Flight testing of the A320 Neo equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines are interrupted for two months. Only the A320 with CFM Leap engine continues its trials.
Although minimized by Airbus, the problems encountered on the new PW1100G Pratt & Whitney, which is to equip the first A320 Neo, may have an impact on the delivery schedule of the new best seller. Following doubts about the build quality of a minor part of the engine, Airbus had to stop there already two months ago, flight testing on the A320 Neo equipped with Pratt & Whitney engine, which had made its first flight in September. Despite these two lost months, Airbus has maintained its target for first delivery of an A320 Neo equipped with the PW1100G to Qatar Airways' fourth quarter 2015 ". But according to the head of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, the manufacturer has already announced his delay. "Airbus has warned us that there would be late ... not a long delay, but even when a delay," said Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways boss, on the sidelines of the IATA conference in Miami.
The A320neo will not go to Paris Air Show
The Pratt & Whitney engine problems have already forced Airbus to forego present the A320 Neo the next Paris Air Show, where he was to make his first public appearance. No date has yet been set for the resumption of flights. At a press conference on 28 but the director of Airbus programs, Didier Evrard, considered that the resumption of flights was "a matter of days." Today, Airbus communication services prefer to evoke a recovery "in coming weeks", while stressing that the A320 Neo is not totally grounded as flight testing continues with the first copy with CFM engine, jointly developed by Safran-Snecma and GE.
The previous Bombardier
In 2013, the Québec aircraft manufacturer Bombardier was the pause for nearly four months test flights of its new model, the CSeries, following the explosion on the ground of a Pratt & Whitney engine, based on the same concept Technical fan drive gear (RWG) than the A320 Neo. Airbus problems apparently have no connection with those of Bombardier, but they are one more stone in the garden of Pratt & Whitney, which did not need that. The US engine manufacturer, which has staked everything on the GTF technology to come back strong in the market for single-aisle, remains far behind by CFM International, the joint venture of GE and Safran, whose new Leap engine caught 70% of the market single-aisle and 56% of the A320 Neo market according to CFM leaders. More than 8,900 orders at the end of May, the equivalent of 5 years of production. Two weeks after its first flight on an A320, the Leap-1A has already made 19 test flights with no known problem and Safran's leaders seem quite confident about their ability to meet their commitments for certification this summer to an entry into service early 2016, at SAS.
CFM is racing ahead
A start on the run, helped by the difficulties of Pratt. "The trials with Pratt & Whitney is interrupted, the team of Airbus flight test focuses 100% on the A320 Leap. This allows us to fly much "explains Philippe Petitcolin, the CEO of Safran. Party with a few months behind Pratt & Whitney in the race for the A320 Neo, CFM Leap could enter service at the same time, if not before. However, the Safran boss does not intend to be able to replace, if needed, to US rival for the first deliveries of A320 Neo. "We have very ambitious targets certification and production ramp-up of production, he said. We focus on our commitments. But we can not commit at this stage, on additional production volumes. If Airbus was having to supply an engine problem, it would necessarily with CFM-56. "