More Trouble In The Indian Skies As DGCA Calls Urgent Meeting With GoAir, IndiGo Over Airbus Neo Planes
The aviation industry in India is likely to face more turmoil in the days ahead over the safety of the Airbus A320Neo aircraft&rsquos Pratt & Whitney P&W engine. This after the aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA called an urgent meeting with two budget carriers Indigo and Go Air to review the performance of Airbus Neo aircraft in their fleet. If the issue is not resolved the DGCA could ban the A 320 fleet altogethe...Read More
The aviation industry in India is likely to face more turmoil in the days ahead over the safety of the Airbus A320Neo aircraft¡¯s Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engine.
This, after the aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) called an urgent meeting with two budget carriers, Indigo and Go Air to review the performance of Airbus Neo aircraft in their fleet.
PTI citing sources reported that the issues related to the A320Neo aircraft¡¯s Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engine, which both the airlines have been facing for years, will be discussed at the meeting. The two budget carriers have been facing glitches in the P&W engine that powers many of their A320 planes.
The P&W engine-powered A320neo planes in the fleets of the two airlines have been facing glitches both mid-air and on-ground since their induction way back in 2016, which has also led to the grounding of some planes.
IndiGo has 79 A320 Neos, five A321 Neos, 134 A320s and 18 ATRs in its fleet of 236 aircraft. GoAir operates 35 A320 Neos and 16 A320s.
AFP
The DGCA has reportedly asked P&W to supply spare engines to the airlines to expedite the process of replacing the old engines.
Last year the DCGA had grounded nearly a dozen A320Neo aircraft after they reported multiple engine problems.
If the issue is not resolved, the DGCA could ban the A 320 fleet altogether, just like in the case of Boeing 737 Max.
The Boeing 737 Max was grounded in India earlier this year, just like in most countries around the world after two high profile crashes.
The ban had hit SpiceJet the most as it was one of the two Indian carriers which operated Boeing 737 Max, the other airline, Jet Airways had already hit turbulence and had grounded most of its fleet.
Reuters
A similar action against A320Neo could result in the grounding of a sizable fleet of both IndiGo and Go Air, which could lead to further flight cancellations, something the troubled aviation industry desperately want to avoid.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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