News just out from Reuters indicates that the problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines used on the entire Hawaiian Airlines A321neo fleet may have just ratcheted up tremendously. We hope that isn’t the case, but what was just stated and what it did to RTX, Pratt & Whitney’s parent company’s stock, is telltale.
The stock in RTX corp just hit a multi-year low as the company announced that instead of taking 60 days to inspect the geared turbofan engines, it may instead take up to 300 days per engine. That is five times longer than expected. In addition, the company said it is taking a $3 billion charge as a result of this. Reuters said that RTX just “told airlines hundreds of their Airbus jets would be grounded at any one time in coming years to check for a rare manufacturing flaw.”
This comes after Hawaiian Airlines had already announced a required reduction in flights on their 5-year old A321neo fleet in order to comply with the engine recall. The issue is that some engine components are at risk of cracking due to a rare powder metal defect. At the original announcement, RTX called for accelerated inspections that impacted only 200 engines within a sixty day window. The rest of the planes with engines in question were to be inspected within approximately one year.
Today’s announcement, however, indicates that very lengthy inspections will be required on a total of 600-700 engines across all airlines.
When the issue was first revealed, RTX said that the Pratt & Whitney engine repairs would take on average 60 days. Today, however, with the greatly extended time frame, the company said that across all airlines, “an average of 350 jets could be grounded per year through 2026, with as many as 650 jets sitting idle in the first half of 2024.”
The issues impact the engines found on the Hawaiian Airlines’ and Delta Air Lines’ narrow-body A321neo fleets. RTX said today that the massive problems on its engines “will have a significant impact on our customers.”
Reuters reported that, according to Jefferies , Hawaiian (in addition to Spirit and JetBlue) “have the largest exposure to the GTF problem.
Beat of Hawaii reached out to Hawaiian Airlines when we learned of today’s development, but as of the time of publishing, have not heard back.
Back in July when the Pratt & Whitney problem first hit Hawaiian Air.
At that time, Hawaiian Airlines confirmed flights had to be temporarily chopped, on three routes. Hawaii told us that it was making more network adjustments as a result of Pratt & Whitney’s recent announcement that some Airbus A321neo engines will require additional inspections in coming months. Here’s what Hawaiian did then:
Paused Lihue-Oakland service from Sept. 6 through Dec. 14.
Suspended, from Sept. 9 through Jan. 8, Honolulu to San Jose on Saturdays, and San Jose to Honolulu on Mondays, as well as service between Kahului and San Jose on Sundays.
Hawaiian also stopped its Kahului-Las Vegas flight through August 31 in anticipation of the upcoming Pratt & Whitney engine checks that would require some aircraft to be out of service.
Hawaiian told us at the time: “We sincerely apologize to our impacted guests for the inconvenience and are working with them on alternative travel options.” — Alex Da Silva, Hawaiian Airlines.
Still unfolding Hawaiian Airlines A321neo fleet engine recall.
In July Hawaiian was told at the very last minute prior to its own earnings call by Pratt & Whitney that some of their Airbus A321neo engines would need to be removed and returned for inspection and possible repair. The very next day, Hawaiian proactively started making schedule announcements.
Here’s what we said about the situation previously:
The extent of the required schedule changes may be more significant than the current announcement suggests. Hawaiian Airlines has not yet determined the number of aircraft that will need to be taken offline for the estimated two-month duration required for the recall work. This work involves the removal, inspection, repair, and reinstallation of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G jet engines in question. Furthermore, they are uncertain about how many of the 18 planes in their fleet will require this urgent service and where the work will be performed.
Beat of Hawaii
As the situation continues to evolve and when we hear from Hawaiian Airlines, Beat of Hawaii will offer further updates. Let us know if you have any questions.
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Has Hawaiian completed servicing to solve this problem (we’re scheduled for non stop Lax-Koa later this year).
Thanks very much!
Hi Dodge.
On our last check, yes, the planes, other than one, were all in service.
Aloha.
Whew; really appreciate the info. The flight schedule is the best by far in our many trips to Kona (HA61 departing 11:00am/arriving 1:40pm). Now we’ll move our worry list to navigating the new Hawaiian terminal.
We were due to fly to OGG tomorrow (October 5) from SJC and our flight, along with all the other flights from S.F. Bay Area airports were cancelled. Less than 24 hours notice was given, which seems terribly wrong. I took the refund and am flying United instead.
I realize fuel, crew, landing fees and other costs would rise, but as 787s get inducted and start flying, wouldn’t it make sense for Hawaiian to hang on to the A332s and deploy them on more dense routes to the US mainland, thus reducing schedule cuts?
Excellent info, with specific reference to Hawaiian, but if
I may request approval to digress, will you please expand your analysis to include other airlines also flying the A321?
My Wife and I are scheduled PHX-OGG round trip, on American A-321, in January, and are more than slightly unsettled by the prospect of flying 6 1/2 hours, over water, on plane having engines awaiting inspection.
Mahalo!
Hi Dodge.
The American A321neo fleet does not use the P&W engines that are the problem for Hawaiian and Delta.
Aloha.
Whew!
Thank you. Sure hope the state of Hawaii recognizes how valuable Beat of Hawaii is to tourism.
Hi Dodge.
Thank you!
Aloha.
Would the P&W engine recall to correct the Airbus 321neo’s engine problems also affect Delta’s operations where it operates 321neos ?
Jim E
Santa Barbara
Hi Jim.
Yes Delta’s fleet is equally impacted. One difference is that Delta has its own engine shop. We can’t say how that might improve their situation, but at least they have more direct control.
Aloha,.
We are flying HNL -> RAR on September 23 on this plane. It is a once per week flight, and there is no other option of getting to RAR without going through AKL (and I don’t know if that is even possible from HNL). RAR is capable of landing a 747, so hopefully HA would switch to an A330 if necessary (although there would be a lot of empty seats!).
Pilot friend of mine flies for UA and he said he would not set foot in one of these planes if it hasn’t been fixed.
Aloha, BOH!
Hi Ed.
Please let us know what you decide to do. Yes, getting there otherwise, will be both very time consuming and costly.
Aloha.
I think BOH did an article in April of 2 or 3 hawaiian A321 neo’s being held at HNL airport waiting for parts to repair these pratt engines. The nearest land closest to hawaii is the west coast mainland. The distance is roughly 2600 miles. Whats in between Water. Hawaiian Airlines isn’t forcing anyone to purchase their airline tickets. It’s the travelers responsibility to research what type of plane is on the booking. It says the aircraft model in the details of the flight. Hawaiian also fly’s the A330 neo. I think Delta and United also flys with the A321 neo. The reason they selected this airplane was because it obtained 25 percent better fuel economy than the Boeing 737-800max planes. Aloha and happy landings.
Thanks! I’ll go to sfo instead of smf just to get on Boeing 767. I hate one aisle planes anyway, even in 1st class.
Well, I sure hope we don’t receive any bad very last-minute notice. We are scheduled to fly on that model from Ontario (ONT) to HNK this Thursday. And return on Sep 30.
I hope Hawaiian can find alternate aircraft for those already impacted and those additional passengers who will be impacted.
I wouldn’t mind if they put a widebody on that route!!!
Aloha
Wow, this will have a big effect on flights and scheduling.
HAL will be forced to suspend more routes and probably cut back
employee work schedules and perhaps some layoffs.
The next 2 or 3 years will be a real struggle for Hawaiian.
Wow. This is completely unacceptable. Pratt & Whitney and RTX have set themselves up for a massive lawsuit. Shame on them for putting airlines in danger, as well as costing them more $$ to fix the problem. 300+ days? That’s absurd.