A320neo engines

Ultimately this could cause people to lose their jobs, not the people responsible for the GTF issues but the employees of Airlines suffering from loss of passenger confidence due to safety concerns and flight cancellations, there have been over 1000 flight cancellations as a direct result. The NEO programme has become a Ratners moment for the A320 which has been a fantastic success story until now. Airbus must take some blame for poor supplier management and poor quality control.
Time will tell if P&W can absorb the massive financial penalties. Don’t forget the temporary fix is a reversion to a seal that has known flaws so these too will need replacement once a workable fix is found. Airbus 320 deliveries are likely to be well below previous years Q1 results, I think they are going to need two Decembers this year to catch up!

CFM is about one month behind schedule on engine deliveries to the A320neo

m.aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/leap-engine-deliveries-airbus-still-challenging?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20180319_AW-05_930&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPEN1000001417277&utm_campaign=14016&utm_medium=email&elq2=b2d52ffdc7a443f8b1f0d9b9c1d5e128

Gla1967, your latest post, reminding me of the Monty Python and introducing the Trigger's broom paradox, was pleasant to read. Yet, however interesting, these cultural references are hardly more relevant to our discussion than your purported Ratner's moment. Instead, one would have expected from you an attempt at providing at least a semblance of technical basis for your harsh assertions. Unfortunately you elected to disregard the facts.

You claim your first post was factually correct, but that post did not bother with facts, it was a pure one-sided opinion piece, suggesting doom and gloom for P&W and even its customers, without any supporting arguments.

Unfortunately, engine problems unfolding after entry into service are a common occurrence in aviation. All engine providers have encountered many of them, and have eventually fixed them.

However frustrating the latest PW 1100 G problem may be, fixing it is by no means a daunting task. In an attempt to improve durability of one component, about fifty engines fitted with a new faulty seal were delivered to some customers. These seals have to be replaced, but an already fully tested short term replacement is available, which means that any disturbance in customer operations will be short-lived. Though you rightly point out that a longer term fix will have to be designed, the only known weakness of the short term replacement is insufficient durability, so that P&W has a lot of time to develop and test a new component.

This is therefore a comparatively minor issue, even though, for two Indian P&W customers, it has short term consequences. You deliberately elected to overblow them, suggesting that P&W might go under with its unlucky customers. I had the feeling of reading a British tabloid, but you might alternatively have found inspiration in some Indian newspapers.

You asked me whether I could really say ‘hand on heart that the introduction of the P&W NEO has been a well managed success?’. Of course, I would not say that, and I don’t think anybody would, since reliability over the last two years has been disappointing. This however is not our topic : we are considering the future, not the past. As you should know, the latter is often a poor predictor of the former. P&W has been struggling, but any unbiased observer would also take into account the important improvements that have already been implemented.

I would say that P&W’s remaining issues appear much more easy to address than, for instance, those Rolls-Royce is facing on the Trent 1000 (787) and the Trent 900 (A380). Anyhow, past experience strongly suggests that both manufacturers will get on top of their respective issues.

A final word on one of the ‘facts’ you quoted. SpiceJet buying the 737 MAX over the A320neo last year – and possibly increasing its order in the future - is irrelevant to our discussion. The engines are hardly a factor in the decision, since the LEAP engine is available on both aircraft (there is actually no other choice on the MAX). Furthermore, how could SpiceJet, an all-Boeing jet operator recently rescued from the verge of bankruptcy with the American manufacturer’s help, order any jet other than a Boeing ?

delivery with P&W engines resume May/June

www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/airbus-to-resume-pratt-powered-a320neo-deliveries-by-447277/