Porter Does Not See A Speedy Resolution To Pratt & Whitney Engine Woes

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands—Canadian operator Porter Airlines does not see a quick fix for problems ailing the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines powering its Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.

“At any one point in time we have a significant number on the ground because of the Pratt & Whitney issue, impacting our ability to deliver our schedule,” Porter CFO Robert Palmer said during the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Americas in Grand Cayman.

The Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows Porter has an operating fleet of 39 E195-E2s, with five aircraft inactive. The carrier also operates 25 de Havilland Canada DHC-8 turboprops, with four of the aircraft inactive.

Palmer explained there is a significant number of engines that need repairs, including those powering Airbus A320neo-family aircraft and Porter’s E-Jets. “There’s not enough capacity to get these engines fixed and turned around in a reasonable amount of time, and the bigger issue is there is no fix, so we’re just continuing to cycle through error issues and repairs that we know aren’t solving the problem,” he said.

Issues can arise even when Porter receives a brand-new engine on a new aircraft. “We got an aircraft a week ago, those engines aren’t fixed,” Palmer said, adding the odds are those powerplants will probably need to be repaired.

“So the problem is just kind of perpetuating itself, where there’s not enough capacity in the system to turn engines around quicker and there’s just always engines being added,” he stated.

“We have probably anywhere up to 20% of our fleet grounded because of this issue,” Palmer said.

Even with those challenges, Palmer concluded: “They [Pratt] have been a good partner. They’ve been supportive of us. But the challenge is this has been going on for a couple of years, and it could be three more years.”

Palmer added that if the airline sees any aircraft delays, “it’s matter of months and not years.”