India warns to ground Airbus aircraft after engine failures

Bloomberg

Close to 30 Airbus SE A320neo jets operated by two Indian airlines will be grounded if they don’t update some Pratt & Whitney engines within 15 days, the nation’s aviation safety regulator said.
IndiGo, India’s biggest carrier, and rival Go Airlines India Ltd won’t be allowed to fly planes fitted with two unmodified PW1100-series engines that have been in operation more than 2,900 hours, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said following three in-flight engine shutdowns on IndiGo planes.
Failing that, about 16 IndiGo jets would have to be idled, together with 13 at GoAir, the DGCA said in a statement. The airlines together have more than 100 A320neo planes in their fleet.
Pratt & Whitney has suffered delivery delays and groundings in India after spending $10 billion on fuel-efficient geared-turbofan engines for single-aisle jets.
IndiGo, the biggest A320neo customer, decided in June to switch away from the United Technologies Corp unit, ordering $20 billion of rival power-plants from the CFM venture of General Electric (GE) and France’s Safran.
The company didn’t specify an engine type in a mammoth new order for the Airbus model also revealed.
Indian aviation officials held a meeting with IndiGo executives after visiting the airline to review maintenance and safety data in the wake of the in-flight failures. In August, the DGCA ordered IndiGo and GoAir to not accept planes without at least one modified version of the PW1100.
The latest glitches follow 15 in-flight shutdowns, turnarounds or rejected takeoffs that Indian carriers have experienced due to failure of the engine model’s low-pressure turbine in the three years through August, according to the DGCA.
Among other carriers, state-owned Air India and Vistara haven’t been affected as its A320neos are all CFM-powered.
Pratt said in a statement that it’s working with airline customers to incorporate upgrades and improve the durability of the low pressure turbine in the PW1100G-JM engine.
“We certified hardware improvements which are incorporated into all new-production engines and during planned maintenance visits,” it said.
“We are committed to supporting our customers to ensure minimal disruption during the fleet retrofit.”
An IndiGo spokeswoman said the airline continues to work with authorities and will take required action.
Airbus is supporting its customer in its daily operations along with the engine maker, a company spokesman said.

IndiGo shares head for biggest gain since 2016
Bloomberg

Indian budget airline IndiGo headed for its biggest gain in more than three years after placing a blockbuster order with Airbus SE worth over $30 billion at sticker prices.
Shares of IndiGo’s operator InterGlobe Aviation surged more than 8% in Mumbai, in line for their best daily advance since early 2016. The stock is still below a record high of 1,898.85 rupees ($26.76) hit on September 30, after slipping through
October.
IndiGo’s order for 300 jets from the A320neo family, including the XLR long-range variant, sets it up for a sustained expansion and could help consolidate its lead in India, the world’s fastest-growing major aviation market last year.
Asia’s biggest budget carrier by market value has ordered more than 800 Airbus jets in the past 15 years as it embarks on an ambitious overseas expansion. “IndiGo may be trying to gain beneficial pricing in a difficult sales year,” said George Ferguson, a senior aerospace analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.