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S7 Group chief warns of looming engine crunch in Russia

S7 Airlines (S7, Novosibirsk) has been unable to acquire the much-anticipated Irkut-manufactured MC-21-300 narrowbody as almost all have been pre-ordered several years in advance by Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo). But this is not necessarily bad, as their new PD-14 turbofan engines have such a short service life, S7 Group’s chairman of the board of directors, Evgeny Elin, said at a recent conference.

Speaking at the Russian Industrialist Forum in St. Petersburg last week, Elin said that the engines will have only 3,600 flight hours between overhauls, in contrast to the 40,000 hours of on-wing time typical of the Franco-American CFM International CFM56. This means the engines will have to be removed and sent for overhaul every year, implying more time on the ground and less commercial service.

Even the Aviadvigatel PS-90 turbofan that powers the Il-76, Il-96, and Tu-204/Tu-214 series has a period between repairs that is almost twice as long, 6,000 hours, he added.

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