Pratty & Whitney (P&W) continues to work on multiple fronts to manage supply chain challenges as it strives to keep up with surging demand, particularly as Airbus seeks to increase production.
Rick Deurloo, president of Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines, told reporters at the 2022 Farnborough Airshow demand has returned “even greater than we would’ve anticipated back in the 2020-21 timeframe. It’s almost insatiable for our airline customers.”
He pointed to Airbus’s target of raising A320 production from 50 a month to 75 by 2025 and called it an opportunity but also cautioned on the ability to meet that goal. “We see the demand. We don’t question rate 75. It’s more of a timing,” Deurloo said. “I think Airbus would like to get us in sooner than what we think we'll be capable of. We'd like to hit that rate sometime in the 2026 timeframe.”
He added that P&W continues to iron out the rate plans with Airbus. “Obviously they’re pushing us to do better but we’re being balanced knowing we have the Advantage engine coming in.” He said the addition of the next generation of the Geared Turbofan engine will require an “industrial play.” At the same time, P&W is acclerating its MRO activities and needs to accommodate resources for materials around that as well.
All this comes as P&W makes strides to catch up on delivery slippages to Airbus that had come with supply chain challenges.
P&W president Shane Eddy said the engine maker acknowledged earlier this year that it hadn't kept up with its delivery commitments to Airbus. “It’s no secret around the industry…there are real issues with the labor force out there as the economy's recovering,” he noted.
Greg Hayes, CEO of Raytheon Technologies, told analysts earlier this year that castings have proved a particular problem given a shortage of welders. “The Omicron [Covid] variant had a significant impact on not just our workforce but our supplier's workforce,” Hayes had said, stressing the company monitors the situation every day.
Eddy, however, was encouraged that by the second quarter, P&W’s output “was largely where we had said it was going to be. So, we are trending toward recovery...Certainly we’re not happy about the position that we’re in right now. We’re not happy about…putting stress on our customers, whether it’s on the OEM side or the flying fleet that is expecting to operate.” Eddy reiterated, “I think we're seeing that recovery.”
Raquel Rivera, senior v-p of operations and supply chain, added that P&W is closely tracking ramp-up plans, hiring activities, training, and certifications. The company has more than 100 employees deployed to work with its suppliers. P&W also is investing in equipment to support the future ramp-up.
Rivera outlined three strategies that P&W has taken to address the problems, including increased visibility into supplier activities. P&W is also offering some of its search capacity to its suppliers, along with deploying technical resources.