After Go First, Lufthansa says it is facing issues with Pratt & Whitney engines, grounds 10 A220 aircraft

Two days after Go First blamed "faulty" Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines for the grounding of about half its fleet, German airline carrier Lufthansa AG on Thursday said they had grounded 33 per cent of its Airbus SE A220 fleet in Zurich owing to similar problems.  

Go First, controlled by the Wadia Group, filed for insolvency after blaming the US manufacturer for 'a financial crunch due to non-supply of engines... which has forced the company to ground 28 planes'. 

A report by ANI said with a backlog of subcomponent orders from Pratt & Whitey suppliers, many airlines across the world are dealing with a shortage of engines and spare parts, particularly for those on the most recent generation of narrow body "workhorse" aircraft. 

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that the idling of the narrow-body aircraft is on top of three other “brand new" aircraft with Pratt engines that are also down.  

Spohr said that "some elements are missing way down in their (P&W's) supply chains". 

It has been reported that Lufthansa runs 30 A220s under the Swiss subsidiary and the leading carrier grounded 10 aircraft for further assessment. 

Airbus has pledged to accelerate deliveries in the second half of 2023 after a lackluster output in the first quarter hurt sales and profits.  It also stated that it is "very closely monitoring" issues with Pratt's Geared Turbo Fan unit and is aware of "persistent" supply chain issues. 

Go First at NCLT 

Crisis-hit Go First on Thursday sought an interim moratorium from the National Company Law Tribunal, including restraining lessors from taking back aircraft and regulator DGCA from taking any adverse action against the airline. 

The airline also wanted fuel suppliers to continue supply for aircraft operations and not terminate the present contractual arrangements. 

NCLT on Thursday reserved its order on Go First's plea for insolvency resolution proceedings.  

The Wadia group-owned airline, which has liabilities worth Rs 11,463 crore, has cancelled all its flights for three days starting from May 3. 

The dues towards aircraft lessors are Rs 2,600 crore, according to the plea filed before NCLT. 

As on April 30, the debt exposure towards financial creditors stood at Rs 6,521 crore. 

The airline's net loss rose to Rs 3,600 crore last fiscal from Rs 1,807.8 crore in 2021-22. 

The net loss was at Rs 1,346.72 crore in 2020-21.