A couple of days after one of India’s oldest airlines Go First grounded its fleet due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues, another airline is fallen prey to supply chain woes. The Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) has grounded all Iraqi Airways’ Airbus A220s.
The notice read: “In reference to the operator of the two aircraft (A220-300) with the registration (YI-ARI) and (YI-ARG) operating within your company’s fleet. We ask you to completely (and immediately) stop the operations on all your A220-300 until further notice and until the investigation procedures are completed. Please inform us of your procedures as soon as possible.”
Iraqi Airways operates four Airbus A220-300 variants. All are under two years old, with the first aircraft delivered in November 2021. The youngest of the lot was delivered just this January 2023, and is one of the two aircraft mentioned by the ICAA in its communication.
The Airbus A220-300 is exclusively powered by the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan (GTF) PW1000G aircraft engine family, the PW1500G model. Many operators of the PW1000G aircraft engine family have encountered problems with the engine, with Pratt & Whitney experiencing turnaround time delays while repairing the power plant and struggling to provide replacements for grounded engines.
The problems with supply chain affecting GTF planned maintenance have been persistent with many airlines forced to lease additional aircraft while waiting for engine spares to arrive. As per the sources, secondary problems are impacting the airlines in hot, humid and dusty conditions.
Meanwhile airlines like Air Tanzania and Air Senegal are also facing engine failure issues on their A220s. EgyptAir has seven of its 12 A220s grounded due to engine issues, while Air Senegal’s single A220 is also grounded due to lack of spares.