India’s IndiGo completes A320neo engine replacement drive

IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi Int’l) has replaced faulty Pratt & Whitney PW1000-family engines powering all of its 128 A320neo Family twinjets ahead of a August 31, 2020, deadline given to it by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), CNBC-TV18 has reported. The low-cost carrier completed the engine replacement on 109 A320-200Ns powered by PW1127G-JM powerplants and nineteen A321-200Ns powered by PW1133G-JMs by August 27, sources said. So far, IndiGo Airlines, which is the world’s largest A320neo Family customer, has exclusively opted for Pratt & Whitney engines to power its new generation narrowbodies. However, in light of the problems with the engines, in 2019 it signed a deal with CFM International for LEAP-1A engines. All of its outstanding firm-ordered 222 A320neo and 379 A321neo will be powered by the LEAP engines. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the carrier operates 108 A320-200s which are powered by International Aero Engines V2527-A5s (ninety-four aircraft) and CFM56-5B4/Ps (eight aircraft). However, while IndiGo completed the replacement of its Pratt & Whitney engines, rival LCC GoAir (G8, Mumbai Int’l) will unlikely fail to meet the August 31 deadline, despite having a much smaller fleet of just forty-three PW1127G-JM-powered A320neo. The DGCA was reportedly prepared to extend the deadline given the fact that a large share of GoAir’s fleet is grounded anyways due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the airline is able to operate its full schedule using only aircraft which have already had their engines replaced.