Photo - Airbus
Qatar Airways was dissatisfied with the extensive delay in the delivery of its A320neo, due to engine trouble Pratt & Whitney. The total Qatar threatens to cancel an order for 50 A320neo with alleged intention to acquire an aircraft model with Leap 1A engine.
Qatar was the launch customer for the A320neo, with the first unit expected to be delivered in December 2015, but it rejected the supply alleging that the engine has been certified without deliver the performance promised in the project, caused by problems during the start-up procedure , according to Qatar's statement on the Singapore Airshow, the engine trouble does not affect the promised efficiency.
"I do not want to go into details, but Qatar Airways will not accept an aircraft with the PW engines, unless they are fully corrected. Otherwise, we have no alternative but to look for a supply of engines for other manufacturers, "said Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar.
The Airbus A320neo has two engine options, with the Pratt & Whitney PurePower engine with its and the CFM Leap engine 1A, which is still in the certification process. According to CFM, the Leap engine does not suffer from poor performance at the start of the process, with similar characteristics in this phase to the current CFM56 already employed in A320ceo.
"Let me be very clear: This is not the fault of Airbus, all of them were delivered perfectly, and as you know, no plane can fly without a motor and they have huge problems with the engine in the category start," he said group CEO in an interview. He adds, "We will not cancel orders for A320neo. Our business relationship with Airbus is very strong, we have full confidence in the neo. But yes, we can cancel the entire order involving the Pratt & Whitney "
Pratt & Whitney has promised a complete solution to the problem until the month of April, as with pressure from Airbus and Qatar, but all engines manufactured before that time must be updated to operate without restrictions, as provided in the project. Qatar Airways was not the only one who refused to delivery A320neo with PW engines, Indigo keeps two aircraft stopped at Airbus due to the same problem, the aircraft await the update provided by the manufacturer before putting the equipment into operation.
