HARTFORD · AIR
The GTF powder-metal saga is easing — but the grounded-fleet backlog will run into 2027
The inspection wave that parked hundreds of A320neos is finally cresting. The shop-visit queue it created is the lingering problem.
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Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan powder-metal inspection campaign — the contamination issue that stranded hundreds of A320neo-family jets on the ground — has passed its peak, according to fleet data our air desk tracks. New-build engines ship with corrected material, and the accelerated inspection intervals are being relaxed on cleared examples.
The relief is real but partial. The inspections created an enormous shop-visit backlog, and engine overhaul capacity is the industry’s single tightest constraint right now. Airlines that grounded aircraft in 2024 are still waiting for slots, and the queue clears through 2027 on current throughput — which is precisely why MRO consolidation has become such an active corner of the deal market.
For operators, the financial hangover outlasts the technical fix: aircraft-on-ground compensation, leased replacement lift and disrupted growth plans all carry into next year’s accounts.
Our read: the engineering crisis is ending; the capacity crisis it triggered is only halfway through.