American Doubles Down on CFM; P&W hammered |

With Airbus throwing Pratt & Whitney under the bus this morning, here comes another dump on the engine maker. American Airlines selects CFM engines and services for Airbus A321neo fleet expansion. American’s future deliveries of Airbus A321neo aircraft will continue to be powered by the CFM LEAP-1A engine. These engines will be installed on Airbus A321neo aircraft that American ordered two years ago. As part of the expanded partnership, CFM International will continue to provide long-term maintenance for American’s CFM LEAP-1A engines for years to come. American currently operates 84 A321neo and 5 A321XLR aircraft, with 120 A321neo and 35 A321XLR on order through 2032, all powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines. The airline also has options to purchase 116 additional A320neo family aircraft from Airbus, which, if exercised, will also be outfitted with CFM LEAP-1A engines. The story here is more nuanced than many may realize. American Airlines isn't doing as well as its peers. It is the weakest of the Big Three. Sticking with CFM is the safe play for a company that has enough other issues to work through. This is not to take anything away from the LEAP engine choice - this is the right choice for American, as it uses this engine on its MAX fleet as well. But, given the fact that American's fleet renewal is slower than its peers, its A321neo overall fleet fuel burn is higher. The chart provides the evidence. [caption id="attachment_189308" align="aligncenter" width="580"] US DOT Form 41; AirInsight[/caption] Indeed, the GTF, with all its issues, is the more fuel-efficient engine. Compare the A21N (A321neo) numbers. Is this a LEAP problem, or an American Airlines deployment issue? [caption id="attachment_189309" align="aligncenter" width="580"] US DOT T2; AirInsight[/caption] Either way, American is sticking with CFM, and that's no shocker. Reliable schedules are way more valuable than a few percent of fuel burn. That's what Rick Duerloo, P&W President, said himself last year during our Asheville visit. So while it looks like the world is dumping on Pratt & Whitney this morning, here's the other side of the story. The GTF is an excellent engine delivering best-in-class fuel burn. It's just that they have a few niggling things that aren't getting fixed fast enough. It is far more annoyingto Pratt & Whitney than it is to operators. P&W gets paid when engines are operating. And for perspective, IndiGo has several AOG A320neos with LEAP engines to keep its GTF-powered A320neos company. So the engine story is bigger than what you're seeing in the media today.

US Flight Planner - US DoT On-Time Data	Airbus vs Boeing - Official OEM Data
US Airline Schedule Performance - US DoT Data	Daily OEM Production & Deliveries -

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