IndiGo, India's biggest carrier in terms of domestic market share and fleet, on October 25 said that its grounded aircraft will reduce to mid-40 planes by April 2025 or the start of 2025-26 from a high of 60 as of the end of September.
The low-cost airline's management said in its post-earnings conference call that the high-60 aircraft on the ground (AOG) include aircraft that are either waiting for parts due to supply-chain challenges or undergoing inspections after Pratt & Whitney (P&W) recalled hundreds of PW1100G engines.
IndiGo has received word from P&W that the aircraft grounded due to defects with powder metal used to make some of the popular Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines - a flaw that can cause cracks - will be addressed, thereby enabling the airline to start operation of around 35 grounded aircraft by April 2025.
Gaurav Negi, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of IndiGo, on October 25 also said that as IndiGo starts operating its grounded aircraft it will return damp leased aircraft thereby reducing its rising aircraft and engine rentals costs.
Negi added that IndiGo's AOGs have started to reduce and going forward IndiGo's spending on AOG mitigation measures will reduce thereby helping its financial performance in the coming quarters.
IndiGo's Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers also said IndiGo had reached a peak of mid-70 AOG (Aircraft on Ground) in July-September quarter, but the situation has since then improved and AOGs are reducing.
Elbers also said that the IndiGo reported a loss of Rs 987 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 mainly due to a rise in fuel costs, which was on account of a few states increasing value-added-tax on jet fuel and due to a rise in cost to make up for AOGs.
In Q2FY25 IndiGo's aircraft and engine rentals costs have risen nearly four times to Rs 763.6 crore from Rs 195.6 crore a year ago.
The parent company of Pratt & Whitney, RTX Corp, had in September 2023 announced that about 600 to 700 engines would be recalled for shop visits through 2026, after the turbine engine used on new Airbus A320neo models were founded to be manufactured with flawed components. This had caused the grounding hundreds of aircraft and affect nearly the entire fleet of GTF-powered Airbus A320neos since September 2023.
The company estimated an average of 350 Airbus A320 family planes per year will be grounded from next year through 2026. The original equipment manufacturer had said it expects the issue to cost up to $7 billion.
Elbers also highlighted that IndiGo will launch flights to Penang and Langkawi in Malaysia in the next few months. He also said that IndiGo's newly launched loyalty programme will help the airline garner a higher market share of international customers.
Pieter Elbers also said that IndiGo has increased it aircraft pilot training capacity by 60 percent in 2024-25 with the launch of two new facilities and that the airline is better prepared for fog related operational disruptions for the upcoming winters after learning from last year.
IndiGo had facing slack from customers and the government due to delayed and cancelled flights, last year in the winters. On January 30, 2024, after IndiGo canceled a Delhi-Deoghar flight owing to bad weather, a number of enraged customers rallied inside the Delhi airport and chanted anti-airline slogans.
Elbers also pointed out that IndiGo is on course to launch its business class product in three week on the Delhi-Mumbai route, bookings for same have started.
The low-cost carrier is also confident of meeting its capacity guidance for 2024-25 and will increase its fleet by mid teen percent when compared on-year by the end of 2024-25.
The airline had 410 aircraft in its fleet at the end of the quarter, up from 382 in the previous quarter. IndiGo operated at a peak of 2,161 daily flights during the quarter including non-scheduled flight.
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