Thursday, November 11, 2010

A380 Engine Swaps Strain Airline Operations

The decisions by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Lufthansa to replace Trent 900 engines on parts of their Airbus A380 fleets indicates continued uncertainty over what prompted the uncontained engine failure on a Qantas Airways A380 and is highlighting the operational strains when one of the mega-transports is not available.

There is still no clear evidence linking the various Trent 900 issues, with Lufthansa saying its single engine change is not linked to concerns over oil, which are prompting SIA to replace three Trent 900 on three different A380s as a precautionary measure. Qantas has found oil leeks on some of its Trent 900s since grounding the A380 fleet in the wake of the QF32 incident.

But the upheaval in A380 operations – the first significant disruptions for the Airbus flagship since it entered service in 2007 – also is highlighting the challenges airlines face when having to replace an A380 in day-to-day operations. To mitigate the effects, Lufthansa, for instance, is rushing to make its engine change so it will not have to miss another flight.

Immediately after the QF32 incident on November 4, Lufthansa undertook extra inspections of its Model aircraft, forcing the airline to schedule another aircraft on a flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, but it only had an A340-300 on hand with far lower seating capacity. As a result, it put the A340-300 on the route to Cape Town and used the A340-600 scheduled for that flight on the Johannesburg leg. Additionally, some passengers were rebooked on South African Airways and still some were left stranded in Frankfurt.

One issue for Lufthansa is that the latest engine change will consume its last available spare Trent 900.

With three of its 12 A380s grounded for engine changes, an SIA spokesman acknowledges that there will be flight disruptions to passengers. All three aircraft are displaced from the airline’s home base, with one located in London and the other two at Sydney.


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