Lufthansa grounds subsidiary's Airbus fleet due to supply challenges

Berlin, May 5

Global aviation major Lufthansa has said that it has grounded one-third of Swiss' Airbus A220 fleet amid supply-side challenges, which it saw as having more of an impact on the aviation sector's recovery from the Covid period than passenger demand.

Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr, in his remarks as the group outlined its first-quarter 2023 performance on Wednesday, even termed these challenges as the "major driver" of the industry in the coming years, reports said.

"I'm in this industry for around 30 years - I've never seen anything like it," he said.

Spohr also said that alongside the Swiss A220s - caused by problems with their PW1500G engines - issues with Pratt & Whitney powerplants have also grounded three "brand-new airplanes" at Lufthansa mainline - PW1100G-equipped A320neo-family jets, amid a wider shortage of "basic parts" as supply chains struggle to recover from the effects of the pandemic downturn.

A220s have proven particularly vulnerable to a lack of spare engines during MRO process, as per various airlines chiefs.

The Lufthansa chief also said that the issues are not unique to the Pratt & Whitney or MRO sector, but deliveries of new aircraft are also being delayed.

"Way down in the supply chains, there are elements missing and companies need to rebuild their production facilities," Spohr noted, adding that he had discussed the matter with OEMs including Airbus and Boeing and expects the situation to continue for the time being.

Exacerbating the supply are labour shortages, he said, not in the airlines but also in suppliers, airports, and ground-services.

He said that airline capacity is likely to be restricted by supply-side dynamics for years to come.