Swiss to Part Out Two A220-100 Aircraft

Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) has announced that it will scrap and part out two A220-100 aircraft. This is primarily driven by the shortfall of Pratt & Whitney engines, which are more valuable for the carrier’s A220-300 fleet, as the larger model is more economical and with more seats generates higher margins. In Swiss single-class configuration, the A220-100 has a capacity of 125 passengers and the A220-300 145 passengers.

Swiss currently operates nine A220-100 and 21 A220-300 aircraft in its fleet, and has decided that scrapping two of the smaller aircraft will provide the engines and other components needed to keep more of the fleet flying amid the reliability difficulties with the PW1500G engines that require a rebuild to restore reliability. The parting out of the aircraft will provide components solely for Swiss, with four of the engines from the aircraft to be installed on A220-300 aircraft in the Swiss fleet.

GTF Issues Continue

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first early part out of a GTF powered aircraft, as a number of A320neo and A220 models have been the subject of a part out for spare engines and used serviceable materials.

The two aircraft being parted out were delivered in 2016, with Swiss being a launch customer for the A220-100, then called the Bombardier C Series CS-100. The seven remaining A220-100 remain in storage, and are expected to be down for 12 more months from their grounding in October 2025. In the interim, Swiss was forced to wet lease capacity from Air Baltic, another major A220 operator, to maintain its schedule.

The Bottom Line

When engine maintenance problems are severe enough that airlines walk away from young airplanes, the costs are horrific.  Pratt & Whitney have damaged their reputation and their “Dependable Engines” motto in their logo with the on-going impacts of a powdered metal issue with components in the their Geared Turbofan GTF engines.  It takes a lot for an airline to “walk away” from relatively new aircraft, but when the costs and downtime associated with engine repairs are such that purchase and operating decisions are revisited, the problems remain serious.  

While the good news is that Pratt & Whitney is making progress on parts availability for both new production and their beleaguered existing customers with AOG situations, the bad news is that it will take the remainder of this year, and perhaps more, to catch up for both A320neo and A220 aircraft.  Swiss reached the point of no return with its A220-100 aircraft and its decision, not taken likely, to part-out two modern and efficient aircraft.  How do you compute damages when maintenance issues force a walkaway from an aircraft model?  If the lawyers get involved, we may eventually get an answer to that very question.  Stay tuned.

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