ITA Airways Considers Legal Action Against Pratt & Whitney for Engine Issues
ITA Airways Faces Fleet Groundings and Considers Legal Steps
By Allison Lampert
Background on the Engine Issues
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 7 (Reuters) - Italy’s ITA Airways will decide within the next eight weeks whether to sue aerospace supplier RTX’s Pratt & Whitney due to engine problems that have grounded almost 20% of its fleet of 80 aircraft, the carrier’s CEO told Reuters on Sunday.
Impact on Airbus A320neo Fleet
Hundreds of A320neo planes, the latest version of the Airbus single-aisle jets, have been grounded globally.
Causes of the Groundings
This has been partly due to long waiting times for engine inspections and repairs, and after a manufacturing problem at Pratt & Whitney put pressure on the output of the GTF engines in the Airbus planes.
Statements from ITA Airways and Industry Response
“It’s imminent,” Joerg Eberhart, CEO of ITA Airways said on the sidelines of a global gathering of top airline executives in Rio de Janeiro. “We will have to decide within the next six to eight weeks.”
Pratt & Whitney's Response
RTX did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Rio de Janeiro, editing by Manuela Andreoni)
