The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has extended to August, the deadline for IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) and GoAir (Mumbai International) to replace all remaining faulty Pratt & Whitney engines on their A320-200neo aircraft.
"About 60 engines are yet to be replaced by the two airlines combined. The obvious reason was Covid-19 impact and the resultant lockdown," a source told The Hindu Business Line.
The authority recognised that the very strict lockdown imposed in India effectively prevented the airlines from proceeding with their scheduled maintenance work.
The DGCA did not disclose how many engines each of the two airlines has yet to replace. The previous deadline, already extended from end-January 2020, passed on May 31. The DGCA's order follows an occurrence in which four inflight engine shutdowns occurred during a single week in November 2019.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, all 100 of IndiGo Airlines' A320neo and all 43 of GoAir's units of the type are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1127G-JM engines. However, the outstanding 230 A320neo which IndiGo Airlines has on firm order from Airbus are due to be equipped with CFM International LEAP powerplants.
While the DGCA extended the deadline for the engine replacements, it simultaneously recommended that both LCCs do not use the aircraft with older engines during the coming months. Given that neither of them operates anywhere close to full capacity at this time, the grounding of the around 30 aircraft with older engines between the two of them should be operationally possible.
