IndiGo on Tuesday said it expects at least 35 planes to be grounded due to a powder metal issue with the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines during the March quarter next year.
The country’s largest airline has nearly 40 aircraft on the ground due to other issues with the P&W engines.
The carrier, which had a fleet of 334 planes at the end of September, will face capacity issues due to the significant number of grounded aircraft in the March quarter even as various measures are being taken to address the situation.
“We have recently received additional information on the powder metal issue from Pratt & Whitney,” IndiGo said.
“Based on our preliminary assessment of this, we anticipate Aircraft on Ground (AOG) in the range of mid-thirties in the fourth quarter (Jan-Mar 2024) due to accelerated engine removals. These groundings will be incremental to the current AOGs.”
Earlier this year, P&W highlighted the impact of the powder metal issue that has affected its GTF engine.