With more and more aircraft with Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engines being grounded by domestic carriers, the aerospace manufacturer is considering setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India.
Sources said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked P&W to set up a local MRO facility in the light of growing engine issues and no resolution in sight.
“We are open to exploring the possibility of having a GTF engine MRO in India,” Pratt & Whitney India president and country head, Ashmita Sethi told FE. “The possibility of having such a MRO will be based on various critical factors such as the business case, competitive labour and the import of parts, among others. We are looking at all these aspects,” she added.
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While new generation P&W engines for the Airbus A320neo planes used by IndiGo and the erstwhile Go First, have been facing a series of issues for five to six years, what prompted DGCA to ask the company to set up an MRO in the country is the recent announcement by IndiGo that the number of planes to be grounded will be much higher.
On November 7, IndiGo said it expects 35 of its aircraft to be grounded in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal based on its preliminary assessment and information received from P&W on a flaw in the engine powder metal. This will be in addition to over 40 aircraft already grounded due to P&W engine issues.
Earlier, GoFirst had blamed P&W for the grounding of the airline. FE
