX Corp., will affect the supply of aircraft and spare engines for years, AerCap Holdings Chief Executive Officer Aengus Kelly said on a quarterly earnings call on Monday.
“With that quantum of engines coming out of the system, that is a lot of lift that won’t be in the system next year, and possibly stretching into 2025,” Kelly said. One result will be greater demand for older planes, he said, adding that operators are buying aircraft that are 18 or 19 years old from AerCap.
Pratt’s geared turbofan is one of two engine choices on Airbus SE’s A320 narrowbody, the world’s top selling aircraft. The US enginemaker is likely to resolve the issues disclosed last week, with fixes starting to roll out by year-end, Kelly said.
Over the next 12 months, the US enginemaker will need to remove and inspect some 1,200 engines made between 2015 and 2021 due to a rare condition in the powder metal used in some parts of the turbine.
While Airbus doesn’t expect the issue to impact output in 2023, CEO Guillaume Faury said last week that “when it comes to ’24, ’25, there’s a lot of work to be done on the indirect potential consequences that a lot of work at Pratt could mean.”
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