Air New Zealand is the latest airline to experience the effects of Pratt & Whitney engine shortages. In a recent announcement, the airline confirmed it would ground two A321neo aircraft during the Southern Hemisphere winter period. Air New Zealand’s Group GM of Engineering and Maintenance, Brett Daley, explained, “Essentially, we don’t have enough engines. Due to Pratt & Whitney engine availability issues affecting airlines globally, engines on our A320neo and A321neo aircraft are being impacted. This issue is not unique to Air New Zealand.”
Aircraft Details and Configuration
Currently, Air New Zealand operates seventeen A320-200s, six A320neo, and ten A321neo. These aircraft are crucial to the carrier’s domestic and short-haul international operations. The aircraft facing grounding are ZK-OYA and ZK-OYC, delivered to the airline in October 2022 and February 2023, respectively.
Both aircraft feature Air New Zealand’s domestic configuration – an all-economy class cabin seating 217 passengers in 37 rows. The engines, PW1133G-JMs from the PW1000 family type, will be taken from ZK-OYA and ZK-OYC and fitted onto internationally configured A321neo. These cabins, with 214 seats in 37 rooms, offer multiple rows with extra seat pitch, providing “more options” for Air New Zealand regarding flight destinations.
Passenger Impact and Future Plans
New Zealand media reports estimate that around 150,000 passengers will be affected by the grounding. However, this is spread over an extended period, and the impact is generally limited to flight retiming within 90 minutes of the original departure time. Approximately 4,000 passengers will experience more significant disruptions, primarily those traveling to destinations with limited services, such as Port Vila and Niue.
According to ch-aviation schedules data, Air New Zealand uses its A321neo on some flights on domestic sectors between Auckland and Christchurch, Wellington, and Queenstown. The internationally configured version serves Adelaide, Gold Coast Coolangatta, Apia Faleolo, Melbourne Tullamarine, Nadi, Sydney Kingsford Smith, and Tongatapu.
Daley reassured, “We’re really fortunate that because we’ve proactively managed this, we’re only seeing two airframes impacted.” Pratt and Whitney anticipate their supply chain pressures will ease later this year. Meanwhile, Air New Zealand is actively searching for suitable aircraft to lease short-term to offset any other unexpected groundings.
Source: Ch-Aviation
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