Frontier Airlines’ order for Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines to power 134 Airbus A320neo-family jets represents a “flip” in suppliers not only from CFM International’s CFM56s in the airline’s classic A320s but from the Leap-1As that power its current complement of A320neos. Scheduled for first delivery next year, the Pratt GTF engines will power 49 A320neos, 67 A321neos, and 18 A321XLRs. Frontier signed the airplane order in November 2017 but hadn’t committed to an engine choice at the time. The airline now flies 104 A320-family jets and plans to retire four A319s this year.
One of four airlines in the Indigo Partners portfolio, Frontier joins Volaris in Mexico, JetSmart in Chile, and Wizz Air in Hungary as a Pratt & Whitney customer. Together, the four Indigo Partners' affiliate airlines have committed to 539 GTF-powered aircraft.
“Frontier Airlines is at the forefront of green innovation in the airline industry and this deal for advanced GTF engines from Pratt & Whitney is extremely significant in our continued action plan to reduce fuel consumption,” said Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle. “Operating with this new engine technology will result in additional fuel savings, which translates to operational cost reductions we can pass on to consumers in the form of low fares.”
Frontier plans to fly the GTF-powered A320neos on both domestic and North American international routes.