ANA Grounding Boeing 787s

ANA has become the latest airline impacted by ongoing engine difficulties, which are hurting its ability to fly Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Fleet data indicates that the 787 Dreamliner is its most important long-haul widebody aircraft when measured by delivered units. However, of the 85 aircraft that have already taken delivery of data, seven units are parked.

The impacted planes are spread across the 787-8, where two jets are listed as parked. The bulk load comes from the 787-9, with five units also listed as parked.

Those groundings follow the persistent engine issues impacting the aviation industry and, most notably recently, these airlines that operate Boeing 787 aircraft with the Rolls Royce Trent 100 engines.

One of the toughest parts of the ongoing engine crisis is the uncertainty over when things will improve and how these airlines affected will obtain the parts required to continue flying.

ANA remains one of the lucky airlines, confirming in Aviation Week reporting and interviews with the press that it is able to mitigate much of the impact faced.

Mitigating the impact is largely being done through spare aircraft and careful network optimisation to ensure that large gaps don’t start to form.

Unfortunately, however, not all airlines have the same luxury as ANA, and engine difficulties that lead to aircraft groundings can have a colossal impact on their ability to operate and thus have a knock-on effect on their financial performance and many other fundamental business areas.

Engines An Industry-wide Wide Problem

Most recently, the Rolls Royce engine saga has caused international airlines such as British Airways and Thai Airways to make major changes to their operations in order to continue operating.

British Airways revealed it would axe routes in the short term in the hopes that this would ensure the flights it was offering would arrive on time.

Meanwhile, Thai Airways openly expressed its own frustrations with the lack of certainty related to getting spare parts, maintenance completed, and much more, which seemingly continues to balloon out.

These two recently outspoken airlines aren’t the only ones affected by the engine crisis, and it isn’t ultimately limited to Rolls Royce either. Companies such as Pratt & Whitney are feeling the heat.