Turkish Airlines expects to ground up to 12 A321neo aircraft by the end of the year. The culprit behind this is problems with Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines. Nine aircraft have already been taken out of service.
The Recall and How It Affects Airlines
RTX, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, issued a recall for its PW1100G engines made from 2015 to 2020 in July. This recall is part of a bigger inspection that will last until 2026. It’s a global issue affecting many airlines. Turkish Airlines has these engines in its A320-200Ns and A321-200NX planes. However, the recall doesn’t hit all of Turkish Airlines’ A320neo and A321neo jets.
The airline got its A320neo planes in the latter half of 2022. All four were built that same year, so their engines might not be part of the recall. The A321neo planes have been coming in since mid-2018 and continued until August this year.
A spokesperson from Turkish Airlines mentioned that they are still talking with Pratt & Whitney. There are still some things to figure out, like which engines need fixing and what the maintenance will look like. The number of grounded planes might change. Turkish Airlines also has 45 more A321neo planes on order, making the situation more complex.
Turkish Airlines is working through engine issues that have led to the grounding of some A321neo planes. The exact number of planes affected is still not clear, and the airline is in discussions with Pratt & Whitney to find a solution.
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