SWISS to ground entire Airbus A220-100 fleet amid engine supply issues

SWISS will ground its entire fleet of nine Airbus A220-100 aircraft at its Zurich base due to ongoing issues with the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines.

The move aims to secure enough spare engines to maintain the airline’s 21 A220-300s in service, as both variants face similar engine availability constraints.

Dennis Weber, SWISS Chief Financial Officer, stated that the decision will reduce fleet complexity and is expected to last approximately one and a half years.

The A220-100s were previously deployed on routes to airports with steep approach requirements, such as London City Airport. Helvetic Airways, a regional partner, has since taken on these services using Embraer E190-E2 and E195-E2 aircraft.

The GTF engine, considered quite efficient, as well as the CFM Leap-1, has been experiencing design problems that require an upgrade to its equipment and systems. However, Pratt & Whitney has not been able to keep up with the demand, despite opening new repair and maintenance centers in recent years.

SWISS was the launch customer for the A220, an aircraft originally developed by Bombardier as the CSeries. The first A220-100 (formerly CS100) was delivered to the European airline in June 2016.

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