Flight Friday: How Are The Engine Makers' Tech Updates Affecting Flight Hours?

This week’s #FlightFriday looks at a popular question the Aviation Week team has been asked at our latest event, MRO Europe.

The A320 and B737 families, their utilization, and what are the impacts of the issues caused by both Pratt & Whitney and CFM’s ‘Tech updates’ that are required.

Taking a view of total flight hours, by month, for passenger aircraft, we can see that pre-pandemic, the A320ceos had about 20% greater monthly hours than the B737NG.

During the months' post-pandemic outbreak, we have seen these two types track very closely to each other.

After the MAX we re-certified in December 2020, and with deliveries allowed to resume, you can see MAX flight hours grow.

During the pandemic, Airbus continued to build and deliver, albeit at a lower rate the A320neo family aircraft, which meant that their total monthly flight hours continued to grow.

As of September, the A320 family accounts for 58% of total hours (38% CEO, 20% NEO), and the B737 makes up the remainder (32% NG, 10% MAX).

This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization tool.