In a development of events, Iraqi Airways revealed, in a statement, that Airbus had admitted its knowledge of manufacturing defects in Pratt & Whitney engines. These defects force operators to run the engines for less than 800 hours. Airbus also added, according to Iraq Airways' statement, that the American manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has become in great trouble in terms of non-compliance with the supply of spare parts for this engine in a timely manner, as it suffers from a shortage and slow supply of spare parts for airlines that have become suffering from this engine.
Based on Iraq Airways Facebook statement, other international airlines are suffering issues with the A220-300. The statement gave a few examples.
- Recently, the German Lufthansa Group announced that it would stop a third of its aircraft of this type due to engine problems.
- Go First, India's third-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy blaming Pratt & Whitney engines. The Indian carrier operates a large fleet of A320neos powered by faulty P&W engines, that kept half of the fleet grounded. That affected the carrier's operation schedules and caused massive losses.
- Egypt's flag carrier, Egyptair, which operates a fleet of 12 A220-300s, suffers the same engine issues that also ground half of the fleet.
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| Source: planesspotters.com |
Unlike other aircraft that have alternate engines choices, Airbus A220-300 is powered by a single choice of Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofan engines under its wings, the twinjet features fly-by-wire flight controls, a carbon composite wing, an aluminum-lithium fuselage, and optimised aerodynamics for better fuel efficiency.