Airbus Switches Engine Type for First A321neo Flight
February 07 2016 - 8:30PM
Dow Jones News
Airbus Group SE will fly the largest version of its new
single-aisle plane for the first time as early as this week, though
using different engines than originally planned.
The plane maker has dropped plans to use engines made by Pratt
& Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., for the maiden
flight of the A321neo aircraft in favor of ones manufactured by CFM
International, a joint venture between General Electric Co. and
France's Safran SA.
The European company had long said it would fly the maiden
flight with its Pratt-powered test aircraft first, so the shift is
unusual given the years of advanced planning aerospace companies
make for new jets.
Airbus has already adjusted production plans to push more
Pratt-powered A320neo family deliveries into the second half of
2016, in part to ease pressures on the engine maker. Airbus has
already missed a goal of handing over the first A320neo plane by
the end of 2015 because of engine problems. The first was delivered
to Deutsche Lufthansa AG last month.
The new Airbus single-aisle jets are offered with a choice of
engines, while the rival Boeing Co. 737 Max, which flew for the
first time last month, offers only a version of the CFM engine.
Pratt & Whitney has garnered orders for thousands of its new
fuel-efficient Geared Turbofan Engines, which are critical to the
future growth prospects of United Technologies in the commercial
aerospace industry, but the power plant has suffered early teething
troubles.
Airbus said the first A321neo with CFM engines would fly "in the
coming days," with the Pratt & Whitney-powered version
following "in the coming weeks." It played down the switch to the
CFM engines and said "it doesn't matter which engine comes
first."
Pratt & Whitney is already having to juggle engines for the
A321neo test program, a person familiar with the company's efforts
said. The A321neo maiden flight will use engines intended for a
Qatar Airways A320neo jet. Those engines are available after the
Doha-based carrier last year stepped back from its role as launch
operator of the A320neo to allow the resolution of an issue that
caused the engines to take longer to start.
Pratt & Whitney declined to comment on why it had fallen
behind its rival in the flight test sequence, and said it was in
talks with customers about delivery plans. Pratt, which has said
its engine is meeting key fuel-burn targets, is still working on
implementing fixes for some operational shortcomings on the
design.
United Technologies Chief Executive Gregory Hayes has moved to
reassure investors about the engine's progress. "These engines
don't take long to assemble," he told investors last month. "It's a
question of just making sure all of the parts are there on time,
and that's what the focus is going to be at Pratt as well as
driving the cost down."
Availability of engines this year for Airbus's plane is still
affected by supply-chain hiccups that Pratt & Whitney suffered
in 2015, even though the engine maker has since resolved the issue,
according to a person familiar with its plans.
"They have been struggling with a series of small issues,"
Airbus Chief Executive Fabrice Bré gier said last month of Pratt
& Whitney.
Airbus and Boeing have built huge a backlog of orders for their
new workhorse single-aisle jets, boosting output and placing
unprecedented pressure on their production capacity and that of
suppliers to meet demand.
Delivery delays can hurt manufacturers and customers. Shares in
Indian budget airline IndiGo slumped after Airbus said it would be
late in handing over the carrier's first A320neo. Airbus and Boeing
in the past have had to make financial compensation to airlines
when planes were delivered late, though no customers have publicly
requested remuneration.
Ted Mann
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com and Jon Ostrower at
jon.ostrower@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 07, 2016 20:15 ET (01:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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