In what could be a major blow to Hawaii flights, some engines on these A321neo fleets need inspection, according to the manufacturer. The issues may be defective or worn components, including high-pressure turbine disks that could be linked to a 2020 uncontained engine failure.
Today the engine manufacturer’s parent company said that up to 1,200 of these engines will need to go back to Pratt and Whitney over the next 12 months. These inspections require that engines be removed from the wings and disassembled. We’ve written multiple articles about this situation previously, which you can read in the related content suggestions below.
The engines that power the Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines narrow-body fleets remain seriously troubled, which has been an ongoing issue. But today’s disclosure of such a weighty number of these fleets, which will require downtime to have engines removed from the aircraft for the required inspection, shocked the industry.
The impact on Hawaiian Airlines’ operations is far greater than it is on a much larger and more aircraft diversified Delta Air Lines. What that means in terms of upcoming flight schedules for already aircraft-constrained Hawaiian, isn’t yet clear to the airline.
Beat of Hawaii
Recall of up to 1,200 engines used on two Hawaii fleets.
The company said: “Pratt & Whitney has determined that a rare condition in powder metal used to manufacture certain engine parts will require accelerated fleet inspection.” As a result, more than a thousand engines will need to come off. That sent the stock in the company (previously Raytheon) down 14%.
Airlines like Delta and Hawaiian must quickly assess how the off-the-wing engine problems will impact their Hawaii flights that rely on these planes.
Pratt & Whitney said that it will require “a significant portion” of the engines to be removed for inspection more rapidly than was ever anticipated. Those will now need to occur in phases, with some “200 accelerated removals by mid-September of this year” and others “within the next nine to twelve months.”
Plans for these important Hawaii fleets are to be discussed today.
Pratt & Whitney’s parent, RTX, said they are “Working to minimize operational impacts and support its customers. Much of this is coming to light as two critical earnings calls occur today. RTX had their investor call already today.
The Hawaiian Airlines earnings call will happen later this morning, in which Beat of Hawaii will participate.
It isn’t yet clear what percentage of each fleet will be offline or at any one time. But it’s currently thought that perhaps 1/3 of all planes with these specific engines could be impacted.
The other A321neo fleet that flies to Hawaii is American Airlines. That is not impacted as they use an engine from a different manufacturer.
This is an ongoing problem, which Hawaiian and Delta had hoped was behind them.
But according to the manufacturer of the engines, that is not the case. To date, the airlines have suffered reliability issues that have taken (to our knowledge) up to 5 of Hawaiian’s 18-jet fleet out of service at one time. Another issue has been the slow turnaround times at the engine repair shops. This is a result of dreaded supply chain problems across the aviation industry.
How important are these planes to Hawaii travel?
These important planes are seen flying to and from Hawaii day in and day out and are a workhorse of Hawaii travel, perhaps more so than any aircraft other than the Boeing 737. Beat of Hawaii editors flew on both Hawaiian A321neo last week and Delta A321neo planes recently.
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Hello any changes on San Diego to Kahului flight 57 in Novembe
r will be our flight with Hawaiian, need to know so we don’t have to make any last minute changes, and traveling with a disabled passenger and if we have to make any changes will Hawaiian pay the difference.
Thank you
David
Hi David.
We’ll be providing all the updates we receive on this situation. Nothing yet.
Aloha.
Hawaiian should have chosen the other 321 New Engine Option from the GE/French consortium instead of the PW.
Both are substantially more efficient, although one could make the argument that the PW uses no fuel at all when in the shop!!
Thank you for the info! I am scheduled on the Delta Neo September 27th and I was excited because it was a new plane! Please keep us updated on this.
Hi Debi.
Thanks, we will do just that.
Aloha.
Thank you BOH for sharing this and other related stories about this very important matter! I would have never known about this problem if you didn’t report it.
This news is very concerning because I have a trip coming up later this year, and my reservation says I’ll be on that aircraft. I hope they get everything sorted by then or put us on a different piece of equipment.
Hi RP.
Thank you. We’ll undoubtedly be hearing from the airlines on how they plan to deal with this unforseen situation quite soon.
Aloha.
Well American is flying this neo and now I am worried. Been saving and scheduled for Sept travel and unsure why Delta and Haw. are the only ones being recalled. A neo is a neo. Will be following this story closely. Thank you BOH!
Hi Sandi.
American does not use these jet engines and is not affected by this development. Just Delta Air Lines and Hawaii Airlines.
Aloha.
Hawaiian must merge to survive. We need to save the many jobs at Hawaiian and keep the state flagship airline.
Jet blue? Alaska?
My goodness gracious Beat of Hawai’i!! You’re spot on all the time. Please tell me you will share that genie in the bottle.
I can’t believe it’s taken this long for Hawai’ian airlines to acknowledge that there’s clearly a problem with those planes. To wait this long into their peak season is pretty deft.
Mahalo Nui Loa for all you do for all of us out here.
Aloha and blessings always.
Delta could use the 757-200 as a backup if they have any left on their roster.