Why Parting Out A220-100s Makes SWISS Sense

Parting out aircraft that are not even ten years old: it seems insane and beyond any logic, but it is happening more and more. The latest airline to join this trend is SWISS, which will tear down two Airbus A220-100s for spares. What is behind this decision? We asked the airline. To confirm: SWISS is not the first to part out young aircraft. EirTrade Aviation Partners said in February that it would part out two former Spirit Airlines A320neos that were only 3,5 and 4 years old to support aircraft on ground. In November, the company took possession of two six-year-old former IndiGo A320neos. In both cases, the individual parts – especially the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofans – were more valuable than the entire airframe. It is the same for some Emirates A380s. When SWISS did its calculations, it came to the same conclusion. The airline has operated nine A220-100s and 21 A220-300s, all ordered at the 2008 Farnborough Airshow by launch customer and parent Lufthansa Group when the aircraft was still known as the Bombardier CSeries. The first A220-100 was delivered in 2016 and entered service just after that year’s Farnborough Airshow. The -100 with 125 seats performed well in the early days and allowed SWISS to operate it efficiently to London City Airport with its steep approach and climb procedures. But the larger -300 has always been the favourite of the two models, confirming the trend of upgauging and thanks to 145 seats. While much appreciated by customers, the A220 has caused SWISS – and many other operators – many headaches because of the poor durability of the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines. Aircraft were grounded for engine repairs and maintenance for prolonged periods of time, forcing SWISS to wet-lease capacity elsewhere. SWISS suffered two uncontained engine failures on the -300 during climb that forced P&W into further redesign of the GTF. [caption id="attachment_192439" align="aligncenter" width="673"] Pratt & Whitney PW1500G[/caption] Reliability Last year, the airline decided that it would park all A220-100s, initially until further notice. This plan has now changed and includes the parting out of two aircraft, as was first reported by Aviation Week. Commenting on the decision, SWISS tells AirInsight: “To increase planning reliability, we decided to take all nine of our A220-100s out of service. Seven aircraft will be temporarily parked for around 18 months. Two A220-100s will not be reactivated but will be retired from the fleet and parted out. By parting out these aircraft, we secure specific components for our own use.” “The background to this decision is the still challenging global availability of components for the Airbus A220 fleet. With this measure, we strengthen the technical availability of our A220-300 fleet and gain additional planning certainty. The A220-300 has more seats than the A220-100, so if we can keep this larger subfleet flying reliably, this directly benefits a higher number of passengers. Can we then use the freed-up resources specifically to support the reliable operation of the A220-300, so that we can continue to offer our customers a stable and dependable flight schedule?” Toulouse The two aircraft to be parted out have registration HB-JBC and JBD. The latter was ferried to Toulouse Francazal on January 5; the former arrived there on January 16. JBC was delivered to SWISS in October 2016, JBD in December that same year. “They will be retired from the fleet and parted out. In this context, we speak of a teardown or “part-out”. By parting out these two aircraft, we secure specific components for our own needs. In total, we will take over around 2,000 selected parts as well as the engines and use them to build up our own spare parts stock, while we sell the remaining components.” Asked if SWISS considered selling the aircraft, the spokesperson says: “Selling the aircraft as complete frames was not a viable option for us because we need the components to stabilise our active A220 fleet.” The remaining A220s will be retired in due course. “Of the seven remaining A220-100s, three are currently parked in Toulouse. Over the coming months, we will take the remaining aircraft out of operation step by step and park them temporarily as well. We continuously monitor how the operation is running and adjust the timing if needed. Our goal remains the same: we want to use the freed-up staff, parts and capacity so that our A220-300 fleet can operate as reliably as possible for our customers.” Data from FlightAware shows that the first A220-100 that was delivered to SWISS in June 2016 (HB-JBA) has been out of service since May 6 and is parked in Zurich. JBE is also in Toulouse and arrived on April 7, as is JBH since May 5. HB-JBG has been parked at Maastricht Aachen Airport in the South of the Netherlands since November 14, 2024. HB-JBF and JBI are the only active aircraft. JBF last flew on May 31 and arrived in Zurich from a service to Berlin. JBI, delivered in July 2019 as the last of nine and the only one as A220-100, was active on June 1. While the future of the -100 seems over at SWISS, the airline’s official position is that no decision has been made. “At the moment, we are focusing on the A220-300. This helps us to keep our schedule stable and operate more reliably. What this will mean in the long run for the smaller A220-100s is still open.” Not the first The SWISS aircraft are not the first A220s that have been parted out. Three former CS100 test aircraft have also been partially scrapped. So is Delta Airlines A220-300 N560AZ, whereas Azorra A220-300s N562AZ and N563AZ have been fully scrapped, and N607BU is partly scrapped. JetBlue N300BJ and airBaltic YL-AAO were written off in incidents during repairs, according to data from Planespotters.

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