Lufthansa relies on older aircraft as engine woes ground A320neo

Deutsche Lufthansa AG plans to extend the service life of older Airbus A320 models and lease dozens of aircraft to soften the fallout from the partial grounding of A320neo jetliners hit with an extensive recall caused by engine flaws.

The German carrier, among the biggest customers of Airbus SE’s most popular aircraft family, expects to have 20 of its A320neo aircraft out of service at any given time over the next few years due to repairs of their Pratt and Whitney engines, Spohr told reporters Tuesday.

While it’s still assessing the full impact of the recall ordered by the US manufacturer for most of its PW1100 turbines, Lufthansa is planning for years of disruption — while also seeing an opportunity to handle some of the repairs through its maintenance unit.

Speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce Aerospace Summit, Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said the airline is also mixing and matching engines so that planes aren’t grounded when the geared turbofan, or GTF, engine by Pratt & Whitney comes off the wing for inspection and possible repair. 

“It’s too early to give more detailed numbers, but this will have a significant impact on us,” Spohr said. He described the Pratt issue as one of the greatest engine disruptions the industry has seen in recent years, with the crunch being the worst in 2024.

Another response to the disruption is what Spohr called “potential network trims,” though he said the focus is on the other two measures in order to keep such reductions at a minimum. 

Pratt parent RTX Corp. said on Monday that about 3,000 geared turbofan engines must be removed over the next three years to check for potentially flawed components made from contaminated metal powder. That represents most of the roughly 3,200 GTF engines currently in service on the jets. 

Spohr said the aviation supply side remains “very stressed” and will require some time to sort itself out. At the same time, demand for premium leisure travel is the strongest it has been in the last three to four decades, Spohr said. 

Lufthansa operates about 400 weekly flights to the US, and Spohr said that number could “easily be more if we had more airplanes.”

“There are many industries where premium products and people spending more has led the way, now it’s really arrived in aviation,” the CEO said.