Air TransportAirbus still negotiating P&W engine volumes for A320neo production in 2026
Airbus has yet to reach an agreement with Pratt & Whitney on future engine-supply volumes for the A320neo family, according to comments made by commercial aircraft chief executive Christian Scherer during a press briefing on January 12.
Speaking as Airbus released its full-year delivery figures for 2025, Scherer said negotiations with Pratt & Whitney were still ongoing and declined to provide details, noting only that discussions cover “volumes for the foreseeable future”.
Pratt & Whitney supplies the PW1100G geared-turbofan (GTF) engine for the A320neo family, alongside the alternative Leap-1A from CFM International. Shortages of both engines had previously forced Airbus to park dozens of completed single-aisle aircraft awaiting powerplants.
Scherer said the situation had improved by the end of 2025, with the number of parked aircraft — previously exceeding 60 — reduced to what he described as a “manageable number”. He added that engines were no longer a limiting factor for single-aisle production at year-end.
Despite that improvement, Scherer acknowledged that engines for the A320neo family continued to arrive “very, very late” throughout 2025, a trend Airbus expects to persist into 2026, particularly in relation to Pratt & Whitney. “It is an issue that we need to resolve,” he said.
Airbus delivered 607 A320neo-family aircraft in 2025, with the A321neo accounting for 64% of those handovers. Scherer said demand for commercial aviation remains strong and reiterated confidence in Airbus’s plan to raise A320neo-family production to 75 aircraft per month.
“We’ll achieve this rate,” he said. “Of course it’s achievable. Supply-chain issues are there to be resolved.”
The manufacturer has not yet provided a detailed production or delivery forecast for 2026, in line with its usual practice of releasing full-year targets later in the cycle.
Airbus reported 1,000 gross aircraft orders in 2025, or 889 net orders after cancellations, both figures exceeding those recorded in 2024. Pratt & Whitney’s parent company, RTX, did not comment on the ongoing discussions.
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